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I appreciate the sentiment but my phone now does so many things that I would really miss if I'd have to get rid of it. GPS and navigation, Mobile Banking, IM be

I appreciate the sentiment but my phone now does so many things that I would really miss if I'd have to get rid of it. GPS and navigation, Mobile Banking, IM because nobody sends text messages anymore, Calendar and quick web searches and a decent camera I'll always carry.

jacquesm 7y ago
- GPS and navigation I look at a map before I leave when on foot and in the car I have a navigator. - Mobile Banking Nothing that can't wait until I'm behind a desk. - IM because nobody sends text messages anymore Nobody sends me IM messages because I never used it in the first place. - Calendar Could be useful, once every month or so, but on the whole it is easy enough to do this stuff once I'm back behind my desk, worst case the other side has access and they can send me an invite. This really only comes up when someone on the phone wants to book some kind of appointment when I'm on the road, and in that case I'm actually really happy I am not going to be tempted to look at my phone, it is annoying enough that people expect your phone to be answered at all hours. - quick web searches I do a ton of those, but not when I'm out of the office or meeting people, I've had a case come up once or twice but usually I just make a mental note to check up on something. - a decent camera I'll always carry That's a good one, another one which would work for me would be to have something good to read wherever I go. But those two can be solved quite easily: my dumb phone has a reasonably good camera and there's always a book in my bag.
- gloflo 7y ago
  Good for you. How is your FTP file synchronisation going? Sarcasm aside, surely you know how much of an outlier you are. Your comment sounds pretty limited on empathy for other lifestyles.
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    > Your comment sounds pretty limited on empathy for other lifestyles. That problem is on your end I'm afraid, no judgment call on other lifestyles was implied or intended, I merely documented how I do stuff without commenting on how you do stuff or how I feel you should do stuff. In a nutshell: I'm susceptible to being distracted with an ease that makes toddlers jealous and because of that I have to seriously restrict the kind of effect my environment has on me or I'll happily burn up my whole life without achieving anything. In order to do that I've decided that smartphones - besides being a security risk and a tracking device - are not for me.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
  Do you have any sort of music player with you? My phone is basically my life's soundtrack - music, podcasts, or audiobooks.
  - ocdtrekkie 7y ago
    A shocking number of dumb devices play music, including most dumbphones. Not the parent, but in my personal case I only listen to music in my car, and have my MP3 library synced to a device in my car. It doesn't cost me data and works in the middle of nowhere.
- CapricornNoble 7y ago
  I'm curious, do you travel internationally? In my experience, unless I do an inordinate amount of prior planning (printing out map directions, itineraries, hotel reservations, etc.) it is very easy to have navigation difficulties in unfamiliar cities with street signs in foreign languages....or no street signs at all. Where do you get an accurate map when you are trying to meet people at a newly-opened cafe in Hanoi's old French Quarter? Nobody can send you an IM? So if you strike up a conversation with a Shenzhen entrepreneur, he wants to stay in contact to talk business and suggests WeChat, your only response is [US phone number] or [email]? No web searches when out of the office? So if your next course of action is contingent upon a piece of information you don't currently have access to, you can't proceed with a decision on-the-spot because you possess no ability to access remote data while you are mobile? I dunno, seems like a lot of potential inefficiencies and lost opportunities compared to dropping $150 on a dual-SIM rugged Android phone from China, and then installing a few apps on it. But hey, if it works for you..... I took a family trip back to America recently and my jaw dropped watching my (74yo) father and his wife use a paper map to navigate to DisneyWorld. They complained that Google was giving them "bad directions". My older brother and I just looked at each other and shook our heads. PICNIC (Problem in chair, not in computer).

jacquesm 7y ago

- GPS and navigation I look at a map before I leave when on foot and in the car I have a navigator. - Mobile Banking Nothing that can't wait until I'm behind a desk. - IM because nobody sends text messages anymore Nobody sends me IM messages because I never used it in the first place. - Calendar Could be useful, once every month or so, but on the whole it is easy enough to do this stuff once I'm back behind my desk, worst case the other side has access and they can send me an invite. This really only comes up when someone on the phone wants to book some kind of appointment when I'm on the road, and in that case I'm actually really happy I am not going to be tempted to look at my phone, it is annoying enough that people expect your phone to be answered at all hours. - quick web searches I do a ton of those, but not when I'm out of the office or meeting people, I've had a case come up once or twice but usually I just make a mental note to check up on something. - a decent camera I'll always carry That's a good one, another one which would work for me would be to have something good to read wherever I go. But those two can be solved quite easily: my dumb phone has a reasonably good camera and there's always a book in my bag.

gloflo 7y ago
Good for you. How is your FTP file synchronisation going? Sarcasm aside, surely you know how much of an outlier you are. Your comment sounds pretty limited on empathy for other lifestyles.
- jacquesm 7y ago
  > Your comment sounds pretty limited on empathy for other lifestyles. That problem is on your end I'm afraid, no judgment call on other lifestyles was implied or intended, I merely documented how I do stuff without commenting on how you do stuff or how I feel you should do stuff. In a nutshell: I'm susceptible to being distracted with an ease that makes toddlers jealous and because of that I have to seriously restrict the kind of effect my environment has on me or I'll happily burn up my whole life without achieving anything. In order to do that I've decided that smartphones - besides being a security risk and a tracking device - are not for me.
SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
Do you have any sort of music player with you? My phone is basically my life's soundtrack - music, podcasts, or audiobooks.
- ocdtrekkie 7y ago
  A shocking number of dumb devices play music, including most dumbphones. Not the parent, but in my personal case I only listen to music in my car, and have my MP3 library synced to a device in my car. It doesn't cost me data and works in the middle of nowhere.
CapricornNoble 7y ago
I'm curious, do you travel internationally? In my experience, unless I do an inordinate amount of prior planning (printing out map directions, itineraries, hotel reservations, etc.) it is very easy to have navigation difficulties in unfamiliar cities with street signs in foreign languages....or no street signs at all. Where do you get an accurate map when you are trying to meet people at a newly-opened cafe in Hanoi's old French Quarter? Nobody can send you an IM? So if you strike up a conversation with a Shenzhen entrepreneur, he wants to stay in contact to talk business and suggests WeChat, your only response is [US phone number] or [email]? No web searches when out of the office? So if your next course of action is contingent upon a piece of information you don't currently have access to, you can't proceed with a decision on-the-spot because you possess no ability to access remote data while you are mobile? I dunno, seems like a lot of potential inefficiencies and lost opportunities compared to dropping $150 on a dual-SIM rugged Android phone from China, and then installing a few apps on it. But hey, if it works for you..... I took a family trip back to America recently and my jaw dropped watching my (74yo) father and his wife use a paper map to navigate to DisneyWorld. They complained that Google was giving them "bad directions". My older brother and I just looked at each other and shook our heads. PICNIC (Problem in chair, not in computer).