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Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

theregister.com

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Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#181

Post by abc123abc123 »

slumberlust wrote: post #177
dandandandan2 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nowadays, you can no longer exist in society without a phone Hyperbole doesn’t help. I’m a 44 year old former software engineer now with a modest social media following (100k per platform). I don’t have a phone. I’ve never had a smart phone, last dumb phone gone in 2015. I have to hassle my bank to let me use email instead of SMS for 2FA, and I hand jot notes for driving directions sometimes. Otherwise, I’m immense…

How could it be hyperbole when you give two examples of the increasing pain?

Because these two examples are tiny in comparison with the decrease in surveillance you will get, and the example you set for your fellow men, and just spreading the norm in society that ubiquitous surveillance is wrong and that we can live ethical lives without being slaves and chained to the government and corporations.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#182

Post by abc123abc123 »

dandandandan2 wrote: post #171
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #76

The challenge isn't buying it, the challenge is being able to do phone things with it. Nowadays, you can no longer exist in society without a phone. Most things will work but it takes one critical service that doesn't have a viable workaround, and you're forced to buy (and possibly carry) a "mainstream" phone just for that. Banking, government, authentication, postal service and public transit apps are just some of t…

> Nowadays, you can no longer exist in society without a phone Hyperbole doesn’t help. I’m a 44 year old former software engineer now with a modest social media following (100k per platform). I don’t have a phone. I’ve never had a smart phone, last dumb phone gone in 2015. I have to hassle my bank to let me use email instead of SMS for 2FA, and I hand jot notes for driving directions sometimes. Otherwise, I’m immense…

This is the way! I do not have a smartphone. I print maps, use email, print boarding cards, do my banking and shopping with a web browser, pay with cash or a debit card.

I think people have been brain washed to believe they can no longer live life without being enslaved by a surveillance device.

Lost? Ask for directions. Need a map? Go to a hotel or a tourist center, or print one in advance.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#183

Post by abc123abc123 »

stdatomic wrote: post #113
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #76

The challenge isn't buying it, the challenge is being able to do phone things with it. Nowadays, you can no longer exist in society without a phone. Most things will work but it takes one critical service that doesn't have a viable workaround, and you're forced to buy (and possibly carry) a "mainstream" phone just for that. Banking, government, authentication, postal service and public transit apps are just some of t…

There was a time back in covid days where you had to have an app on your phone to go through customs clearance in Canada.

I flew all over europe, no smart phone, no mask. I printed my own doctors notes and corona passports and they worked flawlessly everywhere.

Towards the end, I copied other peoples QR-codes and printed them out, and that worked nicely as well.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#184

Post by abc123abc123 »

Insimwytim wrote: post #150
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't solve for services that by definition need to be accessed on the go, e.g. public transit, parcel pickup, luggage lockers, rental bikes, restaurant menus, paying for parking, etc. (some of these may not mandate phones in your area yet or may allow mobile web alternatives, these are just examples where I've seen strong pushes towards apps or at leas in many places).

> restaurant menus Well, that's easy to deal with - don't go the restaurants that openly disrespect you. Out of all the examples you have presented everything had worked somehow without phones not so long ago. Maybe, with the exception of online public transit status streaming. And public transit still works without it.

This is the way. Don't go, or if you don't know, ask for a menu, if that does not exist, ask for a phone from the staff. Have used all of these methods with excellent results. The restaurants wants to sell, they will find you a menu or a phone.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#185

Post by abc123abc123 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #86
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #76

The challenge isn't buying it, the challenge is being able to do phone things with it. Nowadays, you can no longer exist in society without a phone. Most things will work but it takes one critical service that doesn't have a viable workaround, and you're forced to buy (and possibly carry) a "mainstream" phone just for that. Banking, government, authentication, postal service and public transit apps are just some of t…

You can exist, but life will be as inconvenient as it was in the 1990s (though importantly, it didn't seem inconvenient at the time, it was just the way things were).

Inconvenient? My life is super convenient. No stress, deep thinking and deep work, super focus and concentration.

What I would find inconvenient is to be like the smartphone zombies around me, adicted to their phones, restlessly doomscrolling with dead eyes, feeling empty inside.

Print some stuff from time to time or arguing my way through tickets offices is a small price to pay for not being enslaved to the IT-machine.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#186

Post by manincharge »

j_bum wrote: post #179
slumberlust wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How could it be hyperbole when you give two examples of the increasing pain?

GP said “can no longer exist”. Listing a few challenges of a phoneless life doesn’t negate the point that one can still exist without a phone, even in 2026.

[dead]

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#187

Post by bdangubic »

zephen wrote: post #146
dheera wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Browser is great until it tells you that you need to use a mobile device. This happens all the time on multiple KYC platforms in the US. My laptop is an equally mobile device, they just don't recognize that.

So far, I have only found this with T-Mobile's app. The good news is that I can go into the nearby T-Mobile store and have them deal with it.

I would immediately change my mobile service provider, this is an easy one and choices are plenty. financially as well, you can save yourself a lot of money if you have a cadence for switching providers

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#188

Post by aembleton »

abc123abc123 wrote: post #182
dandandandan2 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nowadays, you can no longer exist in society without a phone Hyperbole doesn’t help. I’m a 44 year old former software engineer now with a modest social media following (100k per platform). I don’t have a phone. I’ve never had a smart phone, last dumb phone gone in 2015. I have to hassle my bank to let me use email instead of SMS for 2FA, and I hand jot notes for driving directions sometimes. Otherwise, I’m immense…

This is the way! I do not have a smartphone. I print maps, use email, print boarding cards, do my banking and shopping with a web browser, pay with cash or a debit card. I think people have been brain washed to believe they can no longer live life without being enslaved by a surveillance device. Lost? Ask for directions. Need a map? Go to a hotel or a tourist center, or print one in advance.

When you go on holiday, do you have to find an Internet café to print off your boarding pass for the flight home? Or do you select destinations covered by airlines that allow you to get a boarding pass more than 48 hours in advance?

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#189

Post by aembleton »

SoftTalker wrote: post #94
amunozo wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. You cannot even book appointments in a lot of banks today, a thing you could do in the 90s. Like that, a lot of services are unavailable without a smartphone and its non-smartphone equivalent is not available anymore.

Not my experience. I'm in the USA, and there are still bank branches everywhere, I'd say as many as ever and new ones are being built. In fact within a mile of my house the finishing touches on the latest new one (full remodel of a former restaurant building) are just about done.

> I'd say as many as ever and new ones are being built.

That's an amazing difference compared to the UK. My local town had 5 bank branches ten years ago, now there are none. Until 2 weeks ago we didn't even have a cash machine; fortunately there is one now. It is something that has rapidly changed in the last 15 years.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#190

Post by [deleted] »

aembleton wrote: post #188
abc123abc123 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the way! I do not have a smartphone. I print maps, use email, print boarding cards, do my banking and shopping with a web browser, pay with cash or a debit card. I think people have been brain washed to believe they can no longer live life without being enslaved by a surveillance device. Lost? Ask for directions. Need a map? Go to a hotel or a tourist center, or print one in advance.

When you go on holiday, do you have to find an Internet café to print off your boarding pass for the flight home? Or do you select destinations covered by airlines that allow you to get a boarding pass more than 48 hours in advance?

[deleted]
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