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What’s so bad about having a smartphone but exercising self-control? Turning off notifications is trivial. Nobody is forcing you to use social media. Having GPS

What’s so bad about having a smartphone but exercising self-control? Turning off notifications is trivial. Nobody is forcing you to use social media. Having GPS in your pocket at all times is a super power. You must have one if your employer requires 2FA but doesn’t provide a phone (smaller companies). I like the idea of a dumb phone in theory, but we have long since crossed the bridge.

nehal3m 2y ago
There's a few reasons. You have to be aware that you're sinking time into your phone, realise that it is a problem and then exercise constant vigilance to keep from falling back into old habits, comparable to many other addictions. There's armies of marketers and psychologists working to try and glue your eyeballs to your screen and resisting that pull is non trivial for many. A dumb phone and a dedicated GPS unit along with a paper calendar works well for me during times when I feel like unplugging; no self control required.
JohnMakin 2y ago
Lack or possession of self control has little to do with the aggressive amount of tracking and data collection your phone does without your consent.
- hiatus 2y ago
  What tracking specifically are you referring to? Is it apps tracking location, or browsing history? If it's just location tracking by the carrier, that's done regardless of phone type.
  - JohnMakin 2y ago
    Pretty much any modern webpage you visit in your phone’s browser is going to fingerprint and identify you to an extremely granular degree. Tons of popular applications farm and sell data to a crazy degree. Yes, one can not use them, but the list of apps that do not do this is vanishingly small and certain ones like facebook or whatsapp are sometimes completely unavoidable. The mobile ecosystem facilitates this in a way that is much harder to avoid on a mobile device than on a laptop, especially not for the non-advanced user. The iphone for instance tracks your location pretty much constantly to give you “helpful” reminders in maps to tell you that you successfully parked at work (which i never told them was my work). Just one example.
    - hiatus 2y ago
      That's a fair point, I hadn't considered the relative ease of opting out of tracking on a PC in contrast with mobile devices.
    - adamomada 2y ago
      The iPhone tracks location but it is stored on the device
    - pulvinar 2y ago
      Check your Contacts page for yourself: you may have entered a work address. (Or Apple might have 'helpfully' added it?) I haven't cared about tracking since removing all ads, either paying for no ads or simply doing without. Life is good now.
      - JohnMakin 2y ago
        No, apple maps definitely attempts to figure it out based on your location patterns. At one point when I was 100% remote it listed the bodega store across the street I visited daily for sodas/supplies as “Work.” It’s done this for every work place I’ve been in since (til i disabled it which isnt intuitive at all)
fallingsquirrel 2y ago
Everyone has limits to their self-control. What's wrong with: - an alcoholic having beer in the fridge but exercising self-control? - an overweight person having sugar cookies in the pantry but exercising self-control? - a drug addict having heroin in the glove compartment but exercising self-control? Also: I remember having GPS on a feature phone in ~2005. You don't need a smartphone for that.
- stoniejohnson 2y ago
  > in the glove compartment but exercising self-control? this example is very different from the others haha
  - psychanarch 2y ago
    How so?
    - stoniejohnson 2y ago
      he asked "whats wrong" with the following things and the last example was possessing an extremely illegal narcotic in a motor-vehicle
  - fallingsquirrel 2y ago
    I'm glad you liked that one, stoniejohnson!
    - stoniejohnson 2y ago
      thanks! my name is deceptive I am a respectful denizen of this beautiful nation and I don't approve of drugs!
psychlops 2y ago
It's an addiction for many. It's similar to asking why not have alcohol in the home of alcoholics? They could simply exercise self-control.
slowmovintarget 2y ago
Children are notoriously bad at self-control.

nehal3m 2y ago

There's a few reasons. You have to be aware that you're sinking time into your phone, realise that it is a problem and then exercise constant vigilance to keep from falling back into old habits, comparable to many other addictions. There's armies of marketers and psychologists working to try and glue your eyeballs to your screen and resisting that pull is non trivial for many. A dumb phone and a dedicated GPS unit along with a paper calendar works well for me during times when I feel like unplugging; no self control required.

JohnMakin 2y ago

Lack or possession of self control has little to do with the aggressive amount of tracking and data collection your phone does without your consent.

hiatus 2y ago
What tracking specifically are you referring to? Is it apps tracking location, or browsing history? If it's just location tracking by the carrier, that's done regardless of phone type.
- JohnMakin 2y ago
  Pretty much any modern webpage you visit in your phone’s browser is going to fingerprint and identify you to an extremely granular degree. Tons of popular applications farm and sell data to a crazy degree. Yes, one can not use them, but the list of apps that do not do this is vanishingly small and certain ones like facebook or whatsapp are sometimes completely unavoidable. The mobile ecosystem facilitates this in a way that is much harder to avoid on a mobile device than on a laptop, especially not for the non-advanced user. The iphone for instance tracks your location pretty much constantly to give you “helpful” reminders in maps to tell you that you successfully parked at work (which i never told them was my work). Just one example.
  - hiatus 2y ago
    That's a fair point, I hadn't considered the relative ease of opting out of tracking on a PC in contrast with mobile devices.
  - adamomada 2y ago
    The iPhone tracks location but it is stored on the device
  - pulvinar 2y ago
    Check your Contacts page for yourself: you may have entered a work address. (Or Apple might have 'helpfully' added it?) I haven't cared about tracking since removing all ads, either paying for no ads or simply doing without. Life is good now.
    - JohnMakin 2y ago
      No, apple maps definitely attempts to figure it out based on your location patterns. At one point when I was 100% remote it listed the bodega store across the street I visited daily for sodas/supplies as “Work.” It’s done this for every work place I’ve been in since (til i disabled it which isnt intuitive at all)

fallingsquirrel 2y ago

Everyone has limits to their self-control. What's wrong with: - an alcoholic having beer in the fridge but exercising self-control? - an overweight person having sugar cookies in the pantry but exercising self-control? - a drug addict having heroin in the glove compartment but exercising self-control? Also: I remember having GPS on a feature phone in ~2005. You don't need a smartphone for that.

stoniejohnson 2y ago
> in the glove compartment but exercising self-control? this example is very different from the others haha
- psychanarch 2y ago
  How so?
  - stoniejohnson 2y ago
    he asked "whats wrong" with the following things and the last example was possessing an extremely illegal narcotic in a motor-vehicle
- fallingsquirrel 2y ago
  I'm glad you liked that one, stoniejohnson!
  - stoniejohnson 2y ago
    thanks! my name is deceptive I am a respectful denizen of this beautiful nation and I don't approve of drugs!

psychlops 2y ago

It's an addiction for many. It's similar to asking why not have alcohol in the home of alcoholics? They could simply exercise self-control.

slowmovintarget 2y ago

Children are notoriously bad at self-control.