Mobile phones, anyone else who doesn't need one?

When I stayed in the Maldives there was a wooden box with an old Nokia and working SIM in there, ya know, in case tsunami.
 
These devices are designed to create a need. They try to make you want to check on notifications, news etc anything to get you to use their app/website.

It's just a form of advertising, if you turn all that stuff off, only have apps when you really need them and use the phone like the handy tool it is, it's fine.
 
Jean-F said:
Please God that it never happens, but if you were to break down on a Motorway in the middle of the night,
would you send an email to the AA/RAC?
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This is why there are landline phones at one-mile intervals.

dLockers said:
but how the hell you lot did anything - entirely paper based - is baffling.
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I work in engineering. Many of the paper-based methods are still faster and more useful than the electronic versions.

I had to verify my ID the other day, using a passport, a bank statement and a driving licence... Input all the data into the .gov website including serial numbers of various identity documents, only to have them unable to verify any of it. I then had to sign up for one of their approved third party validation entities, re-input all the data again... and then they also say they cannot verify any of it. I now have to take photos of all documents, along with a selfie for each one and submit all that... Whole process took over 2 hours, yet I could have just taken my papers up the local Post Office and been done inside 25 minutes.

Robbo said:
What if you're out walking in the middle of nowhere?
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No different to being on Three and not getting any signal! :p
 
ttaskmaster said:
I work in engineering. Many of the paper-based methods are still faster and more useful than the electronic versions.

I had to verify my ID the other day, using a passport, a bank statement and a driving licence... Input all the data into the .gov website including serial numbers of various identity documents, only to have them unable to verify any of it. I then had to sign up for one of their approved third party validation entities, re-input all the data again... and then they also say they cannot verify any of it. I now have to take photos of all documents, along with a selfie for each one and submit all that... Whole process took over 2 hours, yet I could have just taken my papers up the local Post Office and been done inside 25 minutes.
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Ahhh, a lot of your posts make sense now. Kill the 80% to design for the 20%. Because it wasn't quicker for you it therefore is not quicker for anyone else. I will be a lot more sympathetic with your posts now!
 
ttaskmaster said:
I work in engineering. Many of the paper-based methods are still faster and more useful than the electronic versions.

I had to verify my ID the other day, using a passport, a bank statement and a driving licence... Input all the data into the .gov website including serial numbers of various identity documents, only to have them unable to verify any of it. I then had to sign up for one of their approved third party validation entities, re-input all the data again... and then they also say they cannot verify any of it. I now have to take photos of all documents, along with a selfie for each one and submit all that... Whole process took over 2 hours, yet I could have just taken my papers up the local Post Office and been done inside 25 minutes.
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On the flip side, i renewed my drivers license recently and it took about 10 mins online. Rather better than the old post office way!
 
dLockers said:
Ahhh, a lot of your posts make sense now. Kill the 80% to design for the 20%. Because it wasn't quicker for you it therefore is not quicker for anyone else. I will be a lot more sympathetic with your posts now!
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Who said anything about killing?
I've always said things like this should be optional - I quite happily use my phone for a number of things, but I don't *NEED* to use it and am not utterly reliant upon it like this 80% of which you speak... if the electronic version worked, then I'd be happy with it. As is, it was utter crap.

Jez said:
On the flip side, i renewed my drivers license recently and it took about 10 mins online. Rather better than the old post office way!
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Funny how they still can't join up those two .gov elements, though...
 
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ttaskmaster said:
This is why there are landline phones at one-mile intervals.
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In the early 80s I once broke down in the middle of nowhere during winter.
Not only did I leave my car with £1000s of music gear in it but I then walked for about an hour until I saw a light.
About 3am in the morning I knocked the owners up and convinced them I wasn't going to kill them and they kindly rang the AA who came about 3 hours later.
Never again but I didn't have a choice back then.

It's the same as a lot of things, you don't really need something until you experience it.
Back in the early 90s my mate got us lost in his Cessna which nearly caused him a lot of trouble with the air authorities (whatever they're called) who were watching on RADAR.
he then saw something on the ground he recognised so he went into his professional BS'ing to say he knew exactly where he was.
The following day he bought £500 worth of Garmin gear for his plane.
 
What my phone (S10 Lite) gets used for:
- whatsapp (I really don't like needing a phone to send messages, this isn't progress imo, but my friends use it so I'm stuck)
- maps (I could get by without maps, but it's useful when lost)
- 2fa (I wish I didn't need 2fa because it's inconvenient, but it is necessary, probably non-phone ways of doing it tho)
- youtube while pooping (modern version of magazines lul)
- emergency calls (a dumb phone would suffice)
- mp3 player (used to use an mp3 player, then a dumb phone, back when I had mp3 files - but now it's all via Amazon, which I hate, and need a smartphone for, and Amazon make it impossible to leave without losing your music)
- camera (saves me having to buy a dedicated camera)

I hardly use my phone service, so I'm on PAYG and it costs about £1 a month. Signal is terrible anyway.

If I could go back in time and stop the mobile phone from being invented, I would. Life was better without them.
 
Robbo said:
What if you're out walking in the middle of nowhere?

Not having a mobile phone at all is simply foolish. It could save lives if nothing else. How much you use it outside of phone calls is entirely up to you.
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I had one forever - mainly for business. A permanent fixture it was. Now I am retired. I go at my own pace and where I stroll with my dog. It's peace.
 
Lysander said:
The problem is when you let the phone control you rather than you control the phone.

I ditched my smartphone in 2014 for a dumbphone and now I have a Sony smartphone, seven years later. It's the best phone I've ever owned and Android 10 is great.

I use it for

Calls
Texts / Whatsapp
Music
Occasional browsing
Alarm clock
Twitch stream managing
Occasional game playing
Notepad - very important
Utilities e.g. calculator / torch / weather etc

That's about it. NOT social media and NOT emails.

As a result my phone is a pleasure to use and I never feel harassed by it. My daily screentime is always low, being generally under two hours a day [51 mins so far today].
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Im a dinosaur and don’t understand Twitch at all - it’s just watching people play games no? But what is “Twitch stream managing”?
 
Ahleckz said:
Im a dinosaur and don’t understand Twitch at all - it’s just watching people play games no? But what is “Twitch stream managing”?
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You can watch pro's in tournaments. I like it for csgo tournaments. I also like to watch flom play when I can't play myself or if I want to learn maps. By watching a high level player you can learn to get better. It's like why would you watch a pro chef cook food? Why do people watch master chef? why do people watch football? why do people watch tennis?

Sometimes entertainment, sometimes learning, sometimes just because you like to. I do it from an entertainment and learning perspective. Some streamers are quite funny.
 
Ahleckz said:
Im a dinosaur and don’t understand Twitch at all - it’s just watching people play games no? But what is “Twitch stream managing”?
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Tried to watch Twitch yesterday. Started the stream > 30s unskippable advert > 2 minutes of stream > 30s unskippable advert > 2 minutes of stream > 30s unskippable advert. Yeah, don't see how people can watch this.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Idiot?
Nah, just adult. Some of us grew up without mobile phones at all, so can quite readily cope without one even today. At one stage, having a mobile was just bling and you were looked upon like the guys with wide open shirts to show off their hairy chests and gold medallions.

As for leaving all that bull ***** behind and being isolated.... Yes, that's the idea and the intent. I quite regularly turn my phone off, and phones aren't even allowed in my wife's workplace.


The only time it becomes a real problem is when a company won't register/deliver/serve you without sending a confirmation text, or something.
Everything else can be done with other methods (which many still prefer, as the kit/tech is still widely sold) or isn't as necessary as you think...

Phone - Find a landline, or make arrangements in advance.
Texting device - Use a landline
Camera - Do you really need the photo?
Torch - Get a proper 1,000 lumen LED one. Fenix, or Nitecore if needs be. Far superior to anything a phone will have.
Calculator - Go to school, learn to count.
Internet access to the whole world - Read a newspaper or use a PC.
My wallet - What's wrong with an actual wallet? How come banks don't issue phones instead of bank cards?
My emergency lifeline - Take a first aid course and carry an IFAK.
Alarm clock - Have kids. They'll wake you up nice and early!
Reminder tool - Use a Post-It note
Email access - Just buy some 'Grow It Big' cream from the local sex shop. It'll be cheaper than whatever the Namibian prince is selling.
Sat Nav - Learn to read a map. That way, you get to decide what the right way is and you won't have blazing arguments with the voice.
Traffic updater - Look ahead.
Weather checker - Look up.
Music player - Hum.

:p
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You seem to have replaced one device that you don't want to carry with load of other devices you have to carry. Makes sense.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
It's the same as a lot of things, you don't really need something until you experience it....
The following day he bought £500 worth of Garmin gear for his plane.
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Having bought vehicle SatNavs myself and experienced the joys of what they do to some people, I would have suggested better training in aerial navigation, rather than hoping technology will cover up his inadequacies. :p
Things like SatNavs are only navigational aids, though, yet people seem to fall foul of life more often nowadays because of what their SatNav did/didn't do. Delivery drivers pass our place so often because they're using Garmin, completely oblivious to the massive sign outside that is visible from 600 yards away!

OspreyO said:
You seem to have replaced one device that you don't want to carry with load of other devices you have to carry. Makes sense.
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Who said I don't want to carry a phone? I often do carry one, but there are plenty of circumstances where it's pretty useless and cannot be relied upon....

The dedicated LED torch is just so much better at everything, especially the magnetic ones.
The wallet holds a lot more than just payment methods.
The IFAK will save lives in situations where phoning the emergency services and waiting 8-15 minutes (and then, on average) for them will see your patient bleed out before they arrive.
Post-It notes, or any other form of paper - Hundreds of uses. How else do you leave someone a note? Stick your iPhone under their windscreen wiper?
Map and compass - I have the OS app and Google, but an actual map still works better for most navigation and has greater functionality. My compass is an M88 in mils, so far more accurate than either the one on my phone or my ABC watch.
The rest was mostly flippant levity, but still pretty genuine.

So yeah, as per thread title, I don't actually 'need' a phone and on the days I forget to even take it with me (which happens more often than you'd think), I sometimes don't even notice.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
How do you call anyone?

GP?
Customer service?
Breakdown?
Emergency?
Reservations?


There is a fine balance to be had with a phone. I have zero social media apart from tiktok and even then I ain't used that in about 6 months.

No Facebook, no insta, no snap, never had then either. I only got tik tok for the comedy stuff.

I do have twitter but again that's just for following projects I like.

My phone is used for Chrome and games mainly and WhatsApp. The camera is probably it's best function and video calling.

I understand there are people who spend all day on Facebook. Those are the ones who need to seek help. I wouldn't be able to function as well without a phone like if in a car accident with no phone you are pretty much screwed.
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Actually skype for all those things. have done so for years. Where I live there is no emergency service, I have no car or GP. But Skype is good with a data sim.
 
Coming from the opposite side, don't you find it worrying how you feel you are unable to cope without your mobile phone?
I mean how did we all manage to survive before hand? we should have been extinct by now :P
 
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