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There's an alternative: use your smartphone for productivity only and drop all the social crap. This begins by uninstalling all the apps you struggle with (Fa

by zzalpha 11y ago

There's an alternative: use your smartphone for productivity only and drop all the social crap. This begins by uninstalling all the apps you struggle with (Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, etc). Now get used to putting your phone down and forgetting about it. My phone exists on demand for me, not the other way 'round. So it might sit on my desk or on my coffee table but it's almost always on silent/do-not-disturb (with the except of a few key contacts like my wife who are allowed to bug me). A smartphone is an incredible tool. Having access to the internet wherever you are has immense value. Being able to communicate with folks on-demand is very useful. But it shouldn't control your life. So learn to use the tool as just that, a tool, rather than a tether. It can be done!

scholia 11y ago
"how frequently a user recharges the phone’s battery, how many incoming text messages they receive, how many miles they travel in a given day or how they enter contacts into their phone — the decision to add last name correlates with creditworthiness — can bear on a decision to extend credit." That's more than social media use....
- zzalpha 11y ago
  I was responding to the commenter, not the article. The reality is, the smartphone is just another in a very very long line of ways to gather information about folks. Before the phone, there was credit rating agencies, who have access to your entire financial history, including credit card purchases, bill payments, bank loans, etc (for decades, now, Experian, Acxiom, etc, have known more about you could possibly imagine). Then we got the loyalty/reward cards, where people traded their purchase history for low low prices. Then we saw the rise of the internet and cloud services of all kinds (Google and Facebook). Frankly, I wouldn't even put the phone at the top of my list of concerns, as at least my phone is on my person, and I have some level of control over it...
  - scholia 11y ago
    Agreed. Except you left out travel cards ;-) > Frankly, I wouldn't even put the phone at the top of my list of concerns, as at least my phone is on my person, and I have some level of control over it... Well, up to a point. A lot of info is leaking through apps, which can be hard to control. http://jots.pub/a/2015103001/ http://jots.pub/a/2015103001/ Also, you have to remember to turn off Wi-Fi or companies will use that to track you. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/datablog/2014/jan/10/how-tracking-customers-in-store-will-soon-be-the-norm http://www.theguardian.com/technology/datablog/2014/jan/10/h... Obviously you can still be tracked via cell towers, but it's not much of a phone if you turn that off as well ;-)

by zzalpha 11y ago

scholia 11y ago

"how frequently a user recharges the phone’s battery, how many incoming text messages they receive, how many miles they travel in a given day or how they enter contacts into their phone — the decision to add last name correlates with creditworthiness — can bear on a decision to extend credit." That's more than social media use....

zzalpha 11y ago
I was responding to the commenter, not the article. The reality is, the smartphone is just another in a very very long line of ways to gather information about folks. Before the phone, there was credit rating agencies, who have access to your entire financial history, including credit card purchases, bill payments, bank loans, etc (for decades, now, Experian, Acxiom, etc, have known more about you could possibly imagine). Then we got the loyalty/reward cards, where people traded their purchase history for low low prices. Then we saw the rise of the internet and cloud services of all kinds (Google and Facebook). Frankly, I wouldn't even put the phone at the top of my list of concerns, as at least my phone is on my person, and I have some level of control over it...
- scholia 11y ago
  Agreed. Except you left out travel cards ;-) > Frankly, I wouldn't even put the phone at the top of my list of concerns, as at least my phone is on my person, and I have some level of control over it... Well, up to a point. A lot of info is leaking through apps, which can be hard to control. http://jots.pub/a/2015103001/ http://jots.pub/a/2015103001/ Also, you have to remember to turn off Wi-Fi or companies will use that to track you. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/datablog/2014/jan/10/how-tracking-customers-in-store-will-soon-be-the-norm http://www.theguardian.com/technology/datablog/2014/jan/10/h... Obviously you can still be tracked via cell towers, but it's not much of a phone if you turn that off as well ;-)