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My first three months with a Nokia dumb phone as a daily driver

artmatsak.com

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Re: My first three months with a Nokia dumb phone as a daily driver

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can do some things but I wouldn't stretch it and say you can "basically do everything a modern phone can do" because in my country I can't use it to identify myself, I can't do banking on it, I can't ride the bus, buy tickets for trains, make payments and a lot of other very essential things that are now in our smartphones.

I can't do most of these things even on a smartphone in the US!... - identify myself: The state I'm in has not rolled out any support for electronic IDs so short of "taking a photo of a DL (which the Nokia also would allow for) and hoping for the best", I can't do this with a smartphone either. - ride the bus, buy tickets for trains: Ditto for transit. No phone-compatible NFC integration at all means I still need a g…

Yes but the US is a poor backwards country compared to some. No offence, that's just how it seems to many of us.

And then of course there are those who'd say the US is doing it right because we're so cashless that people are protesting against this new way of life.

I personally don't care. I think if we ever get to a point when an authoritarian rule is threatening our liberties then cash, traceable train tickets and pet store purchases are the least of our troubles.

Re: My first three months with a Nokia dumb phone as a daily driver

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just write things down on a piece of paper; or just "yolo it". It works well enough, although lack of GPS can be inconvenient at times, I find it's not a huge deal – this is how almost everyone got around up to ~10 years ago. I never used taxi services anyway; bus services are pretty good here, and I cycle. A bigger issue is that a lot of services are "smartphone-only", and can't be done with a regular computer; so…

My wife and I will have to buy one soon, because it is pretty much the only way we can establish a line of communication with other parents of my young son's peers at kindergarten (he's nearing 3). Not doing so would stunt his growth on an emotional level, because we would deprive him of things like play dates and such. Not due to malice on the part of other parents, but because not having WhatsApp (here in the Nethe…

Yeah, social stuff like that is an issue. I currently use Telegram to keep in touch with some friends; the big upshot of Telegram is that after registering, you can use web.telegram.org or the desktop app without having your smartphone (or in my case, emulator) powered on. There's no E2E encryption, but that's fine. WhatsApp, Signal, and most other solutions really are tied to the smartphone: web.whatsapp.com will route messages through your phone; it's really annoying; I wish they would just E2E directly from your laptop, but I guess that's too obscure of a "market" to cater too.

You can still use it with the Android Emulator though; there's a bunch of solutions for this but I just use the Android Studio one. It works, but you need to keep the emulator running and isn't especially convenient.

I feel like tying a lot of things to these proprietary platforms that are impossible to integrate with independently is essentially redoing the mistakes of the 90s and 00s that we had with Microsoft where you more or less had to have Microsoft Office or you'd have a hard time reading/editing those .doc files sent to you (eventually OpenOffice.org was kind-a okay at it, but still far from perfect).

I don't even mind non-free software as a matter of principle, I just want the freedom to use an "alternative" system like my Linux desktop or maybe some eclectic device like PinePhone or those modern PDA things or whatnot to participate in basic stuff, instead of being forced to shell out money to one of those huge tech giants with a bazillion dollars to purchase thingies I don't even like.

Re: My first three months with a Nokia dumb phone as a daily driver

#114
I used one of the variants of the Nokia 100s model for 3 years. (2017 - 2020). After using these dumb phones my habit changed and I don't exclusively rely on my phone anymore. Even though I have a smartphone now, it is practically useless when I am _inside_ my room. I use my phone to just communicate and occasionally read PDFs. It doesn't have any social media apps, so the worst I do is browse the web once in a while.

But one huge advantage smartphone has is the camera and the maps. These are really the killer feature for a smartphone. Everything else is a bonus!

The bonus includes mobile banking, receiving important emails, and so on!

Life is simple when you throw away the cancer apps from smartphones. Then proceed to use it as it should be used i.e. just a phone!

Re: My first three months with a Nokia dumb phone as a daily driver

#116

I don't understand these kind of posts. Can't people just use a regular smartphone phone and _not_ install Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.?

Even if you uninstall the apps, you have a web browser right at your fingertips.

Re: My first three months with a Nokia dumb phone as a daily driver

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't do most of these things even on a smartphone in the US!... - identify myself: The state I'm in has not rolled out any support for electronic IDs so short of "taking a photo of a DL (which the Nokia also would allow for) and hoping for the best", I can't do this with a smartphone either. - ride the bus, buy tickets for trains: Ditto for transit. No phone-compatible NFC integration at all means I still need a g…

Yes but the US is a poor backwards country compared to some. No offence, that's just how it seems to many of us. And then of course there are those who'd say the US is doing it right because we're so cashless that people are protesting against this new way of life. I personally don't care. I think if we ever get to a point when an authoritarian rule is threatening our liberties then cash, traceable train tickets and…

Authoritarian rule doesnt persist via tanks and stormtroopers knocking on your door, it persist by leveraging minor daily convenience, necessities, which mold compliance. Social credit system.

If you cant take the bus to work, if you are denied healthcare because of xyz, if you are denied access to credit, or the grocery store, etc.in a cashless economy.. then most people are controlled without any violence.

This is one of the main reasons many are against an increase of centrally managed services such as universal state healthcare, ubi, etc.. because once they control exclusively a necessity in your life, they can leverage it to ram anything they want or deny you sevices. Freedom lies in choice.

Re: My first three months with a Nokia dumb phone as a daily driver

#118
post #3

I switched from an iPhone to Nokia 515 two years ago and vowed never to go back. If I wrote a blog post like this it would probably just be, "Living smartphone-free in the 2020's is like having a superpower, it's utter joy and freedom and and everyone still with a smartphone is a total sucker." Then a couple of weeks ago I felt the social pressure and lack of a good camera so I bought an iPhone 12 mini. It was awful.…

Wouldn't you get a better and cheaper camera if it's really a camera and not a phone?

The best camera is the one you have with you, and I hate carrying around extra stuff in my pockets, thus I like having an all-in-one device.

Re: My first three months with a Nokia dumb phone as a daily driver

#119
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ouch. I do have smartphone but do not have data plan. Use it strictly as a phone, camera and offline GPS. It has close to zero social value to me. If I want to socialize I either talk to my friends on Skype from my PC or just visiting in person.

No music?

I have dedicated systems at home and in the car. When I am out I do not play it.
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