141–150 of 274 posts
Anyone have tips on some good US flip phones that work with modern networks (4G)? In a perfect world, with GPS (but not required)?
Nokia 8110's back out.
I walk a lot and see so many people with their head pinned to their phone, and I've almost been hit 3 times from people flying through stop signs while texting in the middle of the day. Anything that might be so addictive that you can't even drive without constantly checking your phone can't be good for you.
Really though, a flip phone works well. You end up using it as a phone, but they also support texting too which makes you capable of communicating with everyone else in a pretty normal way.
Life with a smart phone is so much better than life before a smart phone. It's hard to realise how recently they came around. I've probably only had the internet on my phone for five years (I've had a smart phone for longer, but I couldn't get the data to work and data was expensive enough at the time I didn't care). I can communicate with my fiancee even when she's in another country (international sms = fail). I ca…
> Life with a smart phone is so much better than life before a smart phone. But at what cost? The software and OS is a locked-down ecosystem for most consumers. The hardware even more so. Such mass adoption forces one to conform in order to participate, meaning even for the privacy-conscious, consumer trends dictate all. Just a couple months ago US carriers were found to be selling realtime customer location data. Wh…
Also, PTSN can be easily eavesdropped as well, and paying by the minute isn't attractive. The phone companies squeezed us long enough.
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If you use discord or slack for team communication your team communication features nothing important (ie you might as well not have it) or you work at a company that doesn't do communication security well.
Or you work at a company with no significant secrets that could potentially be shared through chatting. Priorities; why spend time and effort on some on-site solution when there's really nothing to gain security wise unless you have secrets? You won't be sharing passwords through Slack or Discord in any case, that's for a password manager, so you're really left with trade secrets, and why would there be trade secrets…
In that case, why not communicate via Twitter or the Blockchain (tm)? Do you post pictures of yourself naked on Instagram as well?
Every person and every company has significant secrets.
I just always select “Dont allow” when prompted for notification unless its a messaging/finance app, I get less distracted a LOT compared to all those useless notifications like “You’ve been away for x hours heres what you missed” Am on the way of unscribing a lot of promo emails to currently.
Facebook/Instagram/Parking/Maps/whatever apps just spam you with notifications that don't matter.
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If the average person doesn't care enough to: * vote into power people that actually care about privacy * or to only buy products that protect their privacy what makes you think all this matters? The average person has decided that life is better for him like this...
If the trend moves towards a total societal reliance on smartphones as tools of everyday life, and a couple decades down the path it becomes impossible to opt out while still retaining a normal lifestyle and career, then it matters. It matters even more so that the average person is making this push, because, as you bring up, it's ripe for exploit (e.g. recent events in China with state-sponsored malware installed on…
The most dystopian tools ever imagined can be perfectly harmless if the people using them don't want to use them for dystopian purposes.
It's only moving towards a dystopy because people don't care or know enough. That's what has to be fixed.
Why I'm Using a Smart Phone I've thought about this, but I've realized it's not the phone but specific websites/apps that can be time-consuming addictions. I have no social media accounts on my phone, so that seems to prevent a lot of the issues. I do like browsing news sites, but there's only so many times I can see the same story before I get sick of it. I do hate some of the privacy issues that come with a smart p…
Similar usage:
- I listen to podcasts at 2x and audible titles at 1.5x all day at work and during my commute. 50-60 hours a week.
- I can talk to friends on 4 continents
- TerraGenesis throughout the day when I have a minute or three of downtime but not enough time to read a chapter.
- I don't have to get a map out of the trunk when I need to find my way somewhere, but carry the map in the event shit goes sideways.
That said, I did go back to a smart phone last summer. But something strange has happened. Apart from using the camera, and apps like Signal and a sudoku app, I use my smart phone more or less like I used my "dumb" phone. I hardly ever browse the web, check e-mail or anything like that. I pick it up if it rings, or I need to call someone. And the occasional photo and game of sudoku for my own enjoyment. I have no social media, I don't share the photos I take, I don't feel the need to stay connected.
And when I'm not on wifi, it's more or less a "dumb" phone with a camera. I don't use data traffic. Haven't for the year I've had a smart phone again, and I don't see the need to start using data traffic. If I have access to wifi, great, I can use Signal, if not, those who need to contact me has my number and can get in touch with me the old fashioned way.
I don't see why you can't just control your cell phone habits. Swearing technology off is like cutting off the nose to spite the face. The optimal setup for me is the basic apps installed (mail, messenger, uber/lyft, finances) with all notifications turned off. Less distraction while retaining the utility of having a smartphone.
All notifications are turned off, except for instant messaging apps and calls.
I stress a lot less about Facebook and social media in general now.
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I’m not a Luddite by any stretch and I’ve had smart phones since they were quite dumb, but your reasons don’t ring for me: > I can communicate with my fiancee even when she's in another country (international sms = fail). It facilitates instant communications. Email across the planet has been around since day one. > I can have a fiancee who's in another country. I can assure you this was possible pre-smart phone. > W…
> Email across the planet has been around since day one. It has been present around the globe for ages, if you could find an internet cafe on holiday. Reading email on your phone also needs a smartphone. > Mass transit has had posted schedules for many years. It is nice to see an updated one with up to the minute tracking but it wasn’t that inconvenient either. You must be one of the blessed multitudes that live in a…
Oh Simulation Creator, shudder I just remembered when Sears installed an internet cafe haha.