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Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

pam-moore.com

231–240 of 274 posts

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#231
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you'll work out how to waste your time without your phone and you'll be back to square one. I had a dumb phone for a year or so until maybe half a year ago. The ways I found to waste my time without smartphone were refreshingly different. Most importantly, thinking and wandering in my own mind without the urgent need to check every new thought from the internet. Long story short, there is now nokia 8110 with 4G and…

> nokia 8110 Bought one yesterday, I have to say that KaiOS is still veeeery immature, so far very far behind series 40/60 nokias. If you can find a Nokia 208 or 515 which are the last they made with 3G+ you might be better off.

Are you based in the US? Looking to get one as well but can't find any retailers

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it sounds like you identified and solved the problem without throwing out your smart phone completely.

Thus exercising self restraint. My point was not to throw away the baby with the bathwater.

Each person needs to set their own limits. For me this barrier was enough, but some may need more drastic barriers. I wouldn't judge people for trying to effect positive change in their life.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#233
I like my flip phone because it cost $40, I get prepaid service for $9 a month, it holds its charge for a week, I can drop it and it still works, and no one is going to hit me on the head and take it away from me.

On the other hand, it's embarrassing when I use it in downtown San Francisco.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#234
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first question to anyone who says they can live without a smartphone: what do you use for two factor auth?

Is two factor authentication something you can't live without, then?

I use a VPN and every so often I can't log into my gmail without having a text sent to me, so it's pretty important.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#235

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…

You must not live in a particularly populous place, if you are not seeing people making personal video calls as they walk down the street/take the bus/sit on a park bench every time you leave the house - on the way, incidentally, to my morning video conference, that people frequently join by phone from wherever they are.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#236

Dumbphone user since 2006 here. Non-Luddite. Main reasons for avoiding the switch : 1) When not using computers for work [or chess] purposes, I want to spend as little time as practical staring at a screen. I have lots of non-computer activities to attend to [gardening, studying, home maintenance, etc etc] and a family to look after. 2) I am a strong adherent to the notion that one is well-advised to maintain awarene…

You're in a gloomy waiting room. You arrived early, so could be waiting awhile. Nothing to read except a few old Vogue magazines. You're by yourself, you didn't bring a book. Your inventory is a wallet, keys, and flip phone. What is your next move?

It sounds like your solution to "Didn't remember to bring X {the book you're reading}" is "Remember to always bring Y {your smartphone}".

This isn't an argument for X or Y. This is why you shouldn't go somewhere you know you'll need to sit in a waiting room, without anything to do. From as early as I can remember, my mom would tell me "Bring a book!"

It worked. I'm more likely to remember to bring a book than my phone.

Besides, what would you do on your smartphone? If I have some specific work that needs doing, I'll bring my laptop, because that's more effective.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#237
post #57

I obliterated one of my smartphones last year after dropping it on concrete while getting off the bus. I freaked out, had no clue what to do since I was low income and couldn't afford anything for quite awhile. For a few days it was like I was an addict, constantly feeling my back pocket vibrating, constantly reaching to check my phone. After a few more days, I felt very liberated. I felt very free. I started enjoyin…

My first question to anyone who says they can live without a smartphone: what do you use for two factor auth?

This was really my only problem with not having my phone, but most if not all of what I use will send you an SMS with your 2FA so this could be easily replaced with a $9 flip phone, at least for me, but YMMV.

For work I use Winauth. I am a hourly corporate tech employee with no on-call duties currently so I don't have work Slack or any work 2FA on my personal devices.

I am looking into a yubikey or similar for the future.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#238

I obliterated one of my smartphones last year after dropping it on concrete while getting off the bus. I freaked out, had no clue what to do since I was low income and couldn't afford anything for quite awhile. For a few days it was like I was an addict, constantly feeling my back pocket vibrating, constantly reaching to check my phone. After a few more days, I felt very liberated. I felt very free. I started enjoyin…

that reminded me of how I decided to play Zelda BoTW. Zelda has a 'Pro' mode where it hides all UI but the health. I was fully decided on using it through the whole game and I think it is the best way to play the game. The absence of minimap is the biggest change. When you have your minimap is like when you drive with gps. You only wait til the map says you to turn, and after some turns staring at the minimap you get…

Hollow Knight drops you into the world with no maps at all, and it's very disorienting. It's hard to find save points, and when you die it's extremely tough to know where your soul (to get your coins/geo back) is located. You do learn some landmarks, but once you figure out how to get the maps, the game becomes a whole lot easier. Every new area throws you into it without a map.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a child, sure. That's part and parcel of growing up. But I would expect healthy adults to be able to control their impulses when it comes to things like wasting time on their phone. If someone genuinely can't, they're in trouble, and tossing the phone aside is treating the symptom at best.

Impulse control is really hard. But more importantly, it’s a losing battle, even for adults, if you use many popular services today. The reason is simple. Most of these services have highly paid and intelligent folks, whose sole purpose is to use the unprecedented private data they have on you, to hack into deep biological impulses embedded in every human built over millennia, to have you use their service more. Its…

Possible. Not fooling myself. And the ad tech industry doesn't have the technology to control your mind, or steal your soul. Their efforts remain overwhelmingly wasteful and ineffective.

I would reiterate my recommendation of investigating why you feel such lack of self-control.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#240
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

May I add: >> 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. Do you even need instant communication in that case? It's not like you're going to have a quick unexpected meetup or some "hey I'm quite busy can you go get the kids?" Not to mention time zone issues. >> When I'm…

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