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I live without 3G on my phone, though I still have a SIM card for receiving "emergency" calls. I haven't topped it up though, so I can't call out. It's been wo
by peterburkimsher 7y ago
I live without 3G on my phone, though I still have a SIM card for receiving "emergency" calls. I haven't topped it up though, so I can't call out.
It's been wonderful to make me focus on face to face conversations with people, rather than checking notifications all the time. I ask them to add me on Facebook, or make a note of their email address. If I can get online, I use mbasic.facebook.com with no ads, which loads quickly on an old phone.
My phone wakes me up with an alarm, but I'm not flooded with depressing Apple News first thing in the morning.
On the bus, I read books (the Bible and others, Edward Snowden's autobiography last year, currently The Shockwave Rider). I also browse offline Wikipedia (personally Wiki2Touch, but I've heard good things about Kiwix). I use Galileo Offline Maps with MOBAC-scraped tiles, without turn by turn directions.
Battery life is significantly better without 3G, and makes the old iPhone 4S quite usable.
Google Voice is often allowed for 2FA, and I use that when I need to receive SMS (e.g. TransferWise).
I could go without a SIM card entirely, but for the rare occasions when I do need to receive a call (e.g. I agree a place and time to meet someone, and they're late), then I still keep it in my phone.
It worries me to read that the US immigration department are using anonymised cell tower histories to trace people, but I don't know if removing the SIM card would solve that.
- pzumk 7y ago> It worries me to read that the US immigration department are using anonymised cell tower histories to trace people, It worries me to read you’re still using Facebook even though it looks like you value privacy. Why’s that? (Not trolling, serious question)
- peterburkimsher 7y agoKeeping in touch with friends in other countries. Rarely, there's even targeted ads that I actually want (e.g. bands that are playing concerts nearby). I try to avoid the news feed, and usually just use messages and events. Unlike most other chat apps, Facebook has backwards compatibility for old phones. There's a limited sense of control: I choose when to update my location, employer info, Liked pages, etc. Yes, they know about me, but I also use it to analyse myself [1]. I have no expectation of privacy for the things I post, but I'm therefore more careful about what I post, which Lists I share content with, and what metadata is hidden in that content. [1] https://github.com/peterburk/sortlikes https://github.com/peterburk/sortlikes
- pzumk 7y agoThanks!
- llampx 7y ago> I live without 3G on my phone > My phone wakes me up with an alarm, but I'm not flooded with depressing Apple News first thing in the morning. So you turn off wi-fi before going to bed?
- wtmt 7y agoNot GP, but I turn off WiFi completely (not the intermediate “disconnecting nearby WiFi until tomorrow”) so that I control when I’m connected and when I’m not.
- peterburkimsher 7y agoNo, I just disabled notifications for most apps, because I'm using iOS 6. Several apps have stopped working entirely (WhatsApp, WeChat, KakaoTalk), so I just use them through an Android emulator on my laptop.