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You don't need a phone for any of the activities you described. Stores are pretty much open business hours, or 24 hours, they follow the same pattern. Or just

You don't need a phone for any of the activities you described. Stores are pretty much open business hours, or 24 hours, they follow the same pattern. Or just show up and it is closed. Go somewhere else. Public transport runs to a schedule. Just show up and transport will show up within n minutes anyway, whether you know the time or nor. Or just use the timetable at the station. Yes, no music, just your thoughts. but take a book if you want. Write down your shopping list on paper. All I have just described is why it is so liberating.

hnarn 6y ago
The entire point is that you don’t need a phone to do any of this, just like you don’t need a spike gun if you have a hammer when building a house. If you feel that liberates you, go ahead and do whatever you want, but when you’re preaching to others about how they’re somehow going against our innate human nature, that’s when I get a bit annoyed. Don’t you think it’s pretty obvious that this exact line of reasoning could be made against the use of books on public transport if we were discussing this in the 1800s? Why are you fine with distracting yourself with a book, but reading the news on a smartphone is somehow different?
- altitudinous 6y ago
  You seem to be trying to describe the point of my own post to me, I don't get why you would do that. I know the point of my own post. As I have just written to someone else above - you are just proving the OP original article. Why not just try something different rather than pointlessly arguing about the intricacies of it all on the internet..
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    I see nothing in that post that is explaining anything other than why you calling being without a smartphone as liberating as what others may call “I have free time to waste”. Now, you can argue that maybe I should stop and smell the flowers sometimes, but usually when I have to do something it is work and I would much rather get it done as quickly as possible with the tools I have at my disposal.
1123581321 6y ago
Phones are useful when that predictability breaks down, especially when others are involved in the changing plans.
- altitudinous 6y ago
  That is why it is so liberating.
  - nxc18 6y ago
    What is it liberating you from? Your own empowerment?
    - wholinator2 6y ago
      Basically yeah, but I would rephrase it as liberation from constant reliance, or from always having the perfect answer, from a lessened use of ones mind, from necessary human interaction to ask anyone a question, or from spending any precious second not maximizing the amount of information and "productivity" you can achieve. It's about being a human, in an environment, around other humans, with time to spare for original thoughts and just to enjoy being alive. I expect many people on this forum are the "productivity" and "maximizing" type. Not that there's anything wrong with that! We need those people! But I think we might all be able to benefit from truly relying on ourselves in difficult situations, instead of just asking the answer box to help us avoid any annoyance or unnecessary difficulty. If you wish your life to be a perfectly smooth series of directions given by a silicon hivemind, feel free friend. Sometimes the bumps and the dirt are what make life worth living though. Sometimes the empathy of unnecessary difficult situations can create bonds and perspective that shiny chrome smoothness cannot. Persistent smooth perfect answers have their purpose and we wouldn't have invented it if not for its use but I find the rather strong opposition to experiencing and exploring one's humanity, whether this way or that, rather frightening. Almost sounds like it's the chrome talking and not the human.
      - 1123581321 6y ago
burntoutfire 6y ago
Apps makes a difference for public transport in places like London, where computing all the required changes is totally non-trivial problem and basically can't be done in a close to optimal manner without a computer. So, the phone is saving you real time and money.
ulisesrmzroche 6y ago
There’s nothing liberating about any of that. It’s just a list of things you like to do.

hnarn 6y ago

The entire point is that you don’t need a phone to do any of this, just like you don’t need a spike gun if you have a hammer when building a house. If you feel that liberates you, go ahead and do whatever you want, but when you’re preaching to others about how they’re somehow going against our innate human nature, that’s when I get a bit annoyed. Don’t you think it’s pretty obvious that this exact line of reasoning could be made against the use of books on public transport if we were discussing this in the 1800s? Why are you fine with distracting yourself with a book, but reading the news on a smartphone is somehow different?

altitudinous 6y ago
You seem to be trying to describe the point of my own post to me, I don't get why you would do that. I know the point of my own post. As I have just written to someone else above - you are just proving the OP original article. Why not just try something different rather than pointlessly arguing about the intricacies of it all on the internet..
- saagarjha 6y ago
  I see nothing in that post that is explaining anything other than why you calling being without a smartphone as liberating as what others may call “I have free time to waste”. Now, you can argue that maybe I should stop and smell the flowers sometimes, but usually when I have to do something it is work and I would much rather get it done as quickly as possible with the tools I have at my disposal.

1123581321 6y ago

Phones are useful when that predictability breaks down, especially when others are involved in the changing plans.

altitudinous 6y ago
That is why it is so liberating.
- nxc18 6y ago
  What is it liberating you from? Your own empowerment?
  - wholinator2 6y ago
    Basically yeah, but I would rephrase it as liberation from constant reliance, or from always having the perfect answer, from a lessened use of ones mind, from necessary human interaction to ask anyone a question, or from spending any precious second not maximizing the amount of information and "productivity" you can achieve. It's about being a human, in an environment, around other humans, with time to spare for original thoughts and just to enjoy being alive. I expect many people on this forum are the "productivity" and "maximizing" type. Not that there's anything wrong with that! We need those people! But I think we might all be able to benefit from truly relying on ourselves in difficult situations, instead of just asking the answer box to help us avoid any annoyance or unnecessary difficulty. If you wish your life to be a perfectly smooth series of directions given by a silicon hivemind, feel free friend. Sometimes the bumps and the dirt are what make life worth living though. Sometimes the empathy of unnecessary difficult situations can create bonds and perspective that shiny chrome smoothness cannot. Persistent smooth perfect answers have their purpose and we wouldn't have invented it if not for its use but I find the rather strong opposition to experiencing and exploring one's humanity, whether this way or that, rather frightening. Almost sounds like it's the chrome talking and not the human.
    - 1123581321 6y ago

burntoutfire 6y ago

Apps makes a difference for public transport in places like London, where computing all the required changes is totally non-trivial problem and basically can't be done in a close to optimal manner without a computer. So, the phone is saving you real time and money.

ulisesrmzroche 6y ago

There’s nothing liberating about any of that. It’s just a list of things you like to do.