3 ms·

Adults and teens turn to 'dumbphones' to cut screen time

27 points by reqo 2y ago

hooverd 2y ago
The form factor helps a lot.
arturkesik 2y ago
Dumbphones are so dumb. I just used Apple configurator, installed special profiles that block social network sites / news sites and few addictive apps. If you want you can block all of appstore, block safari etc. Why would you block uber on your phone? Also I can still use messenger to chat with my friends and don't have to force them to sms me. Plus I saved money as I kept my iPhone. I also can take high quality photos and videos. I can use google maps. Dumb phones are dumb. Why on earth would anyone buy one?
- paulryanrogers 2y ago
  Because most people aren't as sophisticated as you
- throwaway290 2y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40622501 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40622501
- onetimeuse92304 2y ago
  > Why on earth would anyone buy one? For the same reason I, and a lot of other people, chose to not have sweets and snacks at home. Because we like them and if they were available, we would eat them. We know that this is really bad for health and we also know that we have limited willpower to prevent ourselves from reaching for them. So we elect to help make better decision by just not having them around all the time. I still eat sweets. I just prefer this to be once a week in a form of a good dessert at a good restaurant, right after a good meal. And if I need a snack I make sure to have plenty of alternative, healthy options available at all times -- mostly fresh fruit and veggies.
kjkjadksj 2y ago
What does it say about the underlying issue if they can’t simply use their smartphone like a dumbphone which is certainly possible? I don’t think thats solved. These are people who sound like if there was a bowl of candy they’d have no control not to eat it all or something. Sounds like an issue for the psychologist not a tech issue.
- jjeaff 2y ago
  if you have a bowl of candy on your desk, do you eat more or less than usual?
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    Depends on your own willpower. I imagine if you are one to take more candy than usual if its closer, you also either sleepwalk or even somehow rationalize you getting your candy fix in even if there was no bowl of it. It then becomes a question of discipline or a lack of it, which no doubt might manifest in other aspects of life than this bowl of candy.
    - habitue 2y ago
      If you're exerting willpower to avoid the candy bowl on your desk, you're actively engaging in an activity that occupies some amount of your thoughts and attention. Simply not having it there is strictly better. I think you're kinda stretching here to make this a moralistic thing, but no matter how much willpower you have it's better not to have the candy there.
      - kjkjadksj 2y ago
        I'm not stretching this to be any one way or another. I'm just suggesting that its treating a symptom and not a root cause. Chances are if you are so predisposed to look at your phone to your detriment, you might have tendencies to do all sorts of similar actions to your detriment. The issue isn't the phone but the habitual tendency of trying to distract ones self from the (likely boring and mandatory) task at hand. If you tackled that issue directly, you wouldn't need a dumb phone, and you'd solve many other issues in your life beyond mere phone overuse I am sure. To me its a sell a man a fish, or teach a man how to fish and hunt and forage, type of situation.

27 points by reqo 2y ago

The form factor helps a lot.

Dumbphones are so dumb. I just used Apple configurator, installed special profiles that block social network sites / news sites and few addictive apps. If you want you can block all of appstore, block safari etc. Why would you block uber on your phone? Also I can still use messenger to chat with my friends and don't have to force them to sms me. Plus I saved money as I kept my iPhone. I also can take high quality photos and videos. I can use google maps. Dumb phones are dumb. Why on earth would anyone buy one?

paulryanrogers 2y ago
Because most people aren't as sophisticated as you
throwaway290 2y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40622501 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40622501
onetimeuse92304 2y ago
> Why on earth would anyone buy one? For the same reason I, and a lot of other people, chose to not have sweets and snacks at home. Because we like them and if they were available, we would eat them. We know that this is really bad for health and we also know that we have limited willpower to prevent ourselves from reaching for them. So we elect to help make better decision by just not having them around all the time. I still eat sweets. I just prefer this to be once a week in a form of a good dessert at a good restaurant, right after a good meal. And if I need a snack I make sure to have plenty of alternative, healthy options available at all times -- mostly fresh fruit and veggies.

kjkjadksj 2y ago

What does it say about the underlying issue if they can’t simply use their smartphone like a dumbphone which is certainly possible? I don’t think thats solved. These are people who sound like if there was a bowl of candy they’d have no control not to eat it all or something. Sounds like an issue for the psychologist not a tech issue.

jjeaff 2y ago
if you have a bowl of candy on your desk, do you eat more or less than usual?
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  Depends on your own willpower. I imagine if you are one to take more candy than usual if its closer, you also either sleepwalk or even somehow rationalize you getting your candy fix in even if there was no bowl of it. It then becomes a question of discipline or a lack of it, which no doubt might manifest in other aspects of life than this bowl of candy.
  - habitue 2y ago
    If you're exerting willpower to avoid the candy bowl on your desk, you're actively engaging in an activity that occupies some amount of your thoughts and attention. Simply not having it there is strictly better. I think you're kinda stretching here to make this a moralistic thing, but no matter how much willpower you have it's better not to have the candy there.
    - kjkjadksj 2y ago
      I'm not stretching this to be any one way or another. I'm just suggesting that its treating a symptom and not a root cause. Chances are if you are so predisposed to look at your phone to your detriment, you might have tendencies to do all sorts of similar actions to your detriment. The issue isn't the phone but the habitual tendency of trying to distract ones self from the (likely boring and mandatory) task at hand. If you tackled that issue directly, you wouldn't need a dumb phone, and you'd solve many other issues in your life beyond mere phone overuse I am sure. To me its a sell a man a fish, or teach a man how to fish and hunt and forage, type of situation.