4 ms·
I think one solution is to make sure it's possible for everyone to have a mobile phone. They are so important on so many levels. In this situation in particula
by stoolpigeon 7y ago
I think one solution is to make sure it's possible for everyone to have a mobile phone. They are so important on so many levels.
In this situation in particular - needing to get an SMS without a number - google voice is a good solution for that issue. I used it for a while when my US bank required getting a code via SMS to a US number. I know it's a chicken and egg thing getting it going - but if there's a way to get a person in this situation a gmail account, a lot more stuff opens up from having that resource.
- noobiemcfoob 7y agoA free cell phone for everyone should be added to Yang 2020's platform.
- ggreer 7y agoThe whole point of distributing money instead of goods is that the goods people want change over time, and large bureaucracies are slow to react to those changes. 30 years from now, people won’t want cell phones. They’ll want whatever new technology we use to communicate.
- tzakrajs 7y agoObama already created a programs for mobile phones. I have a friend who got a free smart phone from the federal government. It was android and could load Venmo and other apps.
- 40acres 7y agoAnd he got a lot of flak for it too, "Obama phones" as a four letter word early in his administration.
- tastygreenapple 7y agoWith good reason - a lot of people were hurting in the recession and watching the government pay for smart phones for lazy good-for-nothings must have been incredibly frustrating. If the government stopped favoring the unwilling to work over the down-on-their-luck, we may have a less toxic political culture.
- dang 7y agoIf you keep posting flamebait to HN we will ban you.
- asdffdsa 7y agono, you can buy a phone with the $1000/month dividend
- masonic 7y agoFree mobile phones for the indigent (with data) are already available in CA.