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Then disconnect your data plan. To me, just having the Android Calendar & Contacts interfaces is a huge improvement over most dedicated 'dumb' phones. I guess

by pyre 14y ago

Then disconnect your data plan. To me, just having the Android Calendar & Contacts interfaces is a huge improvement over most dedicated 'dumb' phones. I guess that you still have to have the discipline not to connect wifi, but I don't think that would be too much of an issue. Disabling/enabling wifi on Android is fairly easy. This barrier, though small is probably enough to help keep you in-check.

danielweber 14y ago
I haven't verified this myself, but friends tell me you can no longer get "free" phones from AT&T unless you get a data plan. At $15/month for 2 years and 2 lines, that's 720 bucks. And phones just aren't durable enough to last for 4 years. It's probably time to start grabbing old phones off of eBay.
- pyre 14y ago
  You can get an Android phone for a decent price if you don't care about top-of-the-line $500+ phones (e.g. the Samsung Galaxy Q here - http://mobilicity.ca/phones/ http://mobilicity.ca/phones/). If all you're looking for a 'dumb' phone with some niceties... I'm sure you can find plenty to complain about with respect to things like browser performance, etc, but that's not necessarily a priority in this case.
  - drivebyacct2 14y ago
    Verizon won't even let you activate a smartphone without a data plan...
icebraining 14y ago
Wouldn't it be better to get a cheaper, wifi-less Symbian Nokia? Or is the Android software that much better?
- nsm 14y ago
  agreed! After a LOT of deliberation about what high-end smartphone to buy, I finally ended up on a Nokia 500 (Symbian Belle, Wi-fi, good sync support, super Nokia Maps) because I realised that I didn't want to always be connected, and I had no use of a super powerful phone, other than the fact that I could brag about it. I have no data plan. For most people the level of smart-ness offered by an entry level smart-phone is more than enough. Calendar/contacts/calling/messaging is pretty much the same quality across all mobile OSes. I think the whole app craze is propagated by social media junkies and corporates who want vendor lock-in or a Silicon Valley culture that values start-up invites and social wastes of time over everything else.

by pyre 14y ago

danielweber 14y ago

I haven't verified this myself, but friends tell me you can no longer get "free" phones from AT&T unless you get a data plan. At $15/month for 2 years and 2 lines, that's 720 bucks. And phones just aren't durable enough to last for 4 years. It's probably time to start grabbing old phones off of eBay.

pyre 14y ago
You can get an Android phone for a decent price if you don't care about top-of-the-line $500+ phones (e.g. the Samsung Galaxy Q here - http://mobilicity.ca/phones/ http://mobilicity.ca/phones/). If all you're looking for a 'dumb' phone with some niceties... I'm sure you can find plenty to complain about with respect to things like browser performance, etc, but that's not necessarily a priority in this case.
- drivebyacct2 14y ago
  Verizon won't even let you activate a smartphone without a data plan...

icebraining 14y ago

Wouldn't it be better to get a cheaper, wifi-less Symbian Nokia? Or is the Android software that much better?

nsm 14y ago
agreed! After a LOT of deliberation about what high-end smartphone to buy, I finally ended up on a Nokia 500 (Symbian Belle, Wi-fi, good sync support, super Nokia Maps) because I realised that I didn't want to always be connected, and I had no use of a super powerful phone, other than the fact that I could brag about it. I have no data plan. For most people the level of smart-ness offered by an entry level smart-phone is more than enough. Calendar/contacts/calling/messaging is pretty much the same quality across all mobile OSes. I think the whole app craze is propagated by social media junkies and corporates who want vendor lock-in or a Silicon Valley culture that values start-up invites and social wastes of time over everything else.