Life without a cellphone

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mouseyo22
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:55 am
Location: "Self-control is true power." Michael Pierre White

Re: Life without a cellphone

Post by mouseyo22 »

It depends on your age and location. If you look older than 50 years old, you might get pass if you tell people you don't have a cell phone and they have to bring you the physical menu in a restaurant. If you are younger, people might refuse and you will have to order whatever you see people around are eating. I didn't have a cell phone until I was 18 years old and then it was a flip phone. I made the switch to a smart phone 2 years ago just in time. If I had not, I would not be able to turn in very important documents to my public university. The office there made me use an app to scan the QR code so I could be in line. They no longer accepted the 'first come first serves' of someone physically being there. "The app will tell you when it's your turn."
I don't have the problem of 'plugging in' so many claim will come with a smartphone. I draw a clear line from the beginning I will rarely text, phone call if there's a real problem, and email takes me several days. Most of the time at home or work I turn my cell phone off so whatever urgent thing people need to tell me takes at least a day.

IlliniDave
Posts: 3845
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:46 pm

Re: Life without a cellphone

Post by IlliniDave »

Qazwer wrote:
Tue Jun 22, 2021 8:21 am
@iDave - when did you start to use the internet? Yes, you could live a good life without it. But it is just harder - see the past year. How do you know a computer in your pocket will not improve your life? Even if not now, how do you know that with societal dynamics changing that it will not benefit you in 5 years?
You could make similar arguments about any new technology - distracting - other ways around it. Changes life for the worse. It has happened with moveable type, the post office, the radio, television. Even land line telephones were supposed to stop us from writing and talking to people in person etc
Albeit not fully a computer, I spent some time carrying a cell phone around almost all the time and didn't like it. And that was long before people started calling me all the time about my car's warranty. I then kept carrying it around for a while, but turned off, until I decided I wanted to use it. But most of the time that's stupid. I bought a cabin for which lack of cell coverage was a selling point. Just how I roll, I suppose.

I don't remember precisely when I started to use the internet. It was at work. I got my first home PC in 1996 so that's when I started using it recreationally.

Maybe life's a little harder not having a smart phone. It's also harder when you rely less on money than you might otherwise to solve problems. I can say in 13 years I've spent about $170 on devices and maybe $6K on service, the bulk of which was for data plans while I was still paying for my youngest daughter's service. Spending more over that time would have made some problems "easier" to solve, but that's true of most DIY too. My music recording hobby sort of dictates that I have a functional computer with a large monitor and decent internet connection. With that I can also do everything I need to do that I might otherwise do with a smart phone. So the need just isn't there for me. I guess I can't play swipety-swipe with tinder on the pc. And I don't do good at the lets-all-sit-here-and-stare-at-screens game out in public. I've had dinner with my daughters while they sat there at the table and texted/instagrammed each other and maybe exchanged 20 words verbally. Including with me.

Fair point that in 5 years things might change enough, or I might change enough, that the calculus shifts. I'm sure someone will happily sell me a smart phone and a "plan" at that time. I can foresee that as I age having a cell phone or similar device at hand 24/7 might have more use one day. It could be as my dad ages further I'll tend to keep a closer eye on mine (although he refuses to use one).

One thing I was sort of envious of was video calls, but now with zoom they are pretty easy on the PC.

Campitor
Posts: 1227
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:49 am

Re: Life without a cellphone

Post by Campitor »

I think cell phones are like anything else - their utility and advantages are only as good as the user who purposely wields it. My real world experience is that mobile devices can be leveraged in a manner that allows me to be highly efficient, flexible, and a better troubleshooter/debugger.

The downside to these mobile devices is that you're expected to be 100% accessible by everyone - it's not just work or telemarketers breaking the much needed silence and/or downtime. And they also can be the biggest source of wasting time as I can personally attest to when I'm not being mindful on how I'm consuming the services on my devices.

With today's 100% connectivity humans have forgotten how to enjoy and benefit from solitude. However I'm no luddite. I've been using computers and mobile devices since they were available and affordable to the public. But I'm not ignorant to how these devices can negatively impact a our wellbeing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C74amJRp730.

thedollar
Posts: 257
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:07 am

Re: Life without a cellphone

Post by thedollar »

There are a lot of practical problems with getting rid of a phone for me (as well as others it seems). As Jakob mentioned a smartphone is required for so many essential things in Denmark; national verification used for payments, bank access, tickets etc.

I don't want to get entirely rid of my phone, although I have considered it, but my screen time is also ridiculously and embarrassingly high at the moment. I don't even want to try to calculate how big a share of my free time (subtracting work and sleep) I use on a phone.

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