The smartphone didn't ruin those things. Capitalism did.
this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2024
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The person who wrote this wasn't alive before smartphones and are doing the whole "I was born in the wrong decade" thing.
I have a smart phone with a custom ROM, and a dumb phone (Sunbeam Mobile). No, I am not a drug dealer. Sometimes I change out my SIM card and will use the smart phone (especially if traveling to another state or country), and because it can make my life easier.
Here are some rambling thoughts I have on the topic:
-If you don't want to have a smart phone, and opt for a dumb phone, you need to be careful not to let your PC "replace" your bad smart phone habits in terms of scrolling, etc.
-For the peeps worried about privacy, I'm not sure if dumb phones would be an ideal choice. I'm not so sure how secure SMS and phone calls are. I am not an expert, so I have no idea about this, though. I usually use Matrix to have at length text conversations on a PC when I am not using a smart phone, because texting is annoying on a dumb phone and who knows if cell phone companies or other people are intercepting data to market more crap. I'm not so schizo about this, but it is annoying and creepy.
-People are isolated and need a way to build and maintain communities. These days, it is difficult to walk places and build community in the physical world. So that is why you have people getting together on Discord, Instagram, etc. I have definitely been isolated or lived in rural areas and having these outlets has been more helpful than harmful for me.
-If you want a dumb phone, I do recommend a Sunbeam Mobile phone. It supports group texting, navigation (with HERE Maps). I have an SD card full of music I put in the phone and it supports Bluetooth. I recommend the models of phones that are completely de-Googled.
-I don't think people should feel bad if they need a smart phone, especially if they are living in circumstances beyond their control which puts them in an isolating position.
-I think that ultimately people need to want to wake up to all of this. I want to be more involved in making my life more community oriented. I do live in a city, but it is very car dependent. I think that we need to push for development and policies that support community building over the long term, because most people are not happy having smart phones a fixture of everything. For example, is creepy to me that in any moment of time, I can guess what most people are doing (and that is that they are sitting on the Internet in some capacity or a smart phone).
-I hate Google and Amazon. Any way that I do not support them and boycott them is a win for me and society.
-I find it interesting that whenever I am using my Sunbeam phone, that younger people will come up to me and start asking about it. People are desperate to escape smart phones, but there are so many macro political and macro economical problems that create the situation we are in now. We see ourselves as so atomized that there is no examples of any organization or collective rejection of this crap.
Here is a great blog post, which I highly recommend reading: https://wrongthink.link/posts/re-life-in-dysfunctional-world/
I like having maps and gps with me
Dumb phones had that too (and cameras, and internet). I was using GPS on my Motorola Razr back in 2004.
I had an actual Garmin GPS map handheld device with me. It was a pretty hefty brick I'm sure you could double as a weapon and literally all it did was show maps and your location. Fucking things were pretty advanced, I think they used those for civil engineering and shit
And then young me bought an Android device....
Dumbphones have had a lot of the functionality we now use with smartphones. It's a vague distinction anyway
True
Amateur photography has gotten pretty darned good.
Yeah definitely the smartphone is why I still don’t have a girlfriend yup yup
Dating sites with the usual business model of pay-to-play have an incentive to sabotage long term relationships by not showing the most compatible people to each other.
Corrupt states can use it to undermine assumed enemy states.
Ruines photogrpahy ?
Rhien II sold for $4.5 Million in 2011
I'd suggest that ruined photography.
That really is an unimpressive photo. Most of the photos on that list are terrible.
Proved the underpaid math teacher wrong when they said we wouldn't always have a calculator in our pocket.
“There’s something so human about taking something great and ruining it a little so that you can have more of it”
GPS, music, and I disagree about the camera. I’d love a dumb phone that could do GPS music and a camera and nothing else besides text and calls.
The flashlight to.
The flashlight to where?
.
And authenticators, password managers.
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Ruined photography?
Professionals or hobbyists can still use a proper camera but the old maxim "sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you" often applies and cellphones do fairly well in that regard
I think is more about how the smartphone and apps like instagram uses a bunch of filters and things like that.
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The problem isn't smartphones, it's capitalism.
All of those things would have happened anyway in a different form factor because capitalism is just a race to the bottom.
Except maybe UI design. That has been special in its enshittification.
bad UI design is also because of capitalism, because the software companies can't stand just having a working software, they must make some changes in some way and UI is a low hanging fruit.
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Anonymous does have valid points. The devices and internet all released with the governments blessing, for tracking and spying.
Yeah, none of that is the phone's fault. That is like blaming fast food for being a fat ass.
There is a legitimate comparison there. There's shared culpability. Sure, you're responsible for what you eat. But those fast food companies hire teams of nutritionists, psychologists, and sociologists, people with PhDs in their fields, and task them with developing the most addictive foods they can. It's no different than cigarettes. Sure we're ultimately responsible for our actions. But it does end up feeling a bit like victim blaming.
I understand the position and the line of thought that leads to the victim blaming idea, but ultimately there is not a "victim". It is not being forced upon the "victim". While it is entirely true the playing field is violently unfair, it is still a choice to participate.
This is why regulation is a good thing. Level the playing field and make it safer for those that choose to partake...but it is ultimately personal accountability, unfortunately.
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There’s (mostly) nothing wrong with the technology. It’s the enshittification and profit motive behind nearly everything that’s the real problem.
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Maps/gps navigation and being able to talk to someone across the world for free (provided you have an internet connection). Genz and younger millennials don’t know how expensive long-distance calls were back then.
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Ruined pointless but enjoyable arguments with mates in the pub. In the old days you could get a good 15 minutes of entertainment out of 'Was it Matt Damon or Mark Wahlberg in that Three Kings movie?'
Now some asshat with a phone will kill that argument in 5 seconds.
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