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Sure, but if you're using it only to fill a gap of time because it's there, it's worth evaluating whether you really need all the enrichment smartphones offer.

by dqv 8y ago

WalterSear 8y ago
If you live in this time in history, you will be increasingly inconvenienced without a smart phone. If you need to give it up to put it down, then your problem isn't smartphones, and you will fill it with something else in short order. Moreover, you are going to be increasingly at odds with your surroundings: the world is becoming more smartphone-like, not less.
- MisterOctober 8y ago
  Re : increasingly at odds : I'm not sure this is true. I guess it's hypothetically possible that, say, card payments will be replaced by phone-facilitated payments, but for the foreseeable future, it seems to me that absence of smartphone distraction [provided one has easy access to internet elsewhere] promotes greater, not lesser, connection with one's surroundings. [Except, of course, that 'Minority Report'-type targeted advertising and other commercial tracking functions aren't available[?] to the non-smartphone-user]
- Freak_NL 8y ago
  You wouldn't tell a smoker not to bother quitting because they'll only pick up some other addiction. There are also very few people who can smoke just a cigarette every few weeks; most people who start smoking become addicted and smoke daily. Smartphones, or more specifically, the addictive patterns used by pretty much every popular 'app' (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) are hard to defeat for a lot of people. This is an inherent feature of how our brain works, not a personal weakness — despite personal variations. For some not using smartphones (opting for 'dumb' phones instead) may be a very sensible thing to do. > Moreover, you are going to be increasingly at odds with your surroundings: the world is becoming more smartphone-like, not less. Everybody used to smoke too. There are plenty of folk who believe that you shouldn't be required to walk around with a computer on your person at all times.
  - exegete 8y ago
    You don't throw out your entire purse because it has cigarettes in it. Throw out the cigarettes and keep the purse. Uninstall the addictive apps and keep the smartphone if you want it for its utility.
- addicted 8y ago
  A lot of this is contrary to my experience having lived without a cell phone.

Sure, but if you're using it only to fill a gap of time because it's there, it's worth evaluating whether you really need all the enrichment smartphones offer.

by dqv 8y ago

Sure, but if you're using it only to fill a gap of time because it's there, it's worth evaluating whether you really need all the enrichment smartphones offer.

WalterSear 8y ago

If you live in this time in history, you will be increasingly inconvenienced without a smart phone. If you need to give it up to put it down, then your problem isn't smartphones, and you will fill it with something else in short order. Moreover, you are going to be increasingly at odds with your surroundings: the world is becoming more smartphone-like, not less.

MisterOctober 8y ago
Re : increasingly at odds : I'm not sure this is true. I guess it's hypothetically possible that, say, card payments will be replaced by phone-facilitated payments, but for the foreseeable future, it seems to me that absence of smartphone distraction [provided one has easy access to internet elsewhere] promotes greater, not lesser, connection with one's surroundings. [Except, of course, that 'Minority Report'-type targeted advertising and other commercial tracking functions aren't available[?] to the non-smartphone-user]
Freak_NL 8y ago
You wouldn't tell a smoker not to bother quitting because they'll only pick up some other addiction. There are also very few people who can smoke just a cigarette every few weeks; most people who start smoking become addicted and smoke daily. Smartphones, or more specifically, the addictive patterns used by pretty much every popular 'app' (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) are hard to defeat for a lot of people. This is an inherent feature of how our brain works, not a personal weakness — despite personal variations. For some not using smartphones (opting for 'dumb' phones instead) may be a very sensible thing to do. > Moreover, you are going to be increasingly at odds with your surroundings: the world is becoming more smartphone-like, not less. Everybody used to smoke too. There are plenty of folk who believe that you shouldn't be required to walk around with a computer on your person at all times.
- exegete 8y ago
  You don't throw out your entire purse because it has cigarettes in it. Throw out the cigarettes and keep the purse. Uninstall the addictive apps and keep the smartphone if you want it for its utility.
addicted 8y ago
A lot of this is contrary to my experience having lived without a cell phone.