7 ms·

Going NoPhone

65 points by pcfwik 3y ago

timeagain 3y ago
Spent all of 2021 using only an Alcatel “dumb phone”. It had an 8gb memory card for music, picked up FM radio, and had alarms and (very) basic internet access good enough to skim Wikipedia. The thing that made me go back to a “smart” phone was that it was completely useless for group texts. If there was a dumb phone with better MMS support (and maybe a few other chat apps) I would go back instantly.
- davidhaymond 3y ago
  If you're in the US, check out the Sunbeam F1[0]. It has good MMS support, emojis, and the best T9 I've used on a phone. The OS is a stripped-down version of Android with absolutely no social media apps or web access. It's a little spendy but worth every penny. [0] https://sunbeamwireless.com/ https://sunbeamwireless.com/
- kamranjon 3y ago
  I have been using the light phone 2 (https://www.thelightphone.com/ https://www.thelightphone.com/) for the last year. I chose it specifically because it had group messaging support and nothing else really. I do use the music player on it sometimes when jogging. It might be a good option for you if group text is all you want. Anyhow, I'm starting to look for alternatives because it can't really handle image messages, and so many people communicate using pictures that it started to get quite frustrating being unable to understand what they were trying to send me. The JMP chat thing seems pretty interesting.
Night_Thastus 3y ago
Most of these 'issues' are not with phones themselves, but just personal discipline and habits. Not to say they're not real problems, though. However, having world-brains in our pocket isn't just quality of life and convenience any more - it's become foundational and isn't going away soon. Reliance on them is only going to increase as time goes on. (Until they are replaced by something even more powerful and useful) I admit fully that the erosion of privacy is a problem, but it's one that we're just going to have to deal with IMO. It's the cost of being a part of modern civilization. If you want to live in the middle of some woods on your own water and power, fine. Otherwise, I'd say you just need to deal with it.
- calculated 3y ago
  I share the same mindset. I think that even though you'll eliminate distarctions from your phone there's no way you can eliminate every other form of distraction, no matter if it's comming from the digital world or somewhere else. You just have to adapt your brain to it. It's like the system, as some wise person once said - stupid people hate it, the smart use it for their advantage.
- nordsieck 3y ago
  > Most of these 'issues' are not with phones themselves, but just personal discipline and habits. IMO that's a limited way to look at it. Sin occurs at the intersection of desire and opportunity. One is easy to change, the other is hard.
- dmm 3y ago
  > just personal discipline and habits Obesity can universally be resolved by eating less, a matter of discipline and habits. And yet it has increased everywhere! Have people become less disciplined or has the world become better at undermining our discipline? Does it really make sense to assign individual blame to a universal phenomenon? We didn't blame the weakness of individuals for the public health issues surrounding cigarettes. We banned children from using them and put warning labels on every pack.
  - Night_Thastus 3y ago
    Where do you draw the line? Where is the line that separates individual responsibility and culture from the responsibilities of governments? I don't know. It's very fuzzy. There's a mountain of good data, advice, and substitutes that can let someone eat healthy and avoid obesity. The resources and help are out there - yet obesity happens regardless. Can it really be said to be the fault of the whole? Just because the problem is widespread doesn't mean it's not individual responsibility. As for phones, that's more complicated. There's less clear-cut about how best to tackle those problems compared to obesity.
    - ofcourseyoudo 3y ago
activiation 3y ago
If you want to have a phone available anytime, you are better off having a cellphone that you can turn ON then having to look for a pay phone (those are mostly gone).
apricot 3y ago
I don't have a cell phone, because I consider that the costs outweigh the benefits. Recently I started experiencing more often the effects of people assuming that everybody has a cell phone. * I couldn't scan QR codes at restaurants to see the menu, after the pandemic. The server was able to find an old paper menu but warned me that prices had changed, and I had to order without seeing the new prices. This is less of a problem now as most restaurants went back to paper menus. * My place of work recently installed 2FA that assumes we are always near a phone, and they don't want to provide an alternative such as a yubikey, so I cannot log on to the network unless I'm at my office or at home (where I have a landline). * I use a car-sharing service and they want to switch to an "app-only" system for booking cars, which I guess will require me to install some kind of Android virtual machine on my computer. Truth be told, those are minor annoyances in the grand scheme of things.
- yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
  > My place of work recently installed 2FA that assumes we are always near a phone, and they don't want to provide an alternative such as a yubikey, so I cannot log on to the network unless I'm at my office or at home (where I have a landline). That's over the line regardless. If work wants to use a phone, they can provide a phone.
  - BizarroLand 3y ago
    Given how glacially many companies move, especially small-med companies outside of tech hotspots, they would probably rather fire OP than add a cell phone reimbursement plan to their pay.
    - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
      Of course, only after having established evidence against the individual which speaks to the actual reason they were fired; they wouldn't want employment regulators to get the impression that the termination of employment was in retaliation to these valid complaints. More seriously, if one wants to make a stink about this sort of policy, this is what they need to worry about. I don't want to tell someone they're wrong for choosing not to worry about this and, in OP's case, accept the inconvenience of using a landline for 2FA.
guestbest 3y ago
Sounds like RMS, which is to say not going nophone but borrowed or land line only. https://stallman.org/rms-lifestyle.html https://stallman.org/rms-lifestyle.html
LarryDarrell 3y ago
They skipped right over getting a dumbphone or a crippled Android device. I drive a 30 year old car through the southwest US. I'm resourceful, but I'm not careless. I'll continue to carry a phone in case of breakdowns. A few years ago my checking account was drained while I was on vacation. It was pretty nice having a phone with a cell number that matched what was registered with my bank. ... Delete social media off your phone. A smartphone without social media is a tool. A smartphone with social media is a prison.
- mrweasel 3y ago
  Getting a dumbphones is also way more cost effective. I just tried to look up the cost. For the first year, getting a landline would cost me $575. Use the landline at work... They give us cellphones, no landline and there are no payphone anymore. Just get a dumbphone and leave it at home.
  - sidpatil 3y ago
    If you like using wired telephones but don't want to pay landline rates, you have a few options: - Use an analog telephony adapter (ATA) to connect your telephone to a SIP VoIP service. There are plenty of providers, and service is dirt cheap. - Get a telephone with something like Link2Cell, and connect it to your cellphone via Bluetooth. You can now use the telephone to make calls through your cellphone. - Similarly, if you don't want to buy a new telephone, get an adapter like an XLink BT, which lets you do the same thing using your existing telephone. - Use a fixed wireless terminal (FWT) to connect your telephone to cellular service directly. The FWT will accept a SIM card. (This might not be an option anymore though, since these tend to operate on GSM networks.)
- qsort 3y ago
  I love dumbphones and I used to carry one until ~2 years ago, but it's increasingly untenable due to whatsapp. Couldn't care less about anything else. (perhaps an alarm clock? but even the dumbest of dumbphones has that)
  - 3y ago
ignite 3y ago
I'm thinking of getting an apple watch with the cell phone. It's not usable for web surfing and other addictions, but it still has phone, messages, and maps, which are what I really can't do without. Anyone tried this?
- hattar 3y ago
  I looked into this, more as a curiosity. The thing that killed it for me is the battery life. Unless your usage is already very low, I expect you'd end up charging it more than once a day which for me was prohibitive.
- messe 3y ago
  Maybe it's changed in the last few years, but IIRC it's not possible to set up an Apple Watch without an iPhone. You don't need the iPhone on your person when you have the cellular version of the watch, but you'd still need to own one.
dublinben 3y ago
As a user and proponent of free software, articles like this are why most people don’t take the free software movement seriously. Their suggestion to give up your cell phone and find a landline or pay phone instead makes this sound hopelessly out of touch. A tablet connected to WiFi making VOIP calls is at least a cumbersome solution unlike a walkie-talkie!
- thomzane 3y ago
  This is not a traditional article. The LibrePlanet wiki is a public wiki where anyone can post pages related to software freedom. This is a public post edited by several people. https://libreplanet.org/wiki?title=Going_NoPhone&action=history https://libreplanet.org/wiki?title=Going_NoPhone&action=hist... You can make an account and change the content.
aidenn0 3y ago
It's a bit "on the nose" to have one of the two quotes being someone who wears a casio calculator watch...
unsignedint 3y ago
When it comes to "making phone calls," good luck trying to get anyone to pick up the call. With the rampant prevalence of scams and telemarketing, unless you are in a circle of like-minded individuals, these mysterious calls are likely to be ignored.
ozten 3y ago
> Asking strangers to borrow their phone > > In a pinch you might need to borrow a phone from someone. Try to exhaust all your other options first. Ya, nope.
unsignedint 3y ago
While ultimately, adopting this lifestyle is a personal choice, it is inevitable that it inconveniences the people around them and complicates things. I indirectly know someone like this, who can only be reached via landline, has no email or mobile phone, and asks others to print photos for them, among other things. Some individuals may be understanding and accommodating, but I can see how others may engage with you less, especially if you make this transition suddenly. I believe that unless you are willing to make significant sacrifices within your circle of contacts, this may not be a viable option. Unless you know someone who is already living this lifestyle or is willing to join you in this change, it could be challenging.
aodonnell2536 3y ago
Don’t entirely understand how the author cites privacy concerns for going NoPhone, then suggests Walkie Talkies as a viable alternative. I’m all for people ensuring their privacy and moving away from proprietary software, but the alternatives given come across as too idealist.
falcolas 3y ago
I'm not going to argue with the creed or the idea. I'm just going to note that replacing your phone, as per their page, replaces one brick of glass with: - Pen & Paper - Flashlight - MP3 Player - Camera - Watch - Paper / Laminated Maps (arguably, a boring GPS could replace this) Not listed, but they also replace: - Audio Recorder - Radio (news, weather, emergency alerts) - Magnifying glass/binoculars - Compass (To go with the maps, especially if you don't use a standalone GPS device) - Calculator (arguably not necessary, agreed) - Measuring tape - Fidget Toy It's always fascinating to me how much a smartphone phone saves us from carrying. EDIT: If your goal is to reduce how much your phone can interrupt you or demand your attention, might I suggest turning off all (ALL all) notifications. It's a lot easier to be intentional about your phone use when it can't make a grab for your attention.
hospitalJail 3y ago
There is a joke about how Seinfeld would have no conflict if everyone had phones. Everything mentioned makes life harder, waste more time, and cause confusion. Since having kids/hitting my 30s, I've been uninterested in social media(on my phone). I'm so bad about checking my phone, I might wake up in the morning and see I've had a missed text message from 7:30pm. Regarding the OPs mental state... uninstall those apps?
Ritamls 3y ago
[dead]

65 points by pcfwik 3y ago

Spent all of 2021 using only an Alcatel “dumb phone”. It had an 8gb memory card for music, picked up FM radio, and had alarms and (very) basic internet access good enough to skim Wikipedia. The thing that made me go back to a “smart” phone was that it was completely useless for group texts. If there was a dumb phone with better MMS support (and maybe a few other chat apps) I would go back instantly.

davidhaymond 3y ago
If you're in the US, check out the Sunbeam F1[0]. It has good MMS support, emojis, and the best T9 I've used on a phone. The OS is a stripped-down version of Android with absolutely no social media apps or web access. It's a little spendy but worth every penny. [0] https://sunbeamwireless.com/ https://sunbeamwireless.com/
kamranjon 3y ago
I have been using the light phone 2 (https://www.thelightphone.com/ https://www.thelightphone.com/) for the last year. I chose it specifically because it had group messaging support and nothing else really. I do use the music player on it sometimes when jogging. It might be a good option for you if group text is all you want. Anyhow, I'm starting to look for alternatives because it can't really handle image messages, and so many people communicate using pictures that it started to get quite frustrating being unable to understand what they were trying to send me. The JMP chat thing seems pretty interesting.

Night_Thastus 3y ago

Most of these 'issues' are not with phones themselves, but just personal discipline and habits. Not to say they're not real problems, though. However, having world-brains in our pocket isn't just quality of life and convenience any more - it's become foundational and isn't going away soon. Reliance on them is only going to increase as time goes on. (Until they are replaced by something even more powerful and useful) I admit fully that the erosion of privacy is a problem, but it's one that we're just going to have to deal with IMO. It's the cost of being a part of modern civilization. If you want to live in the middle of some woods on your own water and power, fine. Otherwise, I'd say you just need to deal with it.

calculated 3y ago
I share the same mindset. I think that even though you'll eliminate distarctions from your phone there's no way you can eliminate every other form of distraction, no matter if it's comming from the digital world or somewhere else. You just have to adapt your brain to it. It's like the system, as some wise person once said - stupid people hate it, the smart use it for their advantage.
nordsieck 3y ago
> Most of these 'issues' are not with phones themselves, but just personal discipline and habits. IMO that's a limited way to look at it. Sin occurs at the intersection of desire and opportunity. One is easy to change, the other is hard.
dmm 3y ago
> just personal discipline and habits Obesity can universally be resolved by eating less, a matter of discipline and habits. And yet it has increased everywhere! Have people become less disciplined or has the world become better at undermining our discipline? Does it really make sense to assign individual blame to a universal phenomenon? We didn't blame the weakness of individuals for the public health issues surrounding cigarettes. We banned children from using them and put warning labels on every pack.
- Night_Thastus 3y ago
  Where do you draw the line? Where is the line that separates individual responsibility and culture from the responsibilities of governments? I don't know. It's very fuzzy. There's a mountain of good data, advice, and substitutes that can let someone eat healthy and avoid obesity. The resources and help are out there - yet obesity happens regardless. Can it really be said to be the fault of the whole? Just because the problem is widespread doesn't mean it's not individual responsibility. As for phones, that's more complicated. There's less clear-cut about how best to tackle those problems compared to obesity.
  - ofcourseyoudo 3y ago

activiation 3y ago

If you want to have a phone available anytime, you are better off having a cellphone that you can turn ON then having to look for a pay phone (those are mostly gone).

apricot 3y ago

I don't have a cell phone, because I consider that the costs outweigh the benefits. Recently I started experiencing more often the effects of people assuming that everybody has a cell phone. * I couldn't scan QR codes at restaurants to see the menu, after the pandemic. The server was able to find an old paper menu but warned me that prices had changed, and I had to order without seeing the new prices. This is less of a problem now as most restaurants went back to paper menus. * My place of work recently installed 2FA that assumes we are always near a phone, and they don't want to provide an alternative such as a yubikey, so I cannot log on to the network unless I'm at my office or at home (where I have a landline). * I use a car-sharing service and they want to switch to an "app-only" system for booking cars, which I guess will require me to install some kind of Android virtual machine on my computer. Truth be told, those are minor annoyances in the grand scheme of things.

yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
> My place of work recently installed 2FA that assumes we are always near a phone, and they don't want to provide an alternative such as a yubikey, so I cannot log on to the network unless I'm at my office or at home (where I have a landline). That's over the line regardless. If work wants to use a phone, they can provide a phone.
- BizarroLand 3y ago
  Given how glacially many companies move, especially small-med companies outside of tech hotspots, they would probably rather fire OP than add a cell phone reimbursement plan to their pay.
  - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
    Of course, only after having established evidence against the individual which speaks to the actual reason they were fired; they wouldn't want employment regulators to get the impression that the termination of employment was in retaliation to these valid complaints. More seriously, if one wants to make a stink about this sort of policy, this is what they need to worry about. I don't want to tell someone they're wrong for choosing not to worry about this and, in OP's case, accept the inconvenience of using a landline for 2FA.

guestbest 3y ago

Sounds like RMS, which is to say not going nophone but borrowed or land line only. https://stallman.org/rms-lifestyle.html https://stallman.org/rms-lifestyle.html

LarryDarrell 3y ago

They skipped right over getting a dumbphone or a crippled Android device. I drive a 30 year old car through the southwest US. I'm resourceful, but I'm not careless. I'll continue to carry a phone in case of breakdowns. A few years ago my checking account was drained while I was on vacation. It was pretty nice having a phone with a cell number that matched what was registered with my bank. ... Delete social media off your phone. A smartphone without social media is a tool. A smartphone with social media is a prison.

mrweasel 3y ago
Getting a dumbphones is also way more cost effective. I just tried to look up the cost. For the first year, getting a landline would cost me $575. Use the landline at work... They give us cellphones, no landline and there are no payphone anymore. Just get a dumbphone and leave it at home.
- sidpatil 3y ago
  If you like using wired telephones but don't want to pay landline rates, you have a few options: - Use an analog telephony adapter (ATA) to connect your telephone to a SIP VoIP service. There are plenty of providers, and service is dirt cheap. - Get a telephone with something like Link2Cell, and connect it to your cellphone via Bluetooth. You can now use the telephone to make calls through your cellphone. - Similarly, if you don't want to buy a new telephone, get an adapter like an XLink BT, which lets you do the same thing using your existing telephone. - Use a fixed wireless terminal (FWT) to connect your telephone to cellular service directly. The FWT will accept a SIM card. (This might not be an option anymore though, since these tend to operate on GSM networks.)
qsort 3y ago
I love dumbphones and I used to carry one until ~2 years ago, but it's increasingly untenable due to whatsapp. Couldn't care less about anything else. (perhaps an alarm clock? but even the dumbest of dumbphones has that)
- 3y ago

ignite 3y ago

I'm thinking of getting an apple watch with the cell phone. It's not usable for web surfing and other addictions, but it still has phone, messages, and maps, which are what I really can't do without. Anyone tried this?

hattar 3y ago
I looked into this, more as a curiosity. The thing that killed it for me is the battery life. Unless your usage is already very low, I expect you'd end up charging it more than once a day which for me was prohibitive.
messe 3y ago
Maybe it's changed in the last few years, but IIRC it's not possible to set up an Apple Watch without an iPhone. You don't need the iPhone on your person when you have the cellular version of the watch, but you'd still need to own one.

dublinben 3y ago

As a user and proponent of free software, articles like this are why most people don’t take the free software movement seriously. Their suggestion to give up your cell phone and find a landline or pay phone instead makes this sound hopelessly out of touch. A tablet connected to WiFi making VOIP calls is at least a cumbersome solution unlike a walkie-talkie!

thomzane 3y ago
This is not a traditional article. The LibrePlanet wiki is a public wiki where anyone can post pages related to software freedom. This is a public post edited by several people. https://libreplanet.org/wiki?title=Going_NoPhone&action=history https://libreplanet.org/wiki?title=Going_NoPhone&action=hist... You can make an account and change the content.

aidenn0 3y ago

It's a bit "on the nose" to have one of the two quotes being someone who wears a casio calculator watch...

unsignedint 3y ago

When it comes to "making phone calls," good luck trying to get anyone to pick up the call. With the rampant prevalence of scams and telemarketing, unless you are in a circle of like-minded individuals, these mysterious calls are likely to be ignored.

ozten 3y ago

> Asking strangers to borrow their phone > > In a pinch you might need to borrow a phone from someone. Try to exhaust all your other options first. Ya, nope.

unsignedint 3y ago

While ultimately, adopting this lifestyle is a personal choice, it is inevitable that it inconveniences the people around them and complicates things. I indirectly know someone like this, who can only be reached via landline, has no email or mobile phone, and asks others to print photos for them, among other things. Some individuals may be understanding and accommodating, but I can see how others may engage with you less, especially if you make this transition suddenly. I believe that unless you are willing to make significant sacrifices within your circle of contacts, this may not be a viable option. Unless you know someone who is already living this lifestyle or is willing to join you in this change, it could be challenging.

aodonnell2536 3y ago

Don’t entirely understand how the author cites privacy concerns for going NoPhone, then suggests Walkie Talkies as a viable alternative. I’m all for people ensuring their privacy and moving away from proprietary software, but the alternatives given come across as too idealist.

falcolas 3y ago

I'm not going to argue with the creed or the idea. I'm just going to note that replacing your phone, as per their page, replaces one brick of glass with: - Pen & Paper - Flashlight - MP3 Player - Camera - Watch - Paper / Laminated Maps (arguably, a boring GPS could replace this) Not listed, but they also replace: - Audio Recorder - Radio (news, weather, emergency alerts) - Magnifying glass/binoculars - Compass (To go with the maps, especially if you don't use a standalone GPS device) - Calculator (arguably not necessary, agreed) - Measuring tape - Fidget Toy It's always fascinating to me how much a smartphone phone saves us from carrying. EDIT: If your goal is to reduce how much your phone can interrupt you or demand your attention, might I suggest turning off all (ALL all) notifications. It's a lot easier to be intentional about your phone use when it can't make a grab for your attention.

hospitalJail 3y ago

There is a joke about how Seinfeld would have no conflict if everyone had phones. Everything mentioned makes life harder, waste more time, and cause confusion. Since having kids/hitting my 30s, I've been uninterested in social media(on my phone). I'm so bad about checking my phone, I might wake up in the morning and see I've had a missed text message from 7:30pm. Regarding the OPs mental state... uninstall those apps?

Ritamls 3y ago

[dead]