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Not just the poor, but even homeless often have phones. I'm the author of YSN[0], which is a web and mobile app for helping homeless youth in Minnesota. Whene
by judah 10y ago
Not just the poor, but even homeless often have phones.
I'm the author of YSN[0], which is a web and mobile app for helping homeless youth in Minnesota.
Whenever I show the app to people, the usual response is: "Wait, homeless youth have phones?"
The answer is yes, a great many do. Because, as you note, it's their only connection to the digital world, and often times, the only connection to friends or family.
[0]: https://ysnmn.org https://ysnmn.org
- jacquesm 10y agoFor a homeless person a phone is a first degree necessity.
- seppin 10y agorefugees, too
- Banthum 10y agoInteresting. Why? What changed in the last 15 years to make this so?
- burkaman 10y agoIt's very difficult to find a job and a home if you have no way for people to consistently contact you.
- jacquesm 10y agoThe fact that lots of day-to-day life has moved online. Try finding a job through a news-paper ad, try making a doctors appointment by phone, try reaching the authorities without having to go through email. Try buying a regular map of any city and try staying in touch with your family without facebook or email. Without a home-address email/phone is suddenly the only way authorities can reach you or vv. (Smart)Phones are safety devices. And I'm saying that as a 'dumb' phone user, but I can only afford that because I also have a laptop and a desktop machine and don't care one bit about facebook.
- josephorjoe 10y agoYou can easily get a job without a mailing address nowadays, but it is really really hard to get one without a phone and/or email.
- ceejayoz 10y agoFor starters, there used to be a phone booth on every corner.
- peterwwillis 10y agoWell... 15 years ago we didn't have smartphones. If 15 years ago you could tell a homeless person that they could carry a post office, a phone box, a map, a list of social services, a research tool, and a way to communicate with friends, family and allies in their pocket, they would have gotten one, too. Of course you're not going to pay for an iPhone if you're short on cash, but smartphones have cost less than 100 dollars for five years, and used phones sell for less. Combine this with wifi, and maybe a pay-as-you-go or super cheap unlimited SMS plan with limited talk, and the low price you pay for the kind of resources you get access to is a no-brainer. And let's not forget you have a lot of down time when you're homeless. Candy Crush Saga might just keep you from going crazy.