6 ms·

I'm 37, and I have never really had a smartphone, because I don't want one. I know I tend to be addicted to the internet (I can't resit my laptop when it's near

by grecy 8y ago

I'm 37, and I have never really had a smartphone, because I don't want one. I know I tend to be addicted to the internet (I can't resit my laptop when it's nearby with wifi), so I think it's more healthy for me to just not have a smartphone than to resist temptation (like an alcoholic simply not going into bars). I'm a Software Engineer and I've never downloaded or used an "app" on a smartphone. I did buy a new Android one for $20USD in Guinea, but I just use it to tether my laptop and it doesn't have a single app on it. I've never browsed the web on it or made a phone call because the interface sucks. It's interesting to watch how addicted people are to their phones, and how much it invades everyday life. I think I have an interesting perspective looking from the outside in. Whenever I'm out for drinks or dinner, every single other person checks their phone about every 1-2 minutes, often spending at least that long doing nothing other than staring at their phone, oblivious to those around them. During those times I really enjoy looking around to see who else isn't on their phone, and I make eye contact and smile to see what kind of human responses I can get. I have previously been at a table of 10 people and I'm the only one not staring at a phone. I get that they can make life much easier in certain situations (coordinating meetups with people, locations, timing, etc.), but to be honest the more I observe from the "outside", the more I'm convinced the negatives outweigh the positives. Of course everyone needs to make their own choice, and I'm by no means saying everyone should ditch their phone or that phones are stupid.

tannhaeuser 8y ago
In my current job I'm almost daily going by subway and see most people fumbling on their phone all the time. Many can't even stop when hopping on/off the train. Now when I carefully look at just what it is that captures their attention, it's mostly cheap games or endless-scroll taboola-style crap. A guy sitting next to me the other day simultaneously phoned and frantically clicked on random crap on his phone with no chance of actually reading anything on there. I've noticed some are even staring caustically at the phone's home screen or settings panel after having consumed everything being offered online for the time being. I don't know, but IMHO these people should go see a therapist, and we should seriously get a move going to call out and stop this pathological addictive behaviour.
- DKnoll 8y ago
  There isn't much else to do on public transportation. You either fumble around on your phone or stare blankly at the wall. When I took public transit regularly I would read sometimes but there was too much noise and movement around me to really focus. Clearly you find yourself bored as well since you're looking over people's shoulders.
  - yazboo 8y ago
    It’s a miracle people suffered transit at all in the years before the invention of handheld networked devices.
    - Nextgrid 8y ago
      Weren’t people reading books/newspapers before, or playing paper-based games (crossword, sudoku, etc)? In most public transports the noise would make any conversation impossible anyway even if it would be considered acceptable and normal.
    - gukov 8y ago
      Boredom leads to inventions. Transit must've led to so many great ones.
  - Infinitesimus 8y ago
    There are also those rare moments when you can strike up a conversation with someone else on the train and those can be nice if that's your cup of tea
    - Mirioron 8y ago
      Depends on where you live. Doing this here would irritate most people a lot.
    - _eht 8y ago
      Thanks, I hated it.
  - 8y ago
open-source-ux 8y ago
I have a smartphone. A Windows smartphone. I'd say at least 60% of websites fail to render using the (obsolete) version of Internet Explorer on the phone (but Hacker News renders fine). Windows Phone OS support ends in December 2019 so I'll have to switch to a new phone at some point. Why do I keep using it? Familiarity and I like the simplicity of the OS. It does have a few essential apps like offline maps. Windows Phone OS is probably the best UI that Microsoft created. It's also refreshingly different compared to the converging design and behaviour of Android and iOS (grid of icons vs tiles). Ironically, a little-used, dead-end OS with few apps available on the platform means you can't do a great deal on the phone apart from call or text people. Maybe a blessing in disguise?
- ryl00 8y ago
  Are you me? :) With my Windows Phone I am immune from websites continually trying to push me to use their app ( take that, reddit! ;) ). And it makes a great smartphone for my son... just enough capability to stay connected, but a lot of distractions are just not possible to indulge in...
- rockbmb 8y ago
  >Ironically, a little-used, dead-end OS with few apps available on the platform means you can't do a great deal on the phone apart from call or text people. This right here. I am quite fond of how using a Windows phone replicates the early cellphone experience from the late 1990s/early 2000s. One only has what they need, but most of the time, it's exactly one would want anyway. Most commonly used apps are being phased out as well, meaning one has no choice - there is no way to use them, so it's almost as if the passage of time strips the phone down to the barest essentials. Mine functions as an alarm, watch and flashlight. I must admit a VPN and Signal/Matrix/Riot would be nice occasionally, though, but WhatsApp, notwithstanding its ownership by Facebook, works well.
- vxNsr 8y ago
  I was this until tmobile changed their network and it no longer connected to me L1520. I loved that phone. I stopped using it right around the time that WP really fell out of favor (End of 2015, when tmo dropped it) but I wish I could still use a current version. Microsoft somehow really got most things right with that UX, the UI was fun and made sense, there were small quirks that I didn't realize other people on iOS (which I switched to) didn't suffer from but for the most part it was a better experience. By far my favorite thing was the home screen and folders. the ability to have different size tiles and folders made my homescreen unique and incredibly powerful.
everdev 8y ago
I attended a basketball game recently and saw multiple people playing arcade puzzle games and one person watching a YouTube video of another basketball game. All of this was happening while the live game was in play!
- rasz 8y ago
  Cant blame them - you cant fast forward boring bits IRL.
avip 8y ago
I was like you until I had kids. Then suddenly no phone implied me not knowing soccer was cancelled, my kids missing birthdays etc. At some point, too much of "real life" moved online, and the consequences of not having a phone overweighted my not very coherent "ideology". But I seriously applaud your efforts!
keypress 8y ago
That's interesting, I'm similar. I've just gotten my first smartphone. Weirdly I'm not that drawn to it. It feels a bit too passive for me compared to my laptop. And it's just too large and clunky. Used it twice for walks/maps so far. Which is the biggest draw for me. Many people around me are stuck in their phones. I do find reading on the laptop difficult, and thought the better screen on the smartphone might be easier. But my brain still doesn't like it compared to e-paper. Not drawn to any apps yet, and the thought of trying to key a message into it fills me with horror. Charging is a pain. Years back I'd have loved these modern incarnations, the tech is pretty great, even modern Android is usable and quite slick. Perhaps watching my partner pick up the phone every few minutes every night has been enough to put me off. I'll likely switch back to my old Nokia I think.
- keypress 8y ago
  That's not to say that I don't waste oodles of time on my personal computer. I certainly have some addiction there. I've lost months to what amounts to not a lot through computer use.
- darkerside 8y ago
  It's funny, I feel the same way about smoking when I first tried it. What's the big deal? Why can't anyone just stop? It's only after years of building habits and life rhythms that you realize how deeply ingrained these things become.. I no longer smoke, but my relationship with my device is very choppy. Sometimes healthy (I'm in control, and I use my phone when I want or need to), and sometimes not.
  - keypress 8y ago
    Oh I've totally got an Internet problem regarding my laptop. So understand how that could translate to a mobile. Mine is just a little less conspicuous. I can type relatively easily on a keyboard after many years, whereas the barrier to text entry on a mobile is far higher for me. I think that's part of it. I notice my passivity more on the mobile. Or perhaps I think I'm more busy on the laptop. Whereas probably both are equally futile.
trumped 8y ago
I did try to resist for a long time (about the same age as you), but I finally caved in a few years ago.... But I'm thinking of going back without a pocket computer because the mobile companies can't be trusted.

by grecy 8y ago

tannhaeuser 8y ago

In my current job I'm almost daily going by subway and see most people fumbling on their phone all the time. Many can't even stop when hopping on/off the train. Now when I carefully look at just what it is that captures their attention, it's mostly cheap games or endless-scroll taboola-style crap. A guy sitting next to me the other day simultaneously phoned and frantically clicked on random crap on his phone with no chance of actually reading anything on there. I've noticed some are even staring caustically at the phone's home screen or settings panel after having consumed everything being offered online for the time being. I don't know, but IMHO these people should go see a therapist, and we should seriously get a move going to call out and stop this pathological addictive behaviour.

DKnoll 8y ago
There isn't much else to do on public transportation. You either fumble around on your phone or stare blankly at the wall. When I took public transit regularly I would read sometimes but there was too much noise and movement around me to really focus. Clearly you find yourself bored as well since you're looking over people's shoulders.
- yazboo 8y ago
  It’s a miracle people suffered transit at all in the years before the invention of handheld networked devices.
  - Nextgrid 8y ago
    Weren’t people reading books/newspapers before, or playing paper-based games (crossword, sudoku, etc)? In most public transports the noise would make any conversation impossible anyway even if it would be considered acceptable and normal.
  - gukov 8y ago
    Boredom leads to inventions. Transit must've led to so many great ones.
- Infinitesimus 8y ago
  There are also those rare moments when you can strike up a conversation with someone else on the train and those can be nice if that's your cup of tea
  - Mirioron 8y ago
    Depends on where you live. Doing this here would irritate most people a lot.
  - _eht 8y ago
    Thanks, I hated it.
- 8y ago

open-source-ux 8y ago

I have a smartphone. A Windows smartphone. I'd say at least 60% of websites fail to render using the (obsolete) version of Internet Explorer on the phone (but Hacker News renders fine). Windows Phone OS support ends in December 2019 so I'll have to switch to a new phone at some point. Why do I keep using it? Familiarity and I like the simplicity of the OS. It does have a few essential apps like offline maps. Windows Phone OS is probably the best UI that Microsoft created. It's also refreshingly different compared to the converging design and behaviour of Android and iOS (grid of icons vs tiles). Ironically, a little-used, dead-end OS with few apps available on the platform means you can't do a great deal on the phone apart from call or text people. Maybe a blessing in disguise?

ryl00 8y ago
Are you me? :) With my Windows Phone I am immune from websites continually trying to push me to use their app ( take that, reddit! ;) ). And it makes a great smartphone for my son... just enough capability to stay connected, but a lot of distractions are just not possible to indulge in...
rockbmb 8y ago
>Ironically, a little-used, dead-end OS with few apps available on the platform means you can't do a great deal on the phone apart from call or text people. This right here. I am quite fond of how using a Windows phone replicates the early cellphone experience from the late 1990s/early 2000s. One only has what they need, but most of the time, it's exactly one would want anyway. Most commonly used apps are being phased out as well, meaning one has no choice - there is no way to use them, so it's almost as if the passage of time strips the phone down to the barest essentials. Mine functions as an alarm, watch and flashlight. I must admit a VPN and Signal/Matrix/Riot would be nice occasionally, though, but WhatsApp, notwithstanding its ownership by Facebook, works well.
vxNsr 8y ago
I was this until tmobile changed their network and it no longer connected to me L1520. I loved that phone. I stopped using it right around the time that WP really fell out of favor (End of 2015, when tmo dropped it) but I wish I could still use a current version. Microsoft somehow really got most things right with that UX, the UI was fun and made sense, there were small quirks that I didn't realize other people on iOS (which I switched to) didn't suffer from but for the most part it was a better experience. By far my favorite thing was the home screen and folders. the ability to have different size tiles and folders made my homescreen unique and incredibly powerful.

everdev 8y ago

I attended a basketball game recently and saw multiple people playing arcade puzzle games and one person watching a YouTube video of another basketball game. All of this was happening while the live game was in play!

rasz 8y ago
Cant blame them - you cant fast forward boring bits IRL.

avip 8y ago

I was like you until I had kids. Then suddenly no phone implied me not knowing soccer was cancelled, my kids missing birthdays etc. At some point, too much of "real life" moved online, and the consequences of not having a phone overweighted my not very coherent "ideology". But I seriously applaud your efforts!

keypress 8y ago

That's interesting, I'm similar. I've just gotten my first smartphone. Weirdly I'm not that drawn to it. It feels a bit too passive for me compared to my laptop. And it's just too large and clunky. Used it twice for walks/maps so far. Which is the biggest draw for me. Many people around me are stuck in their phones. I do find reading on the laptop difficult, and thought the better screen on the smartphone might be easier. But my brain still doesn't like it compared to e-paper. Not drawn to any apps yet, and the thought of trying to key a message into it fills me with horror. Charging is a pain. Years back I'd have loved these modern incarnations, the tech is pretty great, even modern Android is usable and quite slick. Perhaps watching my partner pick up the phone every few minutes every night has been enough to put me off. I'll likely switch back to my old Nokia I think.

keypress 8y ago
That's not to say that I don't waste oodles of time on my personal computer. I certainly have some addiction there. I've lost months to what amounts to not a lot through computer use.
darkerside 8y ago
It's funny, I feel the same way about smoking when I first tried it. What's the big deal? Why can't anyone just stop? It's only after years of building habits and life rhythms that you realize how deeply ingrained these things become.. I no longer smoke, but my relationship with my device is very choppy. Sometimes healthy (I'm in control, and I use my phone when I want or need to), and sometimes not.
- keypress 8y ago
  Oh I've totally got an Internet problem regarding my laptop. So understand how that could translate to a mobile. Mine is just a little less conspicuous. I can type relatively easily on a keyboard after many years, whereas the barrier to text entry on a mobile is far higher for me. I think that's part of it. I notice my passivity more on the mobile. Or perhaps I think I'm more busy on the laptop. Whereas probably both are equally futile.

trumped 8y ago

I did try to resist for a long time (about the same age as you), but I finally caved in a few years ago.... But I'm thinking of going back without a pocket computer because the mobile companies can't be trusted.