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I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

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Re: I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

#191

Post by smitty1e »

SoftTalker wrote: post #160
bufordsharkley wrote: post #56

I've still never had a smartphone (technically my flip phone, a Kyocera Dura, is an android device, but it can't install apps so I'll consider it suitably "dumb") Occasionally I need to tote along a tablet because several places (some MLB venues, for one thing) will either require a smartphone, or impose a severe surcharge for the convenience of not using it. Anyway, I really regret that we didn't impose dumbphone pr…

The problem is not smartphones per se. They are very handy. They eliminate the need to carry a thick wallet full of physical ID cards, credit cards, membership/discount cards, etc. They help you if you are lost (who even gets lost anymore, with navigation and maps in your pocket). They let you access information and entertainment wherever you are. The problem is the tracking and invasion of privacy, and that all trac…

A wallet emits scant telemetry.

Re: I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

#192

Post by greatgib »

What makes me crazy is like, you have an app that is needed, let's say your bank app or transportation ticket app or a required gov app, or anything like that.

Then, one day you are in a hurry to do something, like buy a ticket for a train that leaves in 3 minutes, or find the number of the train that you are supposed to take in the e-ticket.

So, you open the app and you encounter the following error "A new version is available, please update to continue using the app". No way to discard that and do whatever you have to do in a hurry. So you think, let's update that fuckin app. Ok, internet is not working well, let's connect to the train station public wifi. Oh they have a broken captive portal that is not loading or redireting you to the login page... ok let's find the captive portal connection ip/url.

All good, internet is working, now we go to the app store, starts the update, wait a minute for download, and...

bipbipbip not enough remaining storage space to install the update. You have to understand them, they needed to pack inside the app, all the PDF with picture of their ecofriendly policy of planting trees each time you swear while using the app, and sadly that increase the app by a few mega bytes...

So then, at this point you missed your train and you hate more than anything else in the world, the *** product manager at company XXX that decided to 1) force using an app, 2) decided to force an update that you can't skip.

Re: I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

#193

Post by JoshTriplett »

whstl wrote: post #135
JoshTriplett wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's no longer possible to buy any non-low-end TV that is not smart. "Vote with your wallet" doesn't help you much if there aren't any good candidates to vote for.

A few years ago I got an "Ok" TV, sold in Germany, house-brand of Saturn/Mediamarkt. It was the only model in the store that wasn't smart. My next purchase is gonna be a projector, so I hope those also don't get infested.

> A few years ago I got an "Ok" TV, sold in Germany, house-brand of Saturn/Mediamarkt.

I'm guessing this is probably on par with Sceptre TVs in the US.

> My next purchase is gonna be a projector, so I hope those also don't get infested.

Many of those are very sensibly going the route of saying "we assume you want some kind of separate smart-TV stick, so here's a compartment for it with power and HDMI". Not all of them, but many.

Re: I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

#195

Post by simu1acrum »

I don't pretend to have things I don't have, and I don't pretend that I don't have things I do have. Why buy a powerful machine only to create an illusion of it being a weak one?

The decision of whether to be party to the supply and the demand of what is arguably the most corrupting, degrading and stupefying of inventions in the history of mankind is one mere moral agency can adequately advise.

Alas, such agency is influenced by, if not entirely delegated to smartphones, by none other than their users. Predictive text proposes the words to be written, and algorithmic feeds present the words to be read. It is only natural that a dependence is formed.

The allure of knowing all there is to be known is a rather enticing one. Hence why the addict now scrolls and scrolls rather than smokes and smokes. Everyone needs a vice. I'm glad mine isn't virtual.

Re: I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

#196

Post by jackjeff »

wat10000 wrote: post #156
MostlyStable wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think he's complaining about having a lot of apps, or the ability to have a lot of apps. He's complaining about being required to use apps for hundreds of small interactions every day that don't, or shouldn't, require an app. And he's correct. Companies are doing this not because they think it's better, but because they believe that if they can worm their way onto your device, and insert their cloud service (…

Maybe I'm in a tech desert, but I can't remember the last time I was required to use an app for anything. It's a convenient option for my grocery store loyalty card, certain restaurant menus, my HVAC system, etc., but not mandatory. I've heard of restaurants that have no physical menus but I haven't come across one myself.

Some banks. And requesting a French marriage certificate from abroad.

A few years ago I could have done it all on a Linux PC.

Re: I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

#197

Post by aleph_minus_one »

autoexec wrote: post #187
hawaiianbrah wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Supermarket loyalty card surprises me there. It isn’t just a physical card? Or a phone number? That’s all I ever use at any of our supermarkets.

I've seen supermarkets that offer targeted "in app only" deals. They're trying to condition people into accepting and being comfortable with discriminatory pricing, where different people pay different prices for the same product depending on who or what they are, or how much money they have.

> I've seen supermarkets that offer targeted "in app only" deals.

In Germany, the grocery discounter Aldi (both Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd) explicitly created advertising campaigns that they offer the same prices even if you don't use an app. The economic background is that Aldi's competitor Lidl nudges customers to use their app for discounts.

An article: https://www.mobiflip.de/aldi-ohne-app-so-verpasst-der-discou...

Pictures of the billboards: https://i0.wp.com/www.mobiflip.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07... https://i0.wp.com/www.mobiflip.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07...

Texts:

German:

  GÜNSTIG
  OHNE
  BONUS-APP.

  EINFACH EINKAUFEN.
  ZUM ALDI PREIS.
English:

  CHEAP
  WITHOUT
  BONUS APP.

  SIMPLY SHOP.
  AT ALDI PRICE.
German:

  WARUM
  EWIG PUNKTE
  SAMMELN?

  GÜNSTIG
  OHNE
  BONUS-APP.

  EINFACH EINKAUFEN.
  ZUM ALDI PREIS.
English:

  WHY
  COLLECT POINTS FOREVER
  ?

  CHEAP
  WITHOUT
  BONUS APP.

  SIMPLY SHOP.
  AT ALDI PRICE.
Video by Aldi Süd (in German; try use YouTube's translation functionalities if you aren't fluent in German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9wfg4XGfk

Lidl was furious that this campaign was so well received by the population (for this keep in mind that the Schwarz Gruppe (Schwarz Group), the corporate group behind Lidl, has big plans for cloud business (Schwarz Digits [1])), and created its own rather ridiculed counter-campaign:

https://www.mobiflip.de/aldi-greift-an-lidl-kontert-jetzt-ge...

Image: https://i0.wp.com/www.mobiflip.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07...

German text:

  Hey, liebe
  Aldi Kollegen,
  erst Deutschland in Nord und Süd aufteilen und dann stolz von einem Preis für alle ohne App sprechen.
  Ihr habt Humor.

  Liebe
  Aldi Kunden,
  ihr seid natürlich ALLE herzlich eingeladen, von Hamburg bis München zu einheitlichen Preisen zu sparen – mit oder ohne Lidl Plus.
English translation:

  Hey, dear
  Aldi colleagues,
  first divide Germany into North and South and then proudly talk about one price for everyone without an app.
  You have a sense of humor.

  Dear
  Aldi customers,
  you are of course ALL cordially invited to save at uniform prices from Hamburg to Munich – with or without Lidl Plus [the name of Lidl's app].
--

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarz_Digits

Re: I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

#198

Post by d3Xt3r »

iamnothere wrote: post #172
SoftTalker wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not smartphones per se. They are very handy. They eliminate the need to carry a thick wallet full of physical ID cards, credit cards, membership/discount cards, etc. They help you if you are lost (who even gets lost anymore, with navigation and maps in your pocket). They let you access information and entertainment wherever you are. The problem is the tracking and invasion of privacy, and that all trac…

I don’t carry a smartphone, and I also carry a minimalist wallet (extremely thin). I replaced my couple of “discount” cards, which have barcodes, with laminated photocopies. I don’t get lost because I am familiar with my city. I can access entertainment at home. Why do you need to distract yourself constantly? Smartphones just aren’t necessary if you live life intentionally. (We should get rid of targeted ads though.…

What you say works for me, but unfortunately it doesn't work for a lot of folks in countries which are hyper-dependent on certain apps like WhatsApp (Brasil, India etc). These places use WhatsApp for literally everything - like I heard about professers sharing lecture notes and assignments over WhatsApp, govt agencies accepting documents and applications only via WhatsApp, customer support for many companies is also done only via WhatsApp (with no option to call or email), many payments are done via WhatsApp, restaurants have reservations and booking confirmations done via WhatsApp and so on.

For these folks, WhatsApp isn't just some messaging/calling app, it's an entire platform. I consider myself lucky I don't live in one of those places, but I can imagine it would be really hard to live a modern life in such places without WhatsApp. And it's also scary and concerning how a single foreign megacorporation like Meta has a stranglehold over everyday lives in so many nations.

Re: I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

#199

Post by bufordsharkley »

singleshot_ wrote: post #188
bufordsharkley wrote: post #56

I've still never had a smartphone (technically my flip phone, a Kyocera Dura, is an android device, but it can't install apps so I'll consider it suitably "dumb") Occasionally I need to tote along a tablet because several places (some MLB venues, for one thing) will either require a smartphone, or impose a severe surcharge for the convenience of not using it. Anyway, I really regret that we didn't impose dumbphone pr…

What does mlb require a smartphone for?

Advance ticketing (at least, based upon my querying online, I was under the belief that Phillies don't have any sort of will-call in effect with the main MLB ticketing, so I took a tablet to be safe--I was visiting from out of town)

Similar to many live music venues: maybe they have a functional will call, but often it's overlooked/nonoperational/etc, so just using the app is the safe call

Re: I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't

#200

Post by cowboylowrez »

thesdev wrote: post #72
stronglikedan wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The word "requirements" is doing a lot of work there. I've never met a QR code where scanning it was required of me.

So you'd leave the restaurant if it has a QR menu?

I personally do not use QR codes. I suppose there could come a time where I could benefit from scanning one but I still have access to restaurants where you can order manually from humans and they cook the food themselves also.
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