Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Dumber phone

nomasters.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

321–330 of 347 posts

Re: Dumber phone

#321

Post by mcovey »

I own a smartphone, but I use it like I'd use a tablet - wifi only, at home. My primary phone, the only one I take with me to work most of the time, is just a pay-as-you-go flip phone.

In fact, I didn't downgrade to this from a smartphone. I've never had a smartphone with phone service, that I carry around with me or use. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing. Maybe I don't want to know.

The only real thing I wish I had was an easier way to carry on text conversations. Typing on a phone dialpad is not very fast. Most of the time I can use Verizon Message+ which works in a web browser and lets me send SMS from my own phone number. But when I'm not near a computer, I can't do that.

Re: Dumber phone

#322

Post by Tsiklon »

jazzdev wrote: post #270
mozzarella wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my dad decided to quit smoking, he didn't throw out the pack of cigarettes he was currently in the middle of. Instead, he put them up on the shelf next to his work desk. The pack wasn't totally in his face, nor was it out of sight. Despite the visual reminder being present, he broke his years' long pack-a-day habit. Eventually - long after he stopped smoking - he threw the pack out, as part of his usual housekee…

My grandfather did the same thing. Carried a half-empty pack around in his jacket for weeks after he decided to stop. I always thought that was the hard way to do it, but maybe not.

"they're there if I want them, but I don't - and that's OK."

Those first few weeks are the most difficult part of the process.

Re: Dumber phone

#323

Post by psteinweber »

maxxxxx wrote: post #21
willnewman wrote: post #14

I adhere to a lot of these rules myself and have recently noticed peers doing the same. Another I'd add that really makes the phone boring is putting it in grayscale mode. On iOS: Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations > Color Filters > Grayscale. Then you can set the Accessibility Shortcut to Color Filters, and when you triple click the home button your phone goes grayscale. I don't have it on 2…

I set my Android device to grayscale for a while. I liked it but for the video player and one photo app I would like to have colors. Does anyone know how to do this? I have tried to do something with Tasker but couldn't figure it out.

I recently saw an app (Android only) that apparently is capable of setting your phone to grayscale, with the exception of certain apps.

Unfortunately I can't find it anymore. I've been trying hard.

I too would love to live on a black and white phone with certain exceptions (in my case mainly camera and maps).

If anyone knows/remembers this app, you'd make my day :)

Re: Dumber phone

#324

Post by mcovey »

chrisseaton wrote: post #315
allenrb wrote: post #243

It's been about a month since I pulled the SIM from my iPhone, snipped it in half, sync'd the latest photos (mostly my daughter, or cats), ran a factory reset, and stuck it on a shelf. I bought an LG flip phone the next morning. Since then, I've felt like parts of my brain are growing back. While I'd cut down significantly on smartphone usage over the prior year, I'd started to realize that the mere act of exercising…

> I bought an LG flip phone the next morning. Why did you get a new phone though? If it's not a smartphone can you only do phone calls and SMS on it? Do many people use phone calls or SMS any more? You may as well just not carry anything.

Yes, of course many people still use phone calls and SMS.

You can also email via SMS if you so desire, both sending and receiving works, although finding out your SMS email address usually involves sending yourself an email from the phone first.

Re: Dumber phone

#325

Post by mcovey »

btreecat wrote: post #55
laurieg wrote: post #49

I really recommend unplugging for a few days. It helps you notice how you are interacting with technology. I spent 4 days on a tiny island (population 11) a few years ago. I was there with one friend and we decided that there would be no screens and no watches/clocks for the whole time. You very quickly adjust to not having it. Easily within a day. We ate when we got up, and then again later on. We went to sleep soon…

It doesn't even have to be that extreme. Go camping, or even for a hike for a few hours. Just take some time on the reg to disconnect.

I prefer disconnected by default. I connect when I want/need to.

Re: Dumber phone

#326

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

mcovey wrote: post #321

I own a smartphone, but I use it like I'd use a tablet - wifi only, at home. My primary phone, the only one I take with me to work most of the time, is just a pay-as-you-go flip phone. In fact, I didn't downgrade to this from a smartphone. I've never had a smartphone with phone service, that I carry around with me or use. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing. Maybe I don't want to know. The only real thing I wish I ha…

Seems like a 7" tablet would be a better use case if you don't need pocketability.

Re: Dumber phone

#327

Post by wilsonnb »

205guy wrote: post #212

I didn't see this mentioned in a quick scan of the comments: no data plan. I originally did this with my wife to save money: 2 AT&T grandfathered unlimited data plans for $160 down to $15 for 2 phones on an MVNO talk+text family plan (both plans had limited minutes, but the MVNO is cheaper for add'l minutes). We use wifi at home and at work, though since I have computers there, I don't find myself connecting on the p…

For anyone else looking to save money on their phone plan, check out Project Fi.

My wife and I pay $20 for the first unlimited talk/text line and $15 for the second (all of them after the first line cost $15), plus 10 dollars for each gigabyte of data used.

It's rare for us to use more than 2 gigs of data in a month so our bill is usually between $45 and $55 dollars.

If you are so inclined, phone protection plans cost $5 dollars a month and have reasonable replacement prices ($79 to replace my Pixel 2 that I paid $650 for). They also offer interest free financing over 24 months on all of their phones.

As long as you don't mind the small selection of phones (at the moment the only phones they sell are the Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, and Moto X4 I think), it's a very good deal.

Re: Dumber phone

#328

Post by wilsonnb »

munk-a wrote: post #188

There are a lot of technical ways to get around this but here's a simpler approach. I just don't own a smart phone. I own an old flip phone and use it primarily to communicate with my immediate family through texts and calls. I have the advantage of not being required to have a smart phone for work and I'm quite happy with that situation. I generally don't use facebook or pretty much any other social media sites (hac…

This approach does require a lot of sacrifices. Smartphones have a lot of utility that dumb phones don't have.

In particular, I wouldn't want to go without Google maps, Spotify, Uber, and Google Authenticator. Aside from that I don't have many apps installed on my phone.

Re: Dumber phone

#329

Post by wilsonnb »

vpeters25 wrote: post #166

This is a good idea, but i think it could go even further. Somewhat unrelated but if you really want to see how horrendously unfriendly the typical smartphone UX is, hand one to a technology-challenged grandparent (who can probably use a legacy cellphone/flip phone just fine) and ask them to call you. They are more likely to accidentally take selfies than figure out how to call you, even if they have your phone numbe…

How is "unlock the phone, click on the picture of the phone, dial number" a horrendously unfriendly UX?

Re: Dumber phone

#330

Post by wpietri »

nixme wrote: post #143
wpietri wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me ask the crowd. Would you use a browser plugin that eliminates newsfeeds? One of the things I struggle with is the endless novelty of a newsfeed. I can always scroll and get more. And then I can reload for another chance at finding something interesting. There are extensions that do this for Facebook alone, but I was thinking something more general. And something that's also clever about eliminating the way com…

HabitLab for Chrome has this as a nudge.

Ooh! I was not aware of this. Very interesting! Much more impressive than what I would have built. Thanks!
Post reply on HN