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But phones aren't free, they have both significant up-front and recurring expenses. Trading "I need to buy a map" for "I need to buy a phone so I can look at a
by kibwen 3y ago
But phones aren't free, they have both significant up-front and recurring expenses. Trading "I need to buy a map" for "I need to buy a phone so I can look at a map" isn't a straight win.
And at the same time, before phones, every municipality had a place with free maps of major landmarks, precisely because they want to encourage tourism without forcing people to buy a local map.
The situation of needing to own a phone in order to participate in society is similar to how here in the US we require people to own cars to participate in society; it is a financial burden whose effects are felt disproportionately by those who are less wealthy.
- dewey 3y agoWhich resulted in a lot of paper maps being produced and thrown away, so not everything only has upsides. Just like camping ground guides that came out yearly, street maps that had to be re-bought every few years etc.
- kibwen 3y agoIf we're going to continue the comparison, how many phones are produced and thrown away yearly? I'm not trying to demonize phones, I'm trying to make us conscious of the phone-shaped blind spot in our collective consciousness. Phones aren't zero-impact.