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>dumb phones, or completely open-source smart phones. What use are dumb phones (i.e., feature phones)? They're only good for actually talking to people, and t

>dumb phones, or completely open-source smart phones. What use are dumb phones (i.e., feature phones)? They're only good for actually talking to people, and the only people I know who regularly use their phones for talking are my elderly relatives (in their 80s). Everyone younger than that uses their phones for: texting, games, web, various apps such as banking, etc. Actual talking is fairly rare, and usually only with some business (e.g. calling the doctor's office to schedule an appointment because they don't have a website reservation system, and even these places are dying out or moving online slowly).

dyauspitr 2y ago
That doesn’t fit my experience. Anything that involves typing out paragraphs of text almost immediately revert to a quick phone call where you can get the idea across in seconds instead of lots of minutes. These are people in their mid and early 30s.
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  In my experience, when this happens, we just use the voice or video-calling function of whatever chat app we're using texting through. We don't use phone numbers. I've never actually even called my girlfriend, for instance; I only have her phone number in my contacts list for emergencies, but when I've talked with her, it's been through our chat app (LINE), since we can use video there.
  - dyauspitr 2y ago
    Sure, but that’s just semantics. What matters is voice conversations happen a lot.
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      It's not semantics at all. Voice conversations on Messenger or WhatsApp are completely different and unlike voice conversations over a regular phone number. The latter you can do with a flip-phone; the former, you cannot.
m463 2y ago
depends on what your goals are. This post says "Just let me drive. I don't need fancy screens." An analogy with a phone might be to just talk to people. There are plenty more reasons for a dumb phone. Limited distraction for self/kids. Long battery time. privacy. sovereignty would align with open source, not necessarily dumb phone (you control the software)
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  >depends on what your goals are. >An analogy with a phone might be to just talk to people. Sure, I'm just pointing out that I don't think very many people these days actually want such a thing. Outside of HN (which seems to have a lot of very anti-tech people curiously), all the people I know, of all age ranges, simply don't actually use phones much for voice calling. When they do, it's usually just for talking to businesses as I said before, not for family and friends. Instead, people are using phones for so many other non-voice-calling things which simply won't work on a dumbphone. I feel like this is one of those things where people are appealing to nostalgia, but no one actually puts their money where their mouth is. Also, last I heard, dumbphones (flipphones) really are still available in many markets for people who want them, but almost no one does except perhaps for some elderly people. So I think this is really just people whining about the "good ol' days" while forgetting they weren't that good.
deleted 2y ago
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dyauspitr 2y ago

That doesn’t fit my experience. Anything that involves typing out paragraphs of text almost immediately revert to a quick phone call where you can get the idea across in seconds instead of lots of minutes. These are people in their mid and early 30s.

shiroiushi 2y ago
In my experience, when this happens, we just use the voice or video-calling function of whatever chat app we're using texting through. We don't use phone numbers. I've never actually even called my girlfriend, for instance; I only have her phone number in my contacts list for emergencies, but when I've talked with her, it's been through our chat app (LINE), since we can use video there.
- dyauspitr 2y ago
  Sure, but that’s just semantics. What matters is voice conversations happen a lot.
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    It's not semantics at all. Voice conversations on Messenger or WhatsApp are completely different and unlike voice conversations over a regular phone number. The latter you can do with a flip-phone; the former, you cannot.

m463 2y ago

depends on what your goals are. This post says "Just let me drive. I don't need fancy screens." An analogy with a phone might be to just talk to people. There are plenty more reasons for a dumb phone. Limited distraction for self/kids. Long battery time. privacy. sovereignty would align with open source, not necessarily dumb phone (you control the software)

shiroiushi 2y ago
>depends on what your goals are. >An analogy with a phone might be to just talk to people. Sure, I'm just pointing out that I don't think very many people these days actually want such a thing. Outside of HN (which seems to have a lot of very anti-tech people curiously), all the people I know, of all age ranges, simply don't actually use phones much for voice calling. When they do, it's usually just for talking to businesses as I said before, not for family and friends. Instead, people are using phones for so many other non-voice-calling things which simply won't work on a dumbphone. I feel like this is one of those things where people are appealing to nostalgia, but no one actually puts their money where their mouth is. Also, last I heard, dumbphones (flipphones) really are still available in many markets for people who want them, but almost no one does except perhaps for some elderly people. So I think this is really just people whining about the "good ol' days" while forgetting they weren't that good.

deleted 2y ago

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