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Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

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Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#201

Post by thebigspacefuck »

beefield wrote: post #161
lihaciudaniel wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about audiobooks, discord/slack for team communication, or sometimes reading on public transport. You can easily block/mute notifications and all that. Don't use apps like Instagram (never used but some of my friends do) or other addictive apps and you'll be fine. To be honest smartphones are you the best way to push some (25 minutes) to practice skills when you have time window (apps like brilliant, Reedy) Phon…

> What about audiobooks, discord/slack for team communication, or sometimes reading on public transport. You can easily block/mute notifications and all that. I can also easily take my smartphone with me when I think there is a real need. The 4g dumbphone can share the internet to my smartphone.

So it's a bar phone with a hotspot? I was hoping for something like that. I have a tablet with wifi only but I'd like to be able to listen to Spotify or audio books, use maps, etc when I'm driving. But then again, I also like to walk the dog and listen to books/music so I'd have to carry 2 phones unless it supports all Android apps.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#202

Post by wilsonnb2 »

grecht wrote: post #78

Sounds like the phone‘s not the problem. Just don‘t twitter, instagram, facebook, snapchat or whatever you do 24/7 and simply use it for its most useful features. Ditch every social app, delete your accounts. Maybe turn it off every day at a fixed time (quite a while before you‘re in the bathroom brushing your teeth). Leave it at home when you‘re going for a walk. It’s not like there‘s nothing inbetween a flip-phone…

> Just don‘t twitter, instagram, facebook, snapchat or whatever you do 24/7

The point is that choosing to not do these things is hard for a lot of us. Getting rid of a smartphone is a decision you have to make once. Not using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Hacker News, and Reddit is a decision that you have to make tens to hundreds of times a day, every day.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#203

Post by wilsonnb2 »

refurb wrote: post #187
hnzix wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see why you can't just control your drinking habits. Swearing alcohol off is like cutting off the nose to spite the face.

I think the response to that is - most adults can control their drinking habits. It’s a very small minority who have an addiction to alcohol.

It shouldn't surprise us that Twitter/Instagram/Facebook/Reddit are more widely addictive than alcohol. They are designed to be addictive, because it's good for business.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#204

Post by theandrewbailey »

searedvandal wrote: post #148

I ditched my smart phone in 2015 and went 2 years with a "dumb" phone that couldn't do anything other than SMS and calls. The first couple of months was a bit "hard", but after a while I did not miss a thing from my smart phone days. 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 o…

I had the same dumb phone from 2007 until it fell apart in 2015. I got a smart phone, but didn't use it for anything other than dumb phone tasks. Sure, the screen and camera were much nicer, and I could browse the web, but it didn't seem alluring. I only needed to charge it about twice a week.

Having maps and GPS turned out to be more useful than I expected, but once I go somewhere once or twice, I don't use it to get to that place anymore. I thought Google Authenticator would be the killer app for me, but I use it so rarely, and I have KeePass do that now anyway. I've never gotten the point of social media, so I completely missed the bullet there.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#205

Post by Broken_Hippo »

maccard wrote: post #172
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a phone for practical reasons (I rarely need to use a phone). But I can clearly see that most of these are solvable by the internet or by old-fashioned solutions. Getting in touch with a GP? I can use the internet. Bank fraud? Same, or just go to a branch. As far as accidents and emergencies are concerned, these are no different than the solutions pre-smart phone or when your phone has broken, out of power, or…

> Getting in touch with a GP? I can use the internet. Bank fraud? Same, or just go to a branch. Lucky you. My GPs website has phone number and an address on it. My bank are equally as unhelpful. They have internet banking, but there is no way to suspend a card or re order a new one without phoning them. Last time I had an issue with my card I was out of the country so visiting the branch was out of the question (not…

You are mistaken. I have an active phone. A smartphone even. I don't have any hangups on using it myself. I just realise the possibilities and enjoy that I can carry less stuff, play games while waiting, and have a map on me most of the time. mine is prepaid because my use is too low to bother with a monthly contract. As a bonus, the time doesn't expire nearly as quickly as prepaid phones in the states did and I can buy a modern phone.

But I was alive before the smartphones were available and didn't always have money for phone service and rent. So were a lot of folks I knew. And i simply understand the ways folks can get around having phone service... even if I think it is personally weird to do so out of choice instead of necessity.

I have also been in situations where I don't have the phone for a variety of reasons: Not working, for got it, spotty service, and so on. Of course you have to rely on others in these situations, the same as before everyone had such things. Actually being in an emergency has been a pretty rare thing, with or without cell phones. I've called 911 a few times, but only twice when not at work. Once for a car accident outside the house (a pretty bad one, lifeline helicopter and all), and one for someone's suicide attempt.

As a side note, it is a shame that the doctors offices do not have it. Most of them have it around here that I have seen. I avoid calling unless absolutely have to. As a bonus, the phones here are such that if I've run out of money on my prepaid phone, folks can still call me.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#206

Post by wilsonnb2 »

Maakuth wrote: post #50
dchuk wrote: post #39

I feel like if I could have one device that lets me take really nice pictures (like portrait mode on iphone) and only do texting and phone calls and maps, I would be a pretty happy person. Maybe airline apps for boarding passes and stuff. I can survive without email/slack/all the other bullshit. Life goes on, if it's an emergency I'm sure someone will get a hold of me somehow. But I want to take pictures of my wife a…

Social media apps are easy to uninstall, and that's what I've done. For the occasional Facebook event / messenger use case I need (some people insist on communicating through these), I use mbasic.facebook.com, which I think is the mobile web FB for the developing world. It's very fast, very barebones, but has all the features you really need.

> Social media apps are easy to uninstall

They're also easy to reinstall, and often times have good enough mobile web clients. Can't uninstall the browser, unfortunately.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#207

Post by ThorinJacobs »

squiggleblaz wrote: post #10

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…

While on the train, I've started knitting instead of futzing around on my phone that I had been doing before. For me, it's been a very therapeutic exercise - a good time to deliberately shut out the noise of the internet and social media in general.

Now that I'm becoming more comfortable with the new hobby, I've started listening to audiobooks or streaming music while I knit - it seems to strike a nice balance.

Certainly the phone has enriched my life - it enables me to stream music and listen to audiobooks easily, but in my experience it's a dangerous tool as well, since it enables you to check social media more than is healthy. Everything in moderation I suppose.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#208

Post by celestialjeu »

fps_doug wrote: post #190
WalterSear wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They mean the Photomeggadon. The Photocalypse. The Big Kodak Moment. IMNSHO, the parent is simply behaving reactively to the threat of new paradigms. Email does not convey the emotion of a phone call, let alone a video call. Easy access to information fosters discussion - by ending pointless, heated debates over nothing. Only teenagers, and I now presume, older people, fuddle with their phones instead of talking to t…

> Email does not convey the emotion of a phone call, let alone a video call. Certainly does not, and it's a nice bonus, but when on earth do people use video calls? Since they are even better at conveying emotions, by your logic everybody carrying a smartphone should be making video calls at all times. But it's the contrary, people even prefer texting on Whatsapp over phone calls or even voice messages. > Easy access…

> when on earth do people use video calls?

I actually see people using facetime in public all the time -- I think its one of those things if you aren't looking for it you won't notice. I've actually used google hangouts on my phone a few times -- recently I was in the airport w/o my computer on my Dad's birthday so we did a video call and other scenarios like that one. Also, I lived abroad for a few years and I used video chat extensively with my parents and other friends back in the states. (TBF though a majority of the time it was on my laptop -- but sometimes I did use my phone!)

> Mostly teenagers yes, but them being the next generation of adults I doubt they'll just stop once they're into their twens. It'll just become the norm.

That one is potentially true although I'll say based off of our interns they seem to be pretty good about not being on their phones all the time when the situation calls for it. I think like most things its super individual because of my coworkers the person who is on their phone the most is actually a middle aged guy.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#209

Post by lagadu »

Fnoord wrote: post #144
netzone wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Or you work at a company with no significant secrets that could potentially be shared through chatting. 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.

That's against the instagram rules. Fetlife is where we generally post those.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#210

Post by dwild »

gambiting wrote: post #91
krageon wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

>>Reading email on your phone also needs a smartphone. Nokia 6310 could both read and send emails, and I'm sure the functionality arrived slightly earlier too. >>second point I mean, if I'm in some 3rd world country without a reliable public transport system, then I'm not sure how internet access or a smartphone for that matter helps at all. In my experience in those places the bus/train just turns up when it does, n…

>I mean, if I'm in some 3rd world country without a reliable public transport system, then I'm not sure how internet access or a smartphone for that matter helps at all. In my experience in those places the bus/train just turns up when it does, no website would help you here.

I'm in Canada, my internet on my phone is more than good enough, yet it's not rare to see bus 10 minutes late and it happens often to need a second bus that may be 10 minutes after the first one. Traffic is not exclusive to third world country. Our bus have real time tracking so I can know 10 minutes earlier if taking another route is the right thing to do.

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