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Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

sirupsen.com

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Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#71

Post by meaty »

koyote wrote: post #64
meaty wrote: post #44

I recently got a Nokia C2-01. Very basic thing that is used for calls and texts and doesn't need charging every half a day. It's also on Giffgaff in the UK so it costs me £20 top up a month for what I was paying around £80 a month for before. It is a weight lifted from my shoulders in many ways.

£20 on giffgaff? You must make a lot of calls to non-giffgaff users on the go. And how were you paying £80 before? The advantage of having a smartphone is that you can get by easily on something like their £10-12 plan simply by using data to make free skype/gtalk/SIP calls and everything else is unlimited anyway. Battery and general reliability wise, nothing beats a good old Nokia though!

Yeah 800 inclusive minutes on that deal. I make a lot of calls (650-700 mins a month).

£80 before: handset included and crap contract.

Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#72

Post by whichdan »

brador wrote: post #26

Try this - Leave home with nothing and go take a walk around. No bags, no phone, no keys, nothing. Just clothes and maybe $20 in your pocket for emergencies. Leave early and with no commitments later in the day. Eat on the road. Return when you feel like it. Walk at whatever pace you like. Go wherever your legs take you. It's an awesome feeling like nothing else. Helps if you live with someone so they can let you in…

If the idea of walking around aimlessly appeals to you but you'd rather keep your phone with you, I would highly recommend a pair of bluetooth headphones. During the summer I'll usually walk around Boston for ten or so miles just listening to music. It's very relaxing, and lunch tastes a lot better when you're exhausted.

If you like the idea but lack the self control, the new iPod Touches have bluetooth, or you can always turn off certain wireless services on your iPhone/Android/etc.

Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#73

Post by whichdan »

koide wrote: post #39
cleis wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could, you know, take keys... I fail to understand the distraction of having keys. It's not like I walk past every door I see and think 'man, must try and unlock that with my handy keys'. I suppose they do jangle. Bloody jangling keys.

You could take only the one or two keys needed to get in, tied up with a tiny bit of wire. Leave the keychain and rest of junk keys you might have.

What I do is keep my keys on ~3 different keyrings based on what they're for, and a snap hook to keep them all together. Makes it easy to mix-and-match, and you don't have to fumble with a wire.

Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#74

Post by drzaiusapelord »

duiker101 wrote: post #65
neya wrote: post #24

Here's my experience. It's not exactly the same, but it's worth a read. Currently I have a very basic Nokia model. There is a process called 'handing over' or 'hand shake' that happens when you move from one cell (a small region of an entire area) to another or when one cellphone tower 'hands over' the signal to another tower. This process is handled exceptionally well on most smartphones, but not so well on the basi…

So, we reached that point already where we are so forward that we want to go backward? The things that make our life easier really just make it better? I am not sure... I'm not going to say you are wrong, only it is quite funny if you think about it...

If you can't say no and don't have much self-control, it just makes sense to get rid of the device that empowers those behaviors. I imagine those people are in the minority but perhaps in the majority amongst geeks. Not to mention things like reddit blockers, etc.

Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#75

Post by greyboy »

neya wrote: post #69
naner wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Currently I have a very basic Nokia model. There is a process called 'handing over' or 'hand shake' that happens when you move from one cell (a small region of an entire area) to another or when one cellphone tower 'hands over' the signal to another tower. This process is handled exceptionally well on most smartphones, but not so well on the basic phones such as lower-end Nokias. Are you sure this is accurate? I've n…

I have a Nokia C1-00. I've also had a dozen other basic models from LG and Samsung and they too had this, for some strange reason. I think it has something to do with the phone's inbuilt micro-processor not being powerful enough to hand-over on time....

That's weird and, well, not my experience.

I've never owned a smartphone and usually use basic candybar or flip phones, such as this cheap $20 Nokia sitting next to me. I can't say that reason sounds likely. (And I have a whole drawer full of old, cheap phones that I give to foreigners visiting the US)

Dropped calls are rather rare for me and usually happen when I'm sitting still in my office, not moving about.

Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#76

Post by georgemcbay »

There is an in-between solution here:

Buy a cheap Android phone.

For example the HTC One V regularly sells for $150 (with no contract) and has had a few sales days over the past few months where it was selling for only $50. A $50-150 phone gives you that same "I don't really have to worry about my phone" situation while still allowing you to have the smartphone experience -- web, email, apps, GPS with turn-by-turn directions using the excellent Google Navigation, etc.

I owned an iPhone 3G then went to a Motorola Droid (the original one) and then realized that while I could afford "expensive" phones and data plans, I was mostly throwing money away so I switched to cheap Android phones on no-contract plans (Virgin Mobile in my case though T-Mobile also has some nice options).

Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#77

Post by bluekite2000 »

You can have the best of both worlds. I have an unlocked iphone 4. I pay as I go. I have no data plan. Before I go out I download what I need so I can read it offline (books,videos,articles,podcasts,etc) Google maps works offline so I dont fear of getting lost. I take pictures for myself

Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#78

Post by ssharp »

I can't believe that any majority of smartphone users' lives are being debilitated by owning a smartphone. Just like there is a large area between not drinking and being a full-blown alcoholic, there is a large area between not owning a smartphone and being addicted to a smartphone.

If you cannot control yourself enough to stop constantly taking pictures and posting them to Facebook and you don't like this behavior, then tossing the phone in the trash might be your best play. But for those of us who own a smartphone and rarely touch the camera and Facebook app, the phone isn't affecting my life in a negative manner. Yes, I'd rather have access to 16GB of local music and access Spotify than not have it. If it's there, I can choose to use it or not.

The issue here isn't the smartphone, it's making bad choices that lead to negative outcomes for you.

Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#79

Post by pretoriusB »

Let me guess: for some BS superficial reason, like:

1) Getting the chance to switch to Android which is, like, soooooo much better (and "open")?

2) Getting the chance to live life without constant connectivity, and appreciating the small things?

Re: Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

#80

Post by ygra »

Of course, having a smartphone doesn't really force you to check it obsessively every two minutes or be literally glued to its screen. To me at least it's nice that I can check e-mail, Twitter and the web while not at home or ask a service for directions.

But I don't feel in any way forced that my life needs to revolve around this little computer in my pocket. I can still enjoy my surroundings and talk to actual people. Heck, I sometimes even miss calls because my ringtone defaults to “no one else should be annoyed by it” but that's ok – just because I carry a cellphone doesn't mean I must use that connectedness at all times.

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