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A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

nytimes.com

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Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#121

Post by CalRobert »

dorkwood wrote: post #112
deely3 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they ruin social interactions in public situations (think "talking to people in the grocery line" I DONT WANT TO TALK to people in grocery line, especially when I don't have a phone. I perfectly ok to just stand quietly. > they're utterly toxic for teenagers sometimes, and still we have to be sure that its a phone and not society.

> I DONT WANT TO TALK to people in grocery line, especially when I don't have a phone. I perfectly ok to just stand quietly. I do! My day is almost always made better by a random encounter with a stranger. I wish I was confident enough to start those interactions myself, but I always inevitably think back to messages such as yours, and my anxiety gets the better of me.

I'd love to have phone / no phone sections ( or chat / no chat ) in places like subways, airports, etc. I love taking to random people but don't want to bother then if they don't want to talk.

Having kids helps inasmuch as my eldest will talk to every kid she sees and that usually means at least a hello to the parent.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#123

Post by CalRobert »

BeetleB wrote: post #29
allthecybers wrote: post #15

I'd love to quit my smartphone and have looked at options like Lite Phone to replace it. The only issue is my smartphone is now my GPS, my payment method, my home lighting controller, my car/house key, and my health tracker. Plus, was a convenient way to keep tabs on work messages. Half a decade ago I eliminated all my social media. Then about a year ago I started by removing work email and messaging from my phone.Th…

> The only issue is my smartphone is now my GPS, my payment method, my home lighting controller, my car/house key, and my health tracker. If you use GPS only for navigation in a car, get a Garmin or something similar. Payment: Is it that hard to use a CC like most people do...? I only recently used my phone for payments (lost card and was waiting for replacement), and did not find it any more convenient than using a…

I very often need to deal with 2fa when paying online, though I suppose a dumb phone could do.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#124

Post by jfim »

allthecybers wrote: post #15

I'd love to quit my smartphone and have looked at options like Lite Phone to replace it. The only issue is my smartphone is now my GPS, my payment method, my home lighting controller, my car/house key, and my health tracker. Plus, was a convenient way to keep tabs on work messages. Half a decade ago I eliminated all my social media. Then about a year ago I started by removing work email and messaging from my phone.Th…

> The next step will be having a designated spot for it to stay while I'm home.

I put my phone charger in a drawer by drilling a hole in the back in order to run a power cord. I found that just having the phone on silent and out of sight helps a lot.

It also helps with clutter, instead of having a ton of random devices and cables, all of that mess is in a drawer that doesn't bother me.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#125

Post by ryandrake »

dorkwood wrote: post #112
deely3 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they ruin social interactions in public situations (think "talking to people in the grocery line" I DONT WANT TO TALK to people in grocery line, especially when I don't have a phone. I perfectly ok to just stand quietly. > they're utterly toxic for teenagers sometimes, and still we have to be sure that its a phone and not society.

> I DONT WANT TO TALK to people in grocery line, especially when I don't have a phone. I perfectly ok to just stand quietly. I do! My day is almost always made better by a random encounter with a stranger. I wish I was confident enough to start those interactions myself, but I always inevitably think back to messages such as yours, and my anxiety gets the better of me.

I used to value a random encounter with a stranger. Now, the median person is likely to be 1. Disturbed, 2. Obsessed with politics, 3. Belligerent for no reason, 4. Ready to whip out their phone camera looking for “content” or 5. Generally offended/Scared of the idea of talking to a random stranger. The last 3 or so years have turned America into a giant mental asylum and it’s starting to be not worth it to talk to a rando.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#126

Post by Erratic6576 »

skidd0 wrote: post #50
lethologica wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like saying to addicts “Just stop smoking crack”. Everyone knows smoking crack is bad for you. A lot of people want to quit but are unable to no matter how much “self discipline” they have. And app developers have teams of people dedicated to making sure you stay on these apps longer and longer. Now imagine your dealer is in your pocket 24/7.

Except crack and other drugs form physical dependencies which leads to withdrawal. Smart phone addicts have a more psychological battle. That's the willpower/self-discipline part. How do you build discipline? Practice! So, yeah, it can be as simple as telling yourself "just stop using the apps" as often as you can to build up the skill.

Psychology takes place in a physical organ or network of physical organs

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#127

Post by reacharavindh »

Syonyk wrote: post #83

I am so glad to see this backlash. It's been a long time coming. We've tried smartphones out for the past... oh, decade and change. They've been around longer, but were niche enough that they didn't dominate society, and even around the start of the iPhone era, "Crackberry" and such were common enough terms (with "Put all your devices in the center, whoever picks theirs up first buys the next round" being a fun game…

As is most things in life, the balance is the hardest thing to achieve.

I’d think of giving up my smartphone, but that’d mean I’d not be able to use WhatsApp to communicate with family and friends that are on it. Heck the parents group at my kids school is on WhatsApp. I’m not going to make everyone switch to “this other special” app. I gotta be where others are in this context.

Another is Maps - it is modern convenience that is hard to live without. Not only do I get turn-by-turn navigation, but I can quickly check whether the shop I want to go to is open or not. No, a Garmin device on a car doesn’t really solve that elegantly.

Thirdly, majority of my actions are on a web browser and it often happens when I’m mobile. Sure, I could remember things and then find them when I’m at my desk - yeah, I’m not going to remember that..

Fourth - my phone is my camera. I have pictures of my family memories, daily utility stuff.. even quickly taking a picture of a design I see somewhere as inspiration to stash it in my Notes. I can’t imagine giving up that convenience.

I’m however conscious of the bad effects of having the social drug on my hands. I don’t have Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, games or the like Apps on my phone. My battery usage report says 70% of the time was spent on web browser, and my mini iPhone lasts 1.5 days on a full charge.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#128

Post by solresol »

desmond373 wrote: post #3

I feel like i would like a phone with the sim and wifi module ripped out. Perhaps just bluetooth so my files can get auto transfered when i get home. Phones are great note takers and recorders but the social media and communication aspects can be problematic.

Like a Boox Palma? That doesn't have the SIM ripped out, it's a phone-sized device that isn't a phone.

It has wifi though, but you can't watch videos or scroll fast because of the e-ink screen.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#129

Post by billywhizz »

reacharavindh wrote: post #127
Syonyk wrote: post #83

I am so glad to see this backlash. It's been a long time coming. We've tried smartphones out for the past... oh, decade and change. They've been around longer, but were niche enough that they didn't dominate society, and even around the start of the iPhone era, "Crackberry" and such were common enough terms (with "Put all your devices in the center, whoever picks theirs up first buys the next round" being a fun game…

As is most things in life, the balance is the hardest thing to achieve. I’d think of giving up my smartphone, but that’d mean I’d not be able to use WhatsApp to communicate with family and friends that are on it. Heck the parents group at my kids school is on WhatsApp. I’m not going to make everyone switch to “this other special” app. I gotta be where others are in this context. Another is Maps - it is modern conveni…

i have been back on a dumbphone for quite some time now. i use the web almost exclusively on laptop - when i am mobile i don't want to be connected to it.

whatsapp works great in the browser on a laptop. if you only have a dumbphone you can use your number to register the whatsapp "app" on any tablet and can then log in on any other browser you want to use it on. works super nice.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#130

Post by dorkwood »

CalRobert wrote: post #121
dorkwood wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I DONT WANT TO TALK to people in grocery line, especially when I don't have a phone. I perfectly ok to just stand quietly. I do! My day is almost always made better by a random encounter with a stranger. I wish I was confident enough to start those interactions myself, but I always inevitably think back to messages such as yours, and my anxiety gets the better of me.

I'd love to have phone / no phone sections ( or chat / no chat ) in places like subways, airports, etc. I love taking to random people but don't want to bother then if they don't want to talk. Having kids helps inasmuch as my eldest will talk to every kid she sees and that usually means at least a hello to the parent.

When visiting London I noticed they have something called a "happy to chat bench", which you're supposed to sit on if you don't mind someone trying to strike up a conversation with you. I'm not a resident, so I'm not sure how useful they are in practice, but I found the concept interesting.
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