4 ms·

Indeed it's incredibly stupid development. Fuck smartphones, really. I don't own one and I feel happy overall, but life is complicated because nowadays some sor

by kome 4y ago

Indeed it's incredibly stupid development. Fuck smartphones, really. I don't own one and I feel happy overall, but life is complicated because nowadays some sort of stupid app is required (most of the time, for no good reason) and dealing with those requirements always cost so much thinking. I don't want a micro-computer in my pocket, I stay at the computer all day anyway, a better one. Why can't I do with a real computer what it is possible to be done with a phone? A smartphone is just a tracking device, and it is terrible for privacy - but great for advertisers and similar industries. Otherwise, a computer should be able to do everything a smartphone does.

rr808 4y ago
Me too in my ideal world I wouldn't have a phone, but now I need for transport, food, financial services, nearly everything.
- kome 4y ago
  I don't know where you live, but in Europe you can still live without a smartphone. But I live in a city with good public transport (no need of ubers); banks still works without smartphone (but you need a burner phone for SMS, unfortunately), etc.
  - dagw 4y ago
    "Europe" is big and diverse. So while there exists places in "Europe" where that is true, in many other parts of "Europe" it is getting harder and harder.
  - Dr_ReD 4y ago
    Oh, I don't know about the rest of Europe, but here in Italy you either have to deal with it, or restrict yourself oh, so very much. (to the very few services that still work without a phone). Here most everything, even state portals such as, medicare, tax, national motorists services, pensions services, etc. are nigh impossible to access without a phone. And it's so sad.
Dr_ReD 4y ago
Amen to that. Plus, half of the 2fa apps from the various services (most of which just want their very own app) work only on recent phones and most won't even install without google-services. And if you lose your phone, you're toast! So, it's not enough to have one smartphone always at hand... You must have a backup phone too! ... and both must be fairly new... and they must both bear the all-dreaded google-battery-eating-spyware...
clsec 4y ago
Absolutely! I lost my iPhone 7+ recently and had no idea how attached I was to that phone. Being someone conscious of infosec I had iCloud turned off and what I thought were minimal apps installed. That said, and with the fingerprint reader/my 18 char PW, I'm pretty sure no one besides a nation state/NSO could get into my phone. So losing it wasn't really a big deal except for the loss of contacts (had most on a old phone) and being locked out of my email (thanks 2FA). Unlike you, I haven't gone fully phone free. But I do now have a free Android phone that has nothing on it that I can be locked out of. No medical, no banking, nothing personal except for email. And if I felt I could get away with it, I'd have no phone at all.

by kome 4y ago

rr808 4y ago

Me too in my ideal world I wouldn't have a phone, but now I need for transport, food, financial services, nearly everything.

kome 4y ago
I don't know where you live, but in Europe you can still live without a smartphone. But I live in a city with good public transport (no need of ubers); banks still works without smartphone (but you need a burner phone for SMS, unfortunately), etc.
- dagw 4y ago
  "Europe" is big and diverse. So while there exists places in "Europe" where that is true, in many other parts of "Europe" it is getting harder and harder.
- Dr_ReD 4y ago
  Oh, I don't know about the rest of Europe, but here in Italy you either have to deal with it, or restrict yourself oh, so very much. (to the very few services that still work without a phone). Here most everything, even state portals such as, medicare, tax, national motorists services, pensions services, etc. are nigh impossible to access without a phone. And it's so sad.

Dr_ReD 4y ago

Amen to that. Plus, half of the 2fa apps from the various services (most of which just want their very own app) work only on recent phones and most won't even install without google-services. And if you lose your phone, you're toast! So, it's not enough to have one smartphone always at hand... You must have a backup phone too! ... and both must be fairly new... and they must both bear the all-dreaded google-battery-eating-spyware...

clsec 4y ago

Absolutely! I lost my iPhone 7+ recently and had no idea how attached I was to that phone. Being someone conscious of infosec I had iCloud turned off and what I thought were minimal apps installed. That said, and with the fingerprint reader/my 18 char PW, I'm pretty sure no one besides a nation state/NSO could get into my phone. So losing it wasn't really a big deal except for the loss of contacts (had most on a old phone) and being locked out of my email (thanks 2FA). Unlike you, I haven't gone fully phone free. But I do now have a free Android phone that has nothing on it that I can be locked out of. No medical, no banking, nothing personal except for email. And if I felt I could get away with it, I'd have no phone at all.