Never had a personal smartphone, just work-issued ones that usually stay on-location after a shift. Yeah, it can drive people up the wall. I don't care lol.
I do have a smartphone, but I don't seem to feel the pain the author feels about being inundated by QR codes and apps. Maybe I have all the apps I need already? Maybe I just don't mind having an app on my phone because I know that I can set it to basically never bother me. Most of my apps have notifications silenced. My home screen is empty, save the handful of apps I do want. And for the little bit of effort I put forth to tweak the device to my liking, I get the world in my pocket - a full browser, every song I've ever liked, every picture I've ever taken, all my scanned documents, etc - not to mention all my loved ones available at a moment's notice. My battery lasts long enough, and when it doesn't, it's because I was using the device. I just don't understand the complaint I guess. Make the device work for you, not the other way around?
I don't think he's complaining about having a lot of apps, or the ability to have a lot of apps. He's complaining about being <i>required</i> to use apps for hundreds of small interactions every day that don't, or shouldn't, require an app. And he's correct. Companies are doing this not because they think it's better, but because they believe that if they can worm their way onto your device, and insert their cloud service (even if it's initially free), that they can turn you into a more reliable and/or recurring revenue stream in the future, either because you feel locked into their ecosystem so you will buy other products from their lineup, or, even better, buy a subscription service.
Depending on where I park in the city, I have to install a different parking app. And create an account, and pay with a credit card via the app. There was a time, however brief, when some of the parking meters just accepted credit cards, or get this, coins.<p>This is what happens when a large number of people claim they "don't seem to feel the pain" and comply with the data broker's wishes. We all get stuck in the data brokers web, or we have to break the law to park on a public street.
I think the problem is that things that once did not require and realistically shouldn't require apps (like the toilet example - which I can't tell if hyperbole or not) are now "app enabled" by default.<p>Sure, you have taken the time to curate your mobile experience and silence things but a majority of the people in the world don't do that as it takes more time and effort than they are willing or able to give (why silence things or uninstall apps when you can browse instagram or tiktok for 2 hours). These people are the most affected but don't often know how inundated they are.
You're missing the point entirely. You're opting in and enjoying it, great! Do you really believe you chose to opt in? The author is saying that opting out is extremely painful and that THAT is wrong. We should all get to choose if we want to walk around with a smart phone or not. It's now basically required to invest in a privacy destroying device that makes huge corporations that much richer to function in society.<p>You don't understand why someone would complain about that?
> Do you really believe you chose to opt in?<p>Yes, in that I am of free enough will to choose not to use something or do my homework before making purchases. I'm also not saying that you shouldn't be able to walk around without a smartphone, but choices, like speech, aren't without consequence. If you want to pay for something at a location that only takes cash, but you won't carry cash because it's easily stolen or lost, that doesn't mean they have to accommodate you, it means you're not eating their food. Should they take card? Sure, and you should be able to walk around cashless, but the same choice you get to make, they do as well.
I have a motorola smartphone. I don't have google play installed. I mainly use obtainium for app installation. Its a bare bones phone and it drives my business partner crazy.<p>"Just log into our instagram account and. . .right, you don't have insta installed on your phone."<p>"Can you log into our scheduling app and. . . right, you don't have that installed on your phone either."<p>Some of the more painful things you have to deal with:<p>- Chromite and Iron Fox filtering out a ton of stuff so a lot of sites simply don't work<p>- Organic maps is slow and hard to use compared to Google and Apple maps.<p>- Fairmail that blocks a ton of images and other code - which is good, but had to get used to seeing everything blocked visually.<p>- Not having any banking apps on my phone. Every time my son needs a few bucks in his account, my wife has to do it if we're out.<p>- The open source weather apps are not very accurate. Usually within a few degrees, and the radar is hit or miss.<p>Kind of odd that we have to try so hard to ensure our own privacy. I'm up for a new phone this Fall so I'll most likely be moving to a newer Pixel and will get Lineage or Graphene installed on it.
> - Not having any banking apps on my phone. Every time my son needs a few bucks in his account, my wife has to do it if we're out.<p>This is the most tyrannical things about smart phones -- banking apps. I get it, the bank wants to ensure the platform is not a liability. But it forces most of us to use one of the only two "trusted" mobile providers on earth: Google or Apple, both of which are American (and I'm an American.) The only alternative is a browser which comes with its own set of problems.
> The open source weather apps are not very accurate. Usually with a few degrees, and the radar is hit or miss.<p>If you are in the US, check out wX: <a href="https://f-droid.org/packages/joshuatee.wx/" rel="nofollow">https://f-droid.org/packages/joshuatee.wx/</a><p>It's fairly technical and it is very configurable (so it can take some fussing to get it set up the way you like), but it pulls data directly from NWS and has been very accurate for my family.
> Every time my son needs a few bucks in his account, my wife has to do it if we're out<p>So the burden is on her?
> They are willing to accept all the conditions of your apps, including sending you personal data, registering an account, etc.<p>I've had this exact problem this morning, I wanted to download the ASD-STE100 <a href="https://www.asd-ste100.org/STE_downloads.html#article02-2l" rel="nofollow">https://www.asd-ste100.org/STE_downloads.html#article02-2l</a> and they use a request form to get the download.<p>Unfortunately the last question:<p>> Do you consent to us collecting your data? This form has the only purpose of requesting a copy of ASD-STE100. Details are for record and statistical purposes only and will not be used or disclosed in any form to anyone. You can find out more about STEMG privacy policy here.<p>Only has a "Yes" option, and so I couldn't submit the form.<p>Great success.
Don't you obviously consent if you're filling in data to a google form? Unless the form answers go nowhere then it's being collected.
I'm currently looking for work and not even 2 hours ago I wanted to look up a company on Glassdoor for the first time in a while. I forgot they were aquired by Indeed. My Indeed login worked, but then I was demanded to give them my phone number to continue. Enough random business have my number so, whatever, but I could not move forward unless I consented to them sending me stuff. Yes, I could use a masked email, apply filters so I never see the junk, etc, but something about that really rubbed me the wrong way so I bailed.
That’ll get you detained for a while at the border.
“Just in my toilet, I’m supposed to have an app for the seat, an app for the flush and one for the ventilation.”<p>Ok that explains where the hate for apps comes from…
The list is missing a couple of points, including: "My camera isn't working." "I don't have a QR code scanner app." - And, of course, since we've already shown we're fine with bending the truth a little if it helps our case: "I scanned the QR code. It leads to a porn video. Are you going to argue with me about that over a couple of pixels, or will you be so kind to give me the plain URL?"
As a T1 diabetic, I wish that we weren't tying things like medical devices to smart phones. It's just one more failure point.
From my experience modified iPhones make the perfect dumb phones that you will actually end up sticking with and it's free if you already have one.<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45171200">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45171200</a><p>I use this method ^ which lets you keep essential apps but otherwise have dumb phone (no browser, no App Store). Highly recommend.<p>On the other hand, I have turned my laptop into a dumb computer using cold turkey blocker. I've never seen anyone talking about this here. I'm a standard user (for hardening reasons). And set up so I haven't watched YouTube largely for years because it's blocked and not at all in the past few days. It's flexible to configure and then because it's literally impossible to bypass you never try and then just end up living a calm life. (No ai, no reddit, no crappy news sites, etc.)
I've been able to say this truthfully up until 4 years ago. I was perfectly familiar with iOS and Android, and I could pick one up and use it as competently as anyone else. Was the same even when I decided to get one 4 years ago. Not having a Google and Meta account remains true for me. Never had a Meta/Facebook account at any point in time, and I deleted my Google account a decade ago.<p>It is frustrating dealing with people not willing to accept this is an option people have, and anything requiring an app is a dealbreaker for me. I didn't realize it was quite as bad as the author suggests with his various household items, but I am worried it will continue to get worse in that way without laws in manufacturing partitioning technology from life.
At some point, if you say something like that you'll probably be just given one.
This is why Google's war on sideloading is so terrible. It does very little to make people safer, and it restricts user's ability to make a free market choice about which companies they transact with.
I agree with all the assumptions, but it is a moving goalpost on being included in society.<p>Same as in some areas being a productive member of society includes: have a job, have a car, have a permenant address.<p>The only exceptiosn seem to skew to the top and bottom 10%? And even then it can steer more closet to top/bottom 5%? 1%? Where it doesn't matter you have enough or a complete lack of social proof that it doesn't matter.
I got a Sunbeam F1 in January and have been pleased with it. The hardest part is when I lost it, there is no find-my-phone (at least not that I know of, I should look, they are always adding new features). It has GPS and weather which is perfect for me. I just can't go to restaurants that don't have paper menus, which is fine.
I want to use GrapheneOS without the ability to access the browser and without the ability to install new apps. At least without a password. A long one written down on paper would be enough friction for me. You could also give it to a trusted person. You can also write/give only a portion of a password and then memorize the other part.<p>Afaict there's not an effective way to do this like you can on iPhones with Apple Configurator [1].<p>Removing appstores from secondary profile and browser with ADB has a workaround (which I won't say in case someone uses that setup). Another drawback is enabling ADB is bad for security.<p>Dumbphones are stupid because they're overpriced, not secure, and lack awesome apps like maps or Signal. And I already have a phone.<p>[1] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45171200">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45171200</a> this is seriously great if you have an iPhone, I used to use it before I switched to GrapheneOS.
I went back to a old Motorola phone not once but twice. Both attempts were unsuccessful. For directions I got a Garmin potable gos navigator. Once I was coming back from somewhere with my kids and it was 10:30 pm. They were hungry and wanted pizza. I used the Garmin gps and went to the restaurant but it was closed. That happened because the gps unit did not have the latest information. My family was mad and I went back to smartphone. The second time my extended family living outside the country were mad because they couldn’t call me on WhatsApp. So I went back to my smartphone. Totally two failed attempts at using a dumb phone.
When you buy something from a medium-sized shop in India, they would insist for your phone number, as their POS app have that field as almost mandatory. I had to fight at a pharmacy checkout, holding up the queue behind me, as I refuse to give my phone number.
I do not have one (and it's actually true.) And it's not easy. :-(
I’m always in voice group chats , and fellowshipping is more important to me then being digitally free.
Installing an app vs scanning a qr code is vastly different. That being said, I won't do either to see s menu.
> Just in my toilet, I’m supposed to have an app for the seat, an app for the flush and one for the ventilation.<p>There should be some sort of unofficial rule that if you’re writing something that strains credulity, you should actually link to <i>something</i> that explains it.
> "I don’t have a smartphone," is what I tell people and professionals nowadays<p>I did this today too. I happened to walk past a branch of my bank, and remembered my debit card is playing up due to wear-and-tear, so I popped in to order a replacement. I made the request and the first response was "do you have our banking up, you can do it on there?". "No".<p>It wasn't even busy.<p>(I also happen to have my mortgage with my bank, so paying quite a lot of interest to them each month...)
I wonder if the author has actually tried the QR code menus. It's actually incredibly convenient and some even let you pay right on the website so you ever are having to wait on some server to come by your table. You can get more information about the items on the menu than a physical menu and it is just more pleasant to read in general.
> following assumptions<p>You actually forgot the most important one: your phone should be latest and approved by google or apple.<p>I have an old iphone that is mint clean and fairly excellent battery, a couple months ago I wanted to travel but didn’t want to take my main in case I lose it, turned out most the essential apps won’t install because your OS is outdated, from bank ones to uber, none! Same goes if you tried to install say a banking app on grapheneos.<p>Those assumptions were vivid during covid, I know personally some people who happened to be in some countries where the “pass” was only through an app on a smartphone, not even printed or screenshots were accepted, only the app to get your basic human needs.
We could all be a bit more humble about the onerous “tools” we’ve built . I have a lot of sympathy for the elderly, and the ridiculous rituals they go through just to book an appointment, fill a subscription, buy tickets to a concert, order groceries.<p>The McDonalds app is 15+ screens to order a burger. Compare that to walking in a, “hi, how are you, I’d like a Big Mac meal with a Coke, here’s my money, thanks”.<p>Let’s all have a bit more humility, and even humiliation, for the absurd protocols we’ve imposed on everyone.
I don't eat meat or watch television. I'm whiter than you.
I get it, I really hate it too. When I don't want to use my phone, I just leave it somewhere in the house and forget about it for a couple of days.
No one actually believes you if you say that. Even if it is true.
So what do you do if your flushing app breaks? Or the manufacturer goes out of business and flush tracking servers go down? Or google decides to suspend it while you're on the toilet?
if the Buddha had a smart phone, it would be a Mudita Kompakt.
Not having a smartphone is a new status symbol flex.<p>The poorer you are, the more of your life you must waste looking at a screen instead of gazing upon beautiful landscapes and friendly faces.<p>Still it’s a step up as usual. NEXT stage will be probably those too poor to afford anti aging vs the muti centenarians that can.<p>And yet those that can’t afford multi centenarian lifestyle will live super well compared to today poorer class. Hunger, true hunger is eliminated where I live at least. Healthcare too is rather universal.<p>Good country.<p>And yet people will be furious at this inequality of lifespan and everyone understands it deeply as „dystopia”.<p>Medieval peasant would thought he is in heaven and yet we live in a dystopia and that is widely understood and I agree.
> The poorer you are, the more of your life you must waste looking at a screen instead of gazing upon beautiful landscapes and friendly faces.<p>"Must", perhaps. But plenty of people of any wealth are addicted
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> 1. That person owns a smartphone (which is at least a couple hundred dollars).<p>I live in South Africa, and even the poor townships are full of smartphones these days. My gardener has a fairly recent Samsung. They literally borrow money to buy these things. So if they can afford it, so can you.<p>It's not that I don't get your point though - it could easily be seen as unnecessary spending when you have all kinds of expenses. But sooner or later, smartphones have become a necessity to get on with life.