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A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

nytimes.com

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Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#311

Post by wsatb »

Syonyk wrote: post #83

I am so glad to see this backlash. It's been a long time coming. We've tried smartphones out for the past... oh, decade and change. They've been around longer, but were niche enough that they didn't dominate society, and even around the start of the iPhone era, "Crackberry" and such were common enough terms (with "Put all your devices in the center, whoever picks theirs up first buys the next round" being a fun game…

Is it the smart phone that's the problem or what's on the smart phone? Sounds more like the latter.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#312

Post by badpun »

Aurornis wrote: post #165
Syonyk wrote: post #83

I am so glad to see this backlash. It's been a long time coming. We've tried smartphones out for the past... oh, decade and change. They've been around longer, but were niche enough that they didn't dominate society, and even around the start of the iPhone era, "Crackberry" and such were common enough terms (with "Put all your devices in the center, whoever picks theirs up first buys the next round" being a fun game…

> The results are solidly in: They're an utter disaster for most people, and for society at large. In no particular order, they ruin social interactions in public situations (think "talking to people in the grocery line" - though I've seen fewer people on their phones lately and can get some conversations going), I’m in the age group that is just old enough to remember adult life before everyone had smartphones. Hone…

Things have really started changing with when radio receivers became popular. Before them, there really was no technology for easy, cheap, endless, captivating passive entertainment. TV was radio on steroids, and Internet and smartphones are even more captivating.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#313

Post by AltruisticGapHN »

BeetleB wrote: post #30
hammock wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I feel like i would like a phone…but the communication aspects can be problematic. That’s not a phone then. It’s a computer (?)

Exactly. Where can I get a device that I can use away from home, fits in my pocket, and does not receive calls/texts? I value the camera, the GPS, and occasionally the data (not OP).

This used to be the iPod touch.

iPhone 12 mini is my first smartphone late 2023. I have used iPads for ten years. Love how the iPad freed me from sitting at the PC.

Now similarly I wonder if I’ll ever buy iPad again and just buy a good smartphone. Can go airplane mode anyway if I want to.

iPhone is kinda like a iPad mini with the SIM card stuff.

The convergence is inevitable, Apple Pay is great. My banking app is easier to use on phone than on PC WTF phone doesn’t require me to swipe card in some physical card trader, just type in a short code.

It only makes sense someday the phone will be like your ID for everything.

IMHO the core unease here is not really the device but just how apps are built, especially social media, which itself is symptomatic of a distorted way of life (cf koyaanisqatsi)

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#314

Post by JohnFen »

throw4847285 wrote: post #309
JohnFen wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem I've found with flip phones is that they're still smartphones, complete with apps. Just very limited smartphones. I want an actual dumbphone, but I can't find any on the market anywhere.

Funnily enough, if you're shopping for a "kosher phone" you can actually choose between a smartphone with a limited number of apps to fit in with your religious strictures, or an actually bonafide dumb phone. https://koshercell.org/collections/dumb-phones Though there may be other features of a Kosher phone that don't make it a good choice for somebody who wants a dumb phone but doesn't live within a specific type of…

Oh, thank you! I will absolutely check this out.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#315

Post by theodric »

Tell ya what I want (and actually built a prototype of, but gave up on in favor of alcoholism mid-pandemic): a Bluetooth A2DP-enabled, Wi-Fi capable podcast playing device. I don't want to have to go power on a computer to sync my player with the latest episodes, and I also don't want to be stuck with wired headphones like it's 2007 again. Give me that and I will walk away from the smartphone with little to no negative impact on my life.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#316

Post by vonjuice »

skidd0 wrote: post #283
vonjuice wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think addiction is about chemical dependence you need to deepen and broaden your knowledge on the subject.

Addiction has many factors. I was pointing out that crack and other drugs can form chemical dependencies that apps and screen time cannot.

Conversely there's aspects of screens that are not present in crack, such as widespread acceptance and even encouragement, hijacking of our most prioritized sense organ, etc.

If you were to design a visual drug, as a concept, you wouldn't get very far from the current state of affairs.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#317

Post by Broken_Hippo »

bayindirh wrote: post #228
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My smartphone has replaced things that I used to carry. It is a tool. And as a bonus, I can pass time while waiting - doctors office, etc - which makes me more pleasant. My smartphone functions as a watch, notetaking device, and communication device. I rarely get lost now that I almost always have a map. It is a music device, which is really helpful considering I walk and take busses for most of my transportation. Th…

> I can pass time while waiting - doctors office, etc - which makes me more pleasant. If you need to suppress your thoughts by using a tool while being alone and not doing something (to be pleasant), maybe you should do something about these thoughts rather than suppress them?

I don't need to supress my thoughts. I don't know why people jump to this. I do things quietly all the time. Perhaps you shouldn't assume this sort of thing and do something to see others in a more positive light.

The main issue with waiting is that I'm just waiting. I don't like waiting and don't don't see an issue with doing something so the time passes more quickly.

If you don't like something and have the tools to make it a little better, why would you not use them? Especially if it makes you a bit less irritated if they are running late - it makes things better for everyone.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#318

Post by Broken_Hippo »

bayindirh wrote: post #246
threetonesun wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tend to read books on mine in such situations. I can sit alone in the woods quietly without any issues, but reading something I brought seems preferable to flipping through the magazine stacks or staring a gray wall.

Reading books is somewhat different than scrolling through endless feeds and numbing yourself, though. I also prefer to read books in these situations, or face with the thing which makes me uncomfortable. I don't like to have a puddle of thoughts which fester and attack at the most inconvenient times, making my life harder than it should be.

Just because you prefer one thing over another doesn't mean the other is bad.

Not everyone is scrolling through endless feeds, either - I'm more likely to play a game. There are more than two things you can do with a phone.

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#319

Post by autoexec »

snarkyturtle wrote: post #254
tristor wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curmudgeonly enough that I'd tend to agree with you, however as someone who travels often I don't think I could ever give up my smartphone. I actually had a smartphone and some other similar devices well ahead of them being popular, and the reasons pretty much have not changed. Here are the things I don't have a reasonable alternative, because it's not just the capability, it's the capability backed by the Intern…

Really it's just social media that's terrible. If all the social media apps go away, you still get left with all the above and can contact people you know. Algorithmic recommendations and flame wars with strangers are the worst things about smartphones — and they're not limited to them either.

You're still stuck carrying around a device designed to collect as much of your personal data as possible. Any kind of cell phone will cause your location to be tracked (where you live, where you work, where you sleep, who you're with, etc) but smart phones are packed with more sensors and many non-social media apps are filled with ads and do everything they can to steal as much of your data as possible too

Re: A practical guide to quitting your smartphone

#320

Post by Broken_Hippo »

Zambyte wrote: post #222
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My smartphone has replaced things that I used to carry. It is a tool. And as a bonus, I can pass time while waiting - doctors office, etc - which makes me more pleasant. My smartphone functions as a watch, notetaking device, and communication device. I rarely get lost now that I almost always have a map. It is a music device, which is really helpful considering I walk and take busses for most of my transportation. Th…

> which makes me more pleasant. Did you get this opinion from others, or is this your own rationalization?

If you find something that makes you no longer mind waiting (and therefore more patient) or makes you not be so anxiety-ridden when you get your appointment (like a doctor's appointment)... Wouldn't you be more pleasant, and that pleasantry would come more naturally rather than forced, would it not?
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