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Counterpoint, 20 years ago smartphones didn't exist. Now it's been nearly impossible to work without one for around a decade. Technology can move quite fast som

Counterpoint, 20 years ago smartphones didn't exist. Now it's been nearly impossible to work without one for around a decade. Technology can move quite fast sometimes.

aurareturn 3y ago
Smartphones are just smaller laptops, which are smaller desktops. Apple made the Newton in 1992. I think humanoid AI robots are a bigger leap.
tuatoru 3y ago
Smartphones are the rectangular slabs with a single moving part that I mentioned. The simplicity and stupidity of them is colossal.
JohnFen 3y ago
> Now it's been nearly impossible to work without one for around a decade. How true this is probably depends on where you live. In my part of the US, this isn't even close to being true. You can get along just fine without a smartphone.
- jlokier 3y ago
  Where I live, in the UK, it isn't possible to login to three of my bank accounts for admin or make credit card payments without a smartphone to confirm payments sometimes. I had to approve the debit card purchase of a small pizza via in-app notification from the bank last week. Email, voice phone and SMS authentication used to be used but they are gradually being deprecated by some financial services. One job ago I had to use my smartphone several times a day to approve corporate VPN logins on the work-provided computer, before I could access the Git repo, BitBucket and Linux dev VMs. All of us had to install a specific authenticator app on our phone. Two jobs ago I had to use Google auth with my smartphone used as a security token, to access work documents and emails. When the phone broke I lost that access, despite transferring a backup to a new phone and most things surviving the transfer, because that access was associated to the device.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    I have a strict policy about work and smartphones. Nothing related to work touches my smartphone. If an employer has processes that require a smartphone, then the employer needs to supply that smartphone to me, just like my employer needs to supply other essential work equipment such as a computer.

Counterpoint, 20 years ago smartphones didn't exist. Now it's been nearly impossible to work without one for around a decade. Technology can move quite fast sometimes.

aurareturn 3y ago

Smartphones are just smaller laptops, which are smaller desktops. Apple made the Newton in 1992. I think humanoid AI robots are a bigger leap.

tuatoru 3y ago

Smartphones are the rectangular slabs with a single moving part that I mentioned. The simplicity and stupidity of them is colossal.

JohnFen 3y ago

> Now it's been nearly impossible to work without one for around a decade. How true this is probably depends on where you live. In my part of the US, this isn't even close to being true. You can get along just fine without a smartphone.

jlokier 3y ago
Where I live, in the UK, it isn't possible to login to three of my bank accounts for admin or make credit card payments without a smartphone to confirm payments sometimes. I had to approve the debit card purchase of a small pizza via in-app notification from the bank last week. Email, voice phone and SMS authentication used to be used but they are gradually being deprecated by some financial services. One job ago I had to use my smartphone several times a day to approve corporate VPN logins on the work-provided computer, before I could access the Git repo, BitBucket and Linux dev VMs. All of us had to install a specific authenticator app on our phone. Two jobs ago I had to use Google auth with my smartphone used as a security token, to access work documents and emails. When the phone broke I lost that access, despite transferring a backup to a new phone and most things surviving the transfer, because that access was associated to the device.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  I have a strict policy about work and smartphones. Nothing related to work touches my smartphone. If an employer has processes that require a smartphone, then the employer needs to supply that smartphone to me, just like my employer needs to supply other essential work equipment such as a computer.