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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

#251

Post by [deleted] »

Aurornis wrote: post #165
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…

> The results are solidly in: They're an utter disaster for most people, and for society at large. In no particular order, they ruin social interactions in public situations (think "talking to people in the grocery line" - though I've seen fewer people on their phones lately and can get some conversations going), I’m in the age group that is just old enough to remember adult life before everyone had smartphones. Hone…

[deleted]

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#252

Post by tristor »

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…

I'm curmudgeonly enough that I'd tend to agree with you, however as someone who travels often I don't think I could ever give up my smartphone. I actually had a smartphone and some other similar devices well ahead of them being popular, and the reasons pretty much have not changed. Here are the things I don't have a reasonable alternative, because it's not just the capability, it's the capability backed by the Internet that is valuable:

1. Translation

2. Maps and Directions

3. Ticketing Services

4. Ride Hailing Services

5. Weather

6. Camera

7. Making calls from anywhere to anywhere

None of those are necessarily what people think of first when they hear "smartphone", but without them traveling would be a pretty difficult experience. I know firsthand, because I traveled prior to having these things. I had to deal with the expense policy at work trying to figure out how to get and handle cash in multiple countries so I could pay for a taxi and risk getting ripped off, or buy a train ticket. I had to carry around a phrase book and hope my pronunciation was close enough to get things done without offending anyone. I had to deal with paper maps, and get lost, and hope I made appointments on time. I had to roll around a wheeled pelican case with camera gear to get any decent photos, taking up precious space and making me stand out. And for the weather, well, I just looked outside and hoped I brought the right clothes.

I don't use social media, except Hacker News (if that counts). I don't really do any of the things you probably think of when you think of smartphones being problematic, but having this devices has made my life immeasurably better. So much so, that it's probably the most essential thing in my travel kit.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#253

Post by rideontime »

jncfhnb wrote: post #235
lm28469 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's good for you. Now do teenagers spending 6+ hours per day on average taking notes and looking at the time ? or is there something else going on for _most_ people > Looking stuff up saves money and time if you use it correctly. Living in a pod like in Matrix saves money and time too, if anything it's the most optimal way to live

[flagged]

I can count several differences between those two things.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#254

Post by snarkyturtle »

tristor wrote: post #252
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…

I'm curmudgeonly enough that I'd tend to agree with you, however as someone who travels often I don't think I could ever give up my smartphone. I actually had a smartphone and some other similar devices well ahead of them being popular, and the reasons pretty much have not changed. Here are the things I don't have a reasonable alternative, because it's not just the capability, it's the capability backed by the Intern…

Really it's just social media that's terrible. If all the social media apps go away, you still get left with all the above and can contact people you know. Algorithmic recommendations and flame wars with strangers are the worst things about smartphones — and they're not limited to them either.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#255

Post by EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK »

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.

Strange, my interaction with strangers is always either robbers or beggars or Mormons, I'd rather keep clear.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#256

Post by CalRobert »

toyg wrote: post #192
CalRobert wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I had a photo to share, but there's a museum on Bere Island in southwestern Ireland about the island's people and history. It's a TINY island with a few hundred people on it. One of the exhibits shows pictures of how people would gather at the one street corner (I mean, it was a dirt path, not a "street" as you imagine it) and dance and play music on Friday nights until late. And then how that died out after T…

That's sad, but on the other hand - I bet nobody now has to deal with broken bottles, urine, and the other dreck that festive gatherings tend to produce. Modern society is definitely more deliberate in how people interact. You lose some poetic spontaneity but gain in peace and order, which make society scale up. I'm not saying it's all good but it's a trade-off.

I think some people dancing on a street corner in the 40's and 50's is a far cry from the junk you see today. Given that this was before plastic was commonplace I doubt there was too much persistent litter, and if someone pees in a bush I don't really care.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#257

Post by slothtrop »

sandbx wrote: post #85

check out How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy (Odell, Jenny) ... the punchline is that it is always there, you just have to find a reason to not want it. Also, going through the feature checklist on https://www.dumbphones.org/ made me realize how many of these things are so helpful. I checked all the ones I would want, and there were no dumbphones that supported them. GPS Navigation, Group Text, Hotspo…

That's why I liked my blackberry so much. It was a tool first and foremost, whereas consumers now want a multimedia delivery experience. I didn't care that BB fell short at that, but the market did.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#258

Post by toyg »

CalRobert wrote: post #256
toyg wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's sad, but on the other hand - I bet nobody now has to deal with broken bottles, urine, and the other dreck that festive gatherings tend to produce. Modern society is definitely more deliberate in how people interact. You lose some poetic spontaneity but gain in peace and order, which make society scale up. I'm not saying it's all good but it's a trade-off.

I think some people dancing on a street corner in the 40's and 50's is a far cry from the junk you see today. Given that this was before plastic was commonplace I doubt there was too much persistent litter, and if someone pees in a bush I don't really care.

> a far cry from the junk you see today.

Maybe, but what I'm saying is that, if they were to do it today, as the parent comment wistfully longs for, that would be what the locals have to put up with.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#259

Post by chiefalchemist »

Probably not popular to go off on this branch but...

The Problem is not the tool. The problem isn't even the users per se. The Problem is that the "curators" (?) of the experience(s) provided by the tool have their own best interests in mind. They're not working to better us, they have their own self-serving agenda.

I recently read "Stand Out of Our Light". To paraphrase what was for me a key paragraph:

"Some of the best and brightest experts on human behavior are being generously funded by some of the most influential and wealthiest companies in the history of the world...to tilt as much as possible in their own favor (not our own). Given that reality, we don't stand a chance.'

It's not us.

It's them.

To believe other at this pount is naive.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/stand-out-of-our-light/...

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#260

Post by chiefalchemist »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #153
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…

My smartphone has replaced things that I used to carry. It is a tool. And as a bonus, I can pass time while waiting - doctors office, etc - which makes me more pleasant. My smartphone functions as a watch, notetaking device, and communication device. I rarely get lost now that I almost always have a map. It is a music device, which is really helpful considering I walk and take busses for most of my transportation. Th…

> I can pass time while waiting - doctors office, etc - which makes me more pleasant.

You might believe that, a lot of people do. However, from what I understand the actual science doesn't support is assumption.

In short, for eons, humans lived in the shadow of boredom. The brain evolved in that context. That is, life without boredom has no historical precedent. When boredom is habitually removed you are doing the brain a disservice. You are stifling creativity, insights, and other growth that comes from the seeds planted by boredom and "down time."

Put another way, the convenience of constant access to your device comes with an opportunity cost. And often we're too distracted to consider the loses due to that cost.

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