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Honestly, I had to go a week without a smartphone earlier this year after I was mugged. I can do nearly everything on my laptop, so I didn't think it would be

Honestly, I had to go a week without a smartphone earlier this year after I was mugged. I can do nearly everything on my laptop, so I didn't think it would be a big deal. I utterly hated it. I didn't like not being able to check my email when necessary, I didn't like the fact that I had to find clever workarounds for 2FA, I didn't really have a way of listening to music portably without Youtube music. Even though I'm not huge fan of the Pixel 7, I was still able to breath a huge sigh of relief once I activated it.

entropicdrifter 3y ago
>I didn't really have a way of listening to music portably without Youtube music I mean, you can for sure still buy a cheap MP3 player like you could back in the day. Sure, they're less popular but they definitely still exist.
- sandreas 3y ago
  I still prefer my iPods to listen to music and audio books these days... Way less distraction and much more battery life :-) But I don't really think `Dumbphones` will ever make a real comeback... it's more like a specific niche, that has to exist for specific people.
swatcoder 3y ago
I'm sure it's awful when it happens non-voluntarily as for you, but challenging some of those urges on one's own time/inclination is a big part of discovering the value of digital hygiene. Going without a smartphone entirely is more than most people need, but a lot of people experience unattributed health effects from having constant distraction and stimulation in their pocket. We've almost certainly evolved to rest and just stare at the horizon throughout the day, in a way that many people can no longer even imagine. There was a meme on Twitter/Reddit a little while back where people were absolutely astonished that some guy was traveling without a phone or book or anything. In a world beseiged by depression, anxiety, obesity, etc the inconceivability of "just chilling" certainly seems like a related point of concern.
- tombert 3y ago
  That's possible, but I do get a little annoyed at the moralism that people display on Reddit about this, acting like smartphones are the downfall of humanity and we'd be better off if they all went away (edit: to be clear, not accusing you of that!). Fundamentally, I really really like having GPS on me at basically all times, I like having access to pretty much every song ever written wherever I go, I like being able to read and compose emails on the fly, I like having my TODO tasks synced between my computer and my phone. While not perfect, I do think that smartphones increase my quality of life.
  - swatcoder 3y ago
    Yeah, I think the realist future has us learn to treat digital stimulation as an intuitive hygiene thing: You can drink, but maybe don't start at 8am. You don't have to bathe every day, but go too long and you're not going to have a lot of friends. Flossing would be great, but at least brush your teeth. Go ahead and enjoy ice cream, but not for every meal. We just don't have the cultural experience for anybody's specific suggestions to have much weight yet.
CalRobert 3y ago
I remember when you could do 2fa with a landline number

entropicdrifter 3y ago

>I didn't really have a way of listening to music portably without Youtube music I mean, you can for sure still buy a cheap MP3 player like you could back in the day. Sure, they're less popular but they definitely still exist.

sandreas 3y ago
I still prefer my iPods to listen to music and audio books these days... Way less distraction and much more battery life :-) But I don't really think `Dumbphones` will ever make a real comeback... it's more like a specific niche, that has to exist for specific people.

swatcoder 3y ago

I'm sure it's awful when it happens non-voluntarily as for you, but challenging some of those urges on one's own time/inclination is a big part of discovering the value of digital hygiene. Going without a smartphone entirely is more than most people need, but a lot of people experience unattributed health effects from having constant distraction and stimulation in their pocket. We've almost certainly evolved to rest and just stare at the horizon throughout the day, in a way that many people can no longer even imagine. There was a meme on Twitter/Reddit a little while back where people were absolutely astonished that some guy was traveling without a phone or book or anything. In a world beseiged by depression, anxiety, obesity, etc the inconceivability of "just chilling" certainly seems like a related point of concern.

tombert 3y ago
That's possible, but I do get a little annoyed at the moralism that people display on Reddit about this, acting like smartphones are the downfall of humanity and we'd be better off if they all went away (edit: to be clear, not accusing you of that!). Fundamentally, I really really like having GPS on me at basically all times, I like having access to pretty much every song ever written wherever I go, I like being able to read and compose emails on the fly, I like having my TODO tasks synced between my computer and my phone. While not perfect, I do think that smartphones increase my quality of life.
- swatcoder 3y ago
  Yeah, I think the realist future has us learn to treat digital stimulation as an intuitive hygiene thing: You can drink, but maybe don't start at 8am. You don't have to bathe every day, but go too long and you're not going to have a lot of friends. Flossing would be great, but at least brush your teeth. Go ahead and enjoy ice cream, but not for every meal. We just don't have the cultural experience for anybody's specific suggestions to have much weight yet.

CalRobert 3y ago

I remember when you could do 2fa with a landline number