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> Second, if you had actually suffered such a loss, your digital life would hopefully be the last thing on your mind It isn't though. Access to your digital re

> Second, if you had actually suffered such a loss, your digital life would hopefully be the last thing on your mind It isn't though. Access to your digital resources is vital to recover from the loss. You need an e-mail address to arrange contractors, you need your contact list to reach out to friends for help, you need access to your bank accounts, your cloud-stored scans of your ID cards, ...

reaperducer 4y ago
You need an e-mail address to arrange contractors No. People have been trained to think they need an e-mail address for real-life things, but they don't. I had a roof replaced in my last place, which involved multiple contractors and insurance companies. No e-mail. No text messaging involved. I recently moved to a new city, and setting up utilities, dry cleaning service, parking garage, etc... probably involved a dozen new accounts. I gave my e-mail address to none of them. Depending on the disposition of the provider, I either told them I hadn't set up e-mail yet since I moved, or just a flat "no." you need your contact list to reach out to friends for help If you're over 40, you can remember the days when it was perfectly ordinary to remember the phone numbers for dozens and dozens of people and businesses. These days, we've allowed computers to think and remember for us (hello, Stackoverflow!) so we don't have to. Memory is a normal skill that many people have lost or neglected. you need access to your bank accounts That's why it's important to have your bank accounts with an actual bank, with actual branches, and actual human beings to help you when human being things go wrong in the real world. your cloud-stored scans of your ID cards I can't even wrap my brain around why you'd trust information this important to a rental computer a thousand miles away. "Everything digital" is a marketing tool. In reality, it only works when it works. When things go wrong, digital shows its fragility.
- basisword 4y ago
  >> If you're over 40, you can remember the days when it was perfectly ordinary to remember the phone numbers for dozens and dozens of people and businesses. These days, we've allowed computers to think and remember for us (hello, Stackoverflow!) so we don't have to. Memory is a normal skill that many people have lost or neglected. Heck, if you're over 30 you remember this. The problem though is that you remembered those numbers because you dialled them frequently from memory (and, at least in my location, landline numbers were much shorter than cell phone numbers). If you're not doing this on your smartphone you're never going to be able to remember the numbers. e.g. I can remember all of my childhood friends home phone numbers. I can't remember my partners cell phone number. I recently considered getting an analogue phone book and noting down all the numbers in my smartphone contacts book just in case I ever lost access to the digital version.
  - grogenaut 4y ago
    You likely still have a printer. Print out your contacts and toss them in a safe
    - basisword 4y ago
      Yep good call. I just realised the Mac contacts app lets you export it to a nice PDF I can print.
- foobarbecue 4y ago
  Pretend he said "phone unlock code" instead of email password. It's 2022. Everything is digital. Auth is essential.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Phones break and get lost/stolen. All of us--and I include myself although I try to have some backup information on paper--have probably become too dependent on a single physical device which sucks in more and more information every year. See ongoing digitization of driver's licenses. Especially for international travel, but really generally, I try to make it so I'm not completely screwed if something were to happen to my phone.
    - foobarbecue 4y ago
      Yes, the "one device per phone number" restriction is quite annoying. I'd like to have multiple, functional copies of my phone. Instead I settle for a phone and a 4G watch, paying for one phone number for each. Since eSIM providers allow cloning but I haven't tried that yet.
    - avh02 4y ago
      I try to still print out boarding passes when I can cos I don't want to deal with delays or missing a flight if my phone runs out of battery, especially if it's a flight out after a full day out and about. It's also less annoying at the airport fiddling with my phone to get the right barcode up each time it's needed (and no, I won't put it in to Google wallet)
      - ddingus 4y ago
        Same. Paper has no downtime.
      - ghaff 4y ago
        I don't go out of way to print boarding passes when I'm on the road. But certainly at home, it takes maybe a minute so why not?
      - 4y ago
- brnt 4y ago
  > People have been trained to think they need an e-mail address for real-life things, but they don't. The Dutch government not only defacto requires it, soon an Android or iOS phone with their app will be required too. Only very determined, very patient people with lots or spare time will be able to do without.
  - reaperducer 4y ago
    The Dutch government not only defacto requires it, soon an Android or iOS phone with their app will be required too What do poor people do? Or the very elderly? Or those with diminished mental abilities? Or people whose culture eschews technology?
    - brnt 4y ago
      They get screwed, in most cases.
    - vkou 4y ago
      I assume they do the same thing as anyone else in any other country does. They go through the fall-back bureaucratic channel of 'haul your ass over to a physical, brick-and-mortar agency office'.
  - paganel 4y ago
    The Dutch people should probably protest against measures like those.
    - brnt 4y ago
      They don't, because they are largely anti-luddites.
      - jay_kyburz 4y ago
        I was thinking about this on the way home the other day. I'm the most tech savvy of all my family and friends. I live and breath tech. Code all day, game all night. But I'm the one who hates all smart home devices. I'm the one who wants a dumb TV. I would be perfectly happy with my dumb phone if it didn't keep pocket dialing emergency services. I want less tech in my life not more.

reaperducer 4y ago

You need an e-mail address to arrange contractors No. People have been trained to think they need an e-mail address for real-life things, but they don't. I had a roof replaced in my last place, which involved multiple contractors and insurance companies. No e-mail. No text messaging involved. I recently moved to a new city, and setting up utilities, dry cleaning service, parking garage, etc... probably involved a dozen new accounts. I gave my e-mail address to none of them. Depending on the disposition of the provider, I either told them I hadn't set up e-mail yet since I moved, or just a flat "no." you need your contact list to reach out to friends for help If you're over 40, you can remember the days when it was perfectly ordinary to remember the phone numbers for dozens and dozens of people and businesses. These days, we've allowed computers to think and remember for us (hello, Stackoverflow!) so we don't have to. Memory is a normal skill that many people have lost or neglected. you need access to your bank accounts That's why it's important to have your bank accounts with an actual bank, with actual branches, and actual human beings to help you when human being things go wrong in the real world. your cloud-stored scans of your ID cards I can't even wrap my brain around why you'd trust information this important to a rental computer a thousand miles away. "Everything digital" is a marketing tool. In reality, it only works when it works. When things go wrong, digital shows its fragility.

basisword 4y ago
>> If you're over 40, you can remember the days when it was perfectly ordinary to remember the phone numbers for dozens and dozens of people and businesses. These days, we've allowed computers to think and remember for us (hello, Stackoverflow!) so we don't have to. Memory is a normal skill that many people have lost or neglected. Heck, if you're over 30 you remember this. The problem though is that you remembered those numbers because you dialled them frequently from memory (and, at least in my location, landline numbers were much shorter than cell phone numbers). If you're not doing this on your smartphone you're never going to be able to remember the numbers. e.g. I can remember all of my childhood friends home phone numbers. I can't remember my partners cell phone number. I recently considered getting an analogue phone book and noting down all the numbers in my smartphone contacts book just in case I ever lost access to the digital version.
- grogenaut 4y ago
  You likely still have a printer. Print out your contacts and toss them in a safe
  - basisword 4y ago
    Yep good call. I just realised the Mac contacts app lets you export it to a nice PDF I can print.
foobarbecue 4y ago
Pretend he said "phone unlock code" instead of email password. It's 2022. Everything is digital. Auth is essential.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Phones break and get lost/stolen. All of us--and I include myself although I try to have some backup information on paper--have probably become too dependent on a single physical device which sucks in more and more information every year. See ongoing digitization of driver's licenses. Especially for international travel, but really generally, I try to make it so I'm not completely screwed if something were to happen to my phone.
  - foobarbecue 4y ago
    Yes, the "one device per phone number" restriction is quite annoying. I'd like to have multiple, functional copies of my phone. Instead I settle for a phone and a 4G watch, paying for one phone number for each. Since eSIM providers allow cloning but I haven't tried that yet.
  - avh02 4y ago
    I try to still print out boarding passes when I can cos I don't want to deal with delays or missing a flight if my phone runs out of battery, especially if it's a flight out after a full day out and about. It's also less annoying at the airport fiddling with my phone to get the right barcode up each time it's needed (and no, I won't put it in to Google wallet)
    - ddingus 4y ago
      Same. Paper has no downtime.
    - ghaff 4y ago
      I don't go out of way to print boarding passes when I'm on the road. But certainly at home, it takes maybe a minute so why not?
    - 4y ago
brnt 4y ago
> People have been trained to think they need an e-mail address for real-life things, but they don't. The Dutch government not only defacto requires it, soon an Android or iOS phone with their app will be required too. Only very determined, very patient people with lots or spare time will be able to do without.
- reaperducer 4y ago
  The Dutch government not only defacto requires it, soon an Android or iOS phone with their app will be required too What do poor people do? Or the very elderly? Or those with diminished mental abilities? Or people whose culture eschews technology?
  - brnt 4y ago
    They get screwed, in most cases.
  - vkou 4y ago
    I assume they do the same thing as anyone else in any other country does. They go through the fall-back bureaucratic channel of 'haul your ass over to a physical, brick-and-mortar agency office'.
- paganel 4y ago
  The Dutch people should probably protest against measures like those.
  - brnt 4y ago
    They don't, because they are largely anti-luddites.
    - jay_kyburz 4y ago
      I was thinking about this on the way home the other day. I'm the most tech savvy of all my family and friends. I live and breath tech. Code all day, game all night. But I'm the one who hates all smart home devices. I'm the one who wants a dumb TV. I would be perfectly happy with my dumb phone if it didn't keep pocket dialing emergency services. I want less tech in my life not more.