4 ms·

i can't help but wonder... Sometimes I feel like just dropping my phone and never pick it up again. Let it shut off and never turn it on again. Will it be man

by znpy 6y ago

i can't help but wonder... Sometimes I feel like just dropping my phone and never pick it up again. Let it shut off and never turn it on again. Will it be mandatory in the future to own a mobile phone? What if I don't want to have one?

ghaff 6y ago
It becomes harder and harder--and harder still if you also don't want to use email, etc. You're an edge case and institutions tend to forget about edge cases or just don't want to be bothered with them. So, for example, you now need to show up in offices because you can't sufficiently validate your identity otherwise. I actually know one senior person in Silicon Valley who refused for years to get a cell phone and only relented when his nanny insisted after he and his wife adopted a child. I think he still doesn't have a personal smartphone although his current employer gave him a company phone to carry.
tialaramex 6y ago
I don't imagine it'll be mandatory in free countries, but it'll be horribly inconvenient without. You didn't have to have a telephone either but by say 1980 if there's an important service and it's only available by telephone the government is likely going to say well, there are public call boxes, good luck with your weird lifestyle choice. I got vaccinated at the weekend. SMS to my phone, with a personalized URL in it from my doctor's practice. Follow URL, pick time slot, turn up. No smartphone? Copy the URL by hand to a computer. No Internet? No appointment for you. No SMS? Too bad, you don't get an invite until they're chasing the last people. In July I'm sure anybody with a pulse will get a jab here just by turning up but right now you need an invite. There was an attempted queue jumper at the site. "I don't know why my name isn't on the list, you called me". "We called you? Nobody got a phone call. We sent texts.". "Yeah that's what I meant, I got a text". Sure you did Pal.
- ghaff 6y ago
  >good luck with your weird lifestyle choice That's a good way of putting it. Furthermore, while the government is theoretically under some obligation to accommodate weird lifestyle choices and people who otherwise don't have access to modern technology, private companies have no such obligation for the most part. They can just say "Nope, you're too much trouble to do business with."

by znpy 6y ago

ghaff 6y ago

It becomes harder and harder--and harder still if you also don't want to use email, etc. You're an edge case and institutions tend to forget about edge cases or just don't want to be bothered with them. So, for example, you now need to show up in offices because you can't sufficiently validate your identity otherwise. I actually know one senior person in Silicon Valley who refused for years to get a cell phone and only relented when his nanny insisted after he and his wife adopted a child. I think he still doesn't have a personal smartphone although his current employer gave him a company phone to carry.

tialaramex 6y ago

I don't imagine it'll be mandatory in free countries, but it'll be horribly inconvenient without. You didn't have to have a telephone either but by say 1980 if there's an important service and it's only available by telephone the government is likely going to say well, there are public call boxes, good luck with your weird lifestyle choice. I got vaccinated at the weekend. SMS to my phone, with a personalized URL in it from my doctor's practice. Follow URL, pick time slot, turn up. No smartphone? Copy the URL by hand to a computer. No Internet? No appointment for you. No SMS? Too bad, you don't get an invite until they're chasing the last people. In July I'm sure anybody with a pulse will get a jab here just by turning up but right now you need an invite. There was an attempted queue jumper at the site. "I don't know why my name isn't on the list, you called me". "We called you? Nobody got a phone call. We sent texts.". "Yeah that's what I meant, I got a text". Sure you did Pal.

ghaff 6y ago
>good luck with your weird lifestyle choice That's a good way of putting it. Furthermore, while the government is theoretically under some obligation to accommodate weird lifestyle choices and people who otherwise don't have access to modern technology, private companies have no such obligation for the most part. They can just say "Nope, you're too much trouble to do business with."