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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

#201

Post by jackskell »

hawaiianbrah wrote: post #130
arximboldi wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i bought my first smartphone this year. when traveling I was carrying the android tablet half of the time in my backpack, and even at home more and more you need apps for everything (e.g. lockersat club, gym entry, supermarket loyalty card, etc). i just gave up. grapheneos + olauncher give me a minimal and open source enough experience to make it somewhat tolerable, but it makes me sad that as a society we've come to…

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, and my 3 siblings, all use my folks landline number, which has the ringer turned off, and only used for DSL / alarm / backup outgoing calls. Works for us, heh.

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

#202

Post by fm0020377473839 »

okdiejdiendjw wrote: post #95
libria wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with you main point but thought this was funny: > They literally borrow money to buy these things. So if they can afford it, Borrowing money would indicate they can't afford it. But I think you mean "afford the risk in order to achieve a societal norm".

Not achieve a societal norm but facilitate everyday tasks with the many, MANY things that are THAT much easier with a smartphone. Now I get the author’s point, but there’s preferring to be off-grid (which I also tend to be), and there’s purposefully handicapping yourself then complaining about it later. Look, if you run a blog, post your articles on places like HN and actually interact with the World Wide Web on a fr…

Where is the logical tie between interacting with the web in general, running a server or whatever and not being allowed to complain about being pushed into the Google/Apple-duopoloy, remote attestation and similar things? o_O

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

#203

Post by memcg »

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…

I still use two Kyocera Cadence LTE flip phones, but I bought a few smartphones for my children over the years. Also have an iPad that was a gift and I have used it to deposit bank checks.

Instead of constantly checking my phone, I just watch people constantly checking their phones.

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

#204

Post by PenguinHacker »

okdiejdiendjw wrote: post #95
libria wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with you main point but thought this was funny: > They literally borrow money to buy these things. So if they can afford it, Borrowing money would indicate they can't afford it. But I think you mean "afford the risk in order to achieve a societal norm".

Not achieve a societal norm but facilitate everyday tasks with the many, MANY things that are THAT much easier with a smartphone. Now I get the author’s point, but there’s preferring to be off-grid (which I also tend to be), and there’s purposefully handicapping yourself then complaining about it later. Look, if you run a blog, post your articles on places like HN and actually interact with the World Wide Web on a fr…

Thank you for your reply, and so true. This is an electronic medium after all, and the smartphone, the greatest electronic device ever invented, makes participating in it so easy. Tonight I ate in a restaurant with a paper menu (I avoid QR menus because I’m old) but was able to send photos to my family & meet my wife for dessert by sending iMessages during dinner. I have over 50 years of film, DSLR, and iPhone photos and all are on my iPhone to look at any time I wish. Restricting yourself by not taking advantage of such devices is fine, but don’t pretend you’re not missing out on some of life’s greatest moments.

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

#205

Post by PenguinHacker »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #153
gib444 wrote: post #15

> "I don’t have a smartphone," is what I tell people and professionals nowadays I did this today too. I happened to walk past a branch of my bank, and remembered my debit card is playing up due to wear-and-tear, so I popped in to order a replacement. I made the request and the first response was "do you have our banking app, you can do it on there?". "No". It wasn't even busy. (I also happen to have my mortgage with…

> I happened to walk past a branch of my bank, and remembered my debit card is playing up due to wear-and-tear, so I popped in to order a replacement. I made the request and the first response was "do you have our banking app, you can do it on there?". "No". I switched banks over something similar. I'd had an account with Wells Fargo (and before that with First Interstate before Wells Fargo bought them), dating all t…

What happens when you run out of banks, will you put your cashier’s check under a mattress? I’m old & get told what to do at banks all the time, but that’s no reason to change banks as it will just happen again at the new bank. My wife & I don’t have electronic banking & I wonder how long we’ll have tellers to help us. We’ve also had 2 branches close out from under us & force us to use less convenient ones nearby. We can’t change what’s happening in banking by running away, it will always catch up to us.

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

#206

Post by JoshTriplett »

PenguinHacker wrote: post #205
JoshTriplett wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I happened to walk past a branch of my bank, and remembered my debit card is playing up due to wear-and-tear, so I popped in to order a replacement. I made the request and the first response was "do you have our banking app, you can do it on there?". "No". I switched banks over something similar. I'd had an account with Wells Fargo (and before that with First Interstate before Wells Fargo bought them), dating all t…

What happens when you run out of banks, will you put your cashier’s check under a mattress? I’m old & get told what to do at banks all the time, but that’s no reason to change banks as it will just happen again at the new bank. My wife & I don’t have electronic banking & I wonder how long we’ll have tellers to help us. We’ve also had 2 branches close out from under us & force us to use less convenient ones nearby. We…

> What happens when you run out of banks

There are many, many banks and credit unions out there. Not all of them treat customer service as less important than whatever optimization they were trying to do.

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

#207

Post by jen729w »

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…

> The problem is not smartphones per se. … They let you access information and entertainment wherever you are.

This is the exact problem with smartphones.

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

#208

Post by yreg »

eddieroger wrote: post #9

I do have a smartphone, but I don't seem to feel the pain the author feels about being inundated by QR codes and apps. Maybe I have all the apps I need already? Maybe I just don't mind having an app on my phone because I know that I can set it to basically never bother me. Most of my apps have notifications silenced. My home screen is empty, save the handful of apps I do want. And for the little bit of effort I put f…

It's pretty annoying when traveling to new countries, which I do often.

Always figure out all the apps I need to use local transport, to park, to charge the car, etc. In plenty of regions you also need special (often confusing) wallet apps to be able to pay for stuff without local bank accounts.

I would appreciate it if more of this ran on the web as well.

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

#209

Post by m01 »

shevy-java wrote: post #89

I actually don't have a smartphone. Unfortunately I did get a tablet, as I need it for MFA to access some websites that I need. It's quite annoying to be forced into this though. There is a push towards making this mandatory. The ideal perma-ID governments dreamed about.

For MFA you could consider using USB security tokens, e.g. Yubikeys or other fido2 ones from various vendors.

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

#210

Post by KellyCriterion »

d3Xt3r wrote: post #198
iamnothere wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Wondering how of all these are applying some type of GDPR if they are receiving personal data as gov authority via WhatsApp
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