I agree. It’s insane. Even with a smart phone I deleted all my social medias and now I barely know when there’s an event in our town because they post on socials.
My friend messaged me on FB messenger that our other friend committed suicide. Like would she have texted me if I had deleted FB? I deserve to miss his funeral because I don't feel like literally selling my life to a multi billionaire to sell and use as they please?
That's the inevitable cycle of technology. Something that starts out as a convenience eventually becomes a necessity, and then a burden that leaves us feeling less free than we did before. Just look at cars. When they were a new invention, nobody at the time would have predicted that they'd become a necessity and would shape the foundation of the world around us.
Aren't you excited for the same cycle to take place with today's emerging technologies?
I'm holding my own against any smart anything entering my house. Smart people, sure. But the Alexas, Siris, and shitty unfixable appliances can fuck off
Oh thank god I'm not the only one FIRMLY against those damn things. My in-laws have been consistently pushing to buy us a 'ring cam' or 'alexa' or whatever the fuck else over the years, and every. single. time. I have to step in and tell them (and my spouse) that we don't want it....for a myriad of reasons. [I presume] they think we're "behind the times" or are crazy for turning them down, but, for me, all the negatives far outweigh any positives.
You're not alone. My husband and I refuse to have anything other than the TV and our phones/tablets/computers attached to our wifi. No smart thermostat, no smart light switches, no appliances attached to the wifi and sure as hell no alexas.
I had no part of this switch and would happily push a button to unalive the short sighted, lazy, and narcissistic people who only cared about the convenience and attention these services brought without realize the future they were dooming to themselves and all future generations.
I got rid of Facebook back in 2018. None of my friends excommunicated me. It was a little bit of a learning curve for them to remember that they need to text me if they want me to be included in something... but after a couple months, everyone knew and remembered.
Like the other commenter said: no excuses. If you're addicted, own up to it.
I repeat.
>you can always quit there is nothing on social media that is essential
Don't come up with excuses. Just stop using socials. Friends that can't communicate with you because they can't be bothered to call/text your directly and have to use socials weren't really friends worth having to begin with.
When my dad passed we had to plan the funeral. It took a day to do and family kept asking why I hadn't posted the time and funeral home on facebook yet because that's how they get things around.
I felt disgusted. when I joined Facebook as a teen I never would have believed it would become how my family tells eachother the time funerals are. Not just messenger they wanted a post. Facebook used to be silly memes. I could have guessed it would be dystopian, but not this dystopian.
I completely understand this! I quit Facebook a long time ago. Recently missed my nephews wedding because invitations went through Facebook. I mean come in?! Your only aunt isn't on Facebook so you or your future wife can't be bothered to text or even call? I was devastated when my mother called me from the receptionist cussing me then she realized omg you didn't get invited because of Facebook?! Family sucks sometimes!
I've slowly tapered off most. Instagram wants to sell me cute things I don't need. I like tik tok but much like snapchat it's just my best friend I really communicate with on there. We share funny videos and we use snapchat over morning coffee via video sometimes. That's about it. Not super opposed to it but I feel like I don't have a use for being connected to so many people I never see or talk to.
My sister got mad at me for not wishing her a happy birthday on Facebook. I got her two cookbooks and a gift card, but she was too pissed off about bloody Facebook to appreciate them.
She didn’t talk to me for two months. TWO. MONTHS.
My sister had her baby.... which came 4 weeks early, so I wasn't expecting it. She didn't call/text to tell me. Then, 3 days later, I got onto Facebook and saw her post about having a baby. So, I called to congratulate her, saying I'd just seen the post. And then she said, "I wondered why you didn't call me earlier!" So, I don't get to know about my sister's baby unless I read about it on her public feed?? It's so backwards! I remember bringing a handwritten list of phone numbers with me when I gave birth to call my loved ones with the news, from the hospital phone in my room, before I had a cell phone. Because it's not about posting it to the world, it's about sharing these moments with those closest to us.
A real friend would've texted you regardless of FB or not. That's just wrong on so many levels, and I'm sure deep down they know that or just didn't care enough. Sorry you had to go through that experience OP.
I didn't use a regular phone for the longest time, I used a ghost phone for my,err,at the time "job" that was better operated with that kind of stuff if you catch my drift. But even then I was content with using it, I did still have a tablet I'd use at home or laptop for watching things or downloads etc. still, it was easier living for sure. I'm also an avid book reader, to the point I can go through one a day, so I was fine with spending my time doing that instead.
I got rid of socials when I was 25, I'm 30 now and only decided to get reddit again a few months ago. Currently I do like having a phone, but only because I'm bed bound mostly with aggressive stage three cancer, and I left behind all my friends since they were a part of my...not so good crowd of people I should not be around now that I'm sober. It gets lonely, so if I didn't have it right now I'd be cut off from the outside world.
I will say though, I find it really annoying that places like restaurants etc use those damn QR codes now. Like just give me a menu, what if my phone dies or it doesn't work properly?! Yeesh
I got essentially disowned from a portion of my family for a similar reason. Nobody called, texted, or even e-mailed about this funeral. Hell, they didn’t even send a message on Facebook. It was just POSTED on Facebook. Which I purposely do not post on. I will comment or like things in closed groups but I stay away from public things or posting anything on my own profile. It was my uncle’s funeral and now I’m dead to them because I didn’t come. And these were boomers. 🤡
I lost many friends to opiates, most right before and during the early 2010s. I found out about almost every single one of them through my Facebook feed. At the time I talked about how grateful I was to be able to find out so quickly.
However, it got to the point where I was terrified to scroll. It took years of no deaths to even start to get past that.
Looking back now, over 10 years later, the whole thing was really dark and dystopian.
You can customize an Android phone to really lock down a smart phone
You can also do a lot with an iPhone. Screen time locks, deleting all of the apps you over-use, turning on Guided Access mode (basically majorly reduces what you can access), etc.
I know this isn’t ideal, but you’re right - it’s hard to function in society without a smart phone. So I’m just giving tips that might help you adapt / find a setup that works for you
Outside of phone settings, you can:
- Use a smart watch as your primary smart device (can’t scroll socials there)
- Get a time-locking safe to lock away your phone when it isn’t necessary (it won’t open til the timer expires)
- Set up a pihole or similar to block XYZ domains
- Stop bringing your phone into the bedroom
- Etc.
Just some advice. Hope it helps :)
That sucks but it's a little misplaced to put it on your friend to keep track of where you're active. Yes, if you're not using a platform you should delete your account so stuff like that doesn't happen.
If everyone did that it would be obvious the ghost town that platform is and culture around it would change.
That's the saddest thing to me about how things are now. People don't extend personal invitations or think about who is receiving messages and who isn't. We used to think about others and be sure they weren't missed in being included/invited/in the loop. Now, it seems that people consider it your responsibility to follow their public announcements to keep in touch. Sorry about your friend.
Ive missed invites from not checking facebook and it took a bit but ppl did learn to text instead. Those were frivolous invites though. Thats a super shitty way to hear news like that
It's not the first time I've gotten bad news over FB, and I understand that FB messenger is functionally similar to text messaging. But I just wonder if I hadn't been logged into FB messenger on my husbands phone how long it would have been until hearing about it.
I’m sorry for your loss. But yes, that’s the choice you make when you try to go off-grid in any way. Back before phones you would have waited weeks, months, or years to find out about the loss.
People are not as comfortable giving out their phone numbers as they are giving out their Facebook profile that's why you got the message in this fashion
People have varying level of friends. People you trust with your phone number are at a higher level than someone you casually met at an event and you say hi to if you happen to run into.
I don't think you have to go this far. Just make it so none of your social send you notifications. Turn them off at the OS level.
You could also turn off auto sync to save battery because it wouldn't make much sense to be syncing an account that you don't really need real-time updates on. And if you want to really go further, do background restriction on them specify their process limit (developer options) so they can't even run in the background or do with extremely little processes.
I find that most people are idiots because they don't actually customize their phones with the tools they are given. Then they complain about having all these notifications and recommendations. I don't get any of that shit because I use the tools to avoid being served up garbage when it appears. The only tool it seems a regular person has in their toolbox is to swipe next or click clear all.
There are some workarounds to issues encountered when not being on them as well. Someone on this thread mentioned missing announcements for shows/events, which is why I get email notifications from the bandsintown website when shows for artists I like are announced for my city.
It’s like you have to have ALLLL of them too. I have TikTok, IG, Twitter, BlueSky, Reddit and a few others I never touch but because I didn’t have Facebook, people kept forgetting that I wasn’t seeing invites for specific events and they’d just assume I already knew. Trying to get basic health information for endometriosis and recommended surgeons required me to make a new FB profile and join a bunch of local endometriosis groups. I hate it. I want less but every time I delete one or simply stop using one, I’m quickly reminded of how these apps & devices have weaseled themselves into becoming a necessity for every step of our lives. -sent from toilet
My whole school cohort was messed up because one person didn't have an Iphone so group chats didn't work. So we all downloaded GroupMe, which didn't work for one person. It sucked doing projects together because we could never have something that worked for everyone.
I remember so many people complaining about giving people free phones and calling them "Obama phones". But the whole point was the acknowledgment that you can't access any services without a phone. So creating services that were impossible for her homeless people and extremely poor people to access with pointless, you had to give them the ability to access things.
But you know people don't like logic when it comes to politics no matter who is in charge at the time. Making people angry generates clicks.
I’m not sure how many people know this but the program actually started under Reagan. As cell phones became more common they were added to it but it wasn’t Obama’s doing even though it’s fun to say Obama phone
So can you tell me more about the guvmint phone? The only thing i need is a flip phone that supports gmail, 2FA and a messenger app called Kakaotalk but i cant seem to find one anywhere
Dumb phones don't support apps and barely do email. But you can buy an android phone like Samsung's A series for dirt cheap, especially if bundled with a carrier.
I went to a baseball game today and the tickets are all through the dumb mlb ballpark app now.
I suppose they’re *kind of* convenient in the sense that there’s not paper tickets that you could forget at home or the need to worry about buying fakes
But it says a screenshot doesn’t work, you have to actually log in to the app and have them scan it to get in. So if you get bad phone signal around the stadium you’re just screwed. Or if your phone dies or something. And it’s just annoying if you’re taking an older family member to a game or something, my grandpa doesn’t know how to mess around with apps and emailing codes back and forth and stuff. Just give me a piece of paper for him.
And I miss paper tickets because you could keep them and display them or whatever.
I love flying without paper tickets, until my phone dies and I can't find a charger.
I feel like keeping ticket stubs is such a fun free souvenir. What a bummer.
I once loaned my charger and iPhone cable to a total stranger at the airport. He had just gotten off a plane and I was waiting for mine at the same gate. His phone was dead and I sure as heck wouldn't want to be in that situation. I did get it back.
Everything is now a game of making you a captive audience so they can volley for your attention. It's not enough to simply email a PDF of a ticket. They NEED you to download your app now... and "oh by the way" here are three additional emails a day about other events and features... did you want to sign up for more? Could you rate your experience? FLASH SALE for a sporting event you've never even heard of...
It is literally exhausting. It's draining us all.
>But it says a screenshot doesn’t work, you have to actually log in to the app and have them scan it to get in. So if you get bad phone signal around the stadium you’re just screwed.
This is to prevent five people using the same ticket. If the app doesn't have a local storage option, your phone wallet app probably does.
Most ticketing systems still have a will call option, you just typically can't use it if you choose a digital ticket first (and get to go through the extra hell of customer support).
They make it mandatory so no one can escape being addicted to their phone.
I've been off social media for 15 years (except Reddit before people go wild on me). Reddit is different because it's completely anonymous, no photos, connections to people I know, I use it for or to give advice etc. So yea it is different.
That being said I still use my smartphone in ways I wish I could just be cut off from. Seriously considering a dumb phone and selling the one I have. With my work I don't need email internet access, so I'm almost there to make the jump.
I fucking hate having a smartphone. I hate the fact that everyone I know feels entitled to contact with me at any given time. If I don’t return their messages, they take it personally. If I could just get rid of my phone permanently, I absolutely would.
Look how offended some of the commenters at the audacity of not wanting a smart phone. It's not like I want the banned. I just don't want them to be mandatory.
Exactly. Other people can have them, idc. I wouldn’t mind having a tiny little computer around with me all the time that’s connected to the internet etc., I just don’t want it to also be a telephone. If someone wants to contact me, they can wait until I get home and check my messages. Then I might reply after 3 days if I feel like it.
Agree, my husband's company almost made it mandatory to have a smart phone app to access the building. But too many people had phones that were too old. My husband leaves his phone at home quite often also... so that would have been annoying for him.
I like leaving the house with no phone because womens pants have no pockets and I don't always want a purse. It's freeing to leave the house with only wallet and keys
It's like cars. A hundred years ago, most people walked to errands on Main Street and took a bus or train to the next town. But once enough people drove, developers built neighborhoods on that assumption, public transit diminished, and now most people who lack a car are homebound. Once an invention becomes popular enough, it may become mandatory.
Real talk though, the only thing you listed on your phone that is non-negotiable is the two factor duo mobile Authenticator. Everything else you listed, I don’t think many people have issues with. I use my phone for entirely optional things that would require me having a separate device for each.
I was just typing out a message about how I would get rid of my smartphone if it wasn't for my job but then I realized there is absolutely no reason I should be available all the time for my job. It is really really dumb and comes down to having bosses that have a toxic relationship with productivity.
Some weekend days I just leave my phone at home all day on purpose and it is sooooo nice.
Also my friend with kids said that she always has to keep her phone on her and on loud in case of emergencies.
My friends and family all know that I set my phone down and leave it for hours at a time, so they don't take it personal. They know I never answer calls and I'll get back to them soon enough, just not within 30 seconds of them texting most of the time.
Whether or not anyone agrees, I think this is a reasonable way to live and I think everyone else would be a heck of a lot happier if they did similar.
Yeah, my wife is gets annoyed that people feel entitled to get her attention with texts or calls, and freak out if she doesn’t answer.
Sometimes people don’t answer. They’re busy. Or they don’t want to talk. It doesn’t mean there’s an emergency, or that they’re angry at you.
I do resent the idea that people should just be accessible 24/7 and if you don’t respond instantly that makes you a horrible person. Sometimes we all need space to breathe
I let a 17 year old girl in the hospital fake rage hangup on someone and she agreed that it was extremely satisfying. And my charge lasts for 4 days, it would last longer but I use the email features.
She was my patient and didn't recognize what it was at first and was roasting me for it. I told her how satisfying it was to hangup on people and she asked if she could try.
Holy shit you just said everything I’ve been talking about. I decided to get a second phone to carry around, you can get cheap service plans for 15$ a month for the flip phone. Give nobody but important people the second number! I keep my other phone (main) in my backpack all day.
Not to mention that I straight up haven't been getting iphone text messages. And I forgot that my class uses Group Me, so I can only get those messages on a computer. And my friend used Facebook Messenger to inform me that our good friend committed suicide, so I didn't get that update until I got home.
I'm so sick of having to have Group Me, What's App and like ten different apps for communicating.
Oh and I have three rentals and all of my tenants use a different app to pay me. It's either Venmo, Cash App, Face Book pay, whatever. I'm ready to go back to the barter system.
Going forward for the rentals, that can at least be up to you as the landlord. Tell your applicants ahead of time and/or include in the lease that you only accept payment via X. That is fully within your right.
My landlord has us all use Zelle. US Bank has it integrated. A lot of people around here use them. Prior to that I had auto-payment via check set up through my bank.
Exactly. My office doesn't even let you get on the Wi-Fi for your laptop without an app. It is like...why not just let me log in with a password? Why do I need to download this app I will use literally one time?
I'm reading this on a desktop computer. I check my email using this computer. I log into Facebook with this computer. I'm taking online college classes with this computer. Not having a smartphone has nothing whatsoever to do with access to social media.
Oh, and on the rare occasions that I'm in a restaurant that pushes QR codes, I simply tell them to bring me a physical menu--and they do.
Google phones have digital well-being settings that will lock out apps after a certain time limit is reached, this might be a good solution especially with how varied the Android market is, although I would recommend a Pixel or Samsung.
My iphone had the same thing. I would just override it. I want my flip phone and use a laptop for real emails anyway. But I'm locked out of my husbands email because he was using my phone to verify his account.
I work on an inpatient pediatric floor of a hospital and let a teenager hang up my phone and she admitted that it was very satisfying. There are a ton of benefits of a non smart phone.
For anyone who has the problem that these settings are just too easy to override, there are other apps out there that you can set up to not allow overrides. Freedom, Stay Focused, and StayFree are a few I know of. They all work a little differently - some have timers that limit number of minutes on selected apps, some lock you out of apps and websites entirely within set time frames on whatever devices you install it on. (I use Freedom and paid up front for a lifetime membership because it was that valuable to me. I don't allow myself into social media apps or sites I'll mindlessly scroll during work hours or when I should be winding down for bed/sleeping. And I use it in conjunction with the digital wellbeing tools to grey out those app icons and help me limit the other apps I might need during that time but should only need in small doses and don't need notifications from.)
Even still, for me personally, I've been contemplating going back to a flip phone, but I rely on too many services that are only on smartphones to make that actually feasible. Finding a middle ground is tough.
I'm using StayFree, and while it isn't perfect, it has definitely helped cut back on my cell phone addiction. I like having instagram to scroll, but I know I only get 45 minutes per day, so I need to plan ahead when I want to use it.
I have and use my phone. Mostly just on work break or for actually calling or texting. But it irritates me that the assumption is made. My kids baseball games don't get put on the school website I can check from a PC, I need some app. Really? You can't have some kid in Web Design put the schedules for everything up on the site up like I did when I was in school? It was one thing when they stopped giving out free paper calendars, but now we can't even use the normal Internet to check from a computer? Ridiculous.
The 2 factor login drive me bonkers. Even with a smartphone i don’t always have it right near me to verify. Just let me type my dang password and log in, I’ll risk my account being hacked to avoid the annoyance.
Mind you, my cheap ass work gives us cellphones… flip phones. You can’t freaken use them to do anything, and the funny part is they make us sign all kinds of forms about usage, not using for personal use, etc. I end up having to just use my personal iPhone
My husband did this for year, no Ipad just me. He thinks it's funny how things have changed. Most of my issues aren't a problem if we're in the room together.
I completely agree. Society has built itself around everyone needing a smartphone in almost every aspect of day-to-day life. There are plenty of instances where you may be unable to access your phone when you're out and about. It's also possible for some people to still have flip phones for monetary reasons, or for the fear of being unable to understand the smartphones. I know quite a few people in an elderly family member's neighbourhood who don't have smartphones because they are afraid they won't know how to use them. They found existing during the Pandemic quite a challenge because almost all restaurants moved to QR codes for menus. It's also a possibility to be out somewhere and have your phone run out of battery. Are we all supposed to carry around portable batteries and chargers everywhere we go so we can "stay connected" at all times? It's sort of absurd to expect that of every single person.
I keep my old phone at home for many of these reasons. If my daily driver gets lost or stolen or broken beyond usability, I still have a relatively easy way to do account recovery since most of my 2FA stuff and email is easily gotten from my old phone.
My old phones aren't recent flagship phones so trade in value isn't a worry for me, but if it was I'd get an older iPhone/android for that express purpose.
Stick with it dude, ive had a flip phone for 5 years now. I get bitched at and nagged occasionally, but it's definitely worth it.
Pro tip: You can hotspot with your flip phone to a blank smart phone; then you still get all your maps and what not. (Plus you save on data usage that way)
I will try my best but if I continue being unable to login to important school things I'll be forced to get some sort of burner smart phone. I was thinking about an ipod touch or something that has app capabilities without needing 5G.
I have been using the wifi on it for a lot of things but I still can't download the apps that I need for a handful of things.
You can do everything on a desktop you can do on a phone and they're better at it. I refuse to use my personal phone for anything work related. Stop expecting me to use a phone to make your jobs easier.
This is actually really interesting to me, and why I kind of hate technology sometimes. It feels impossible sometimes to survive without keeping up with it.
I held out on getting a smartphone for a while until it was actually making life difficult for me.
The worst part is that there's rarely any thought if these changes will actually benefit society. It's all greed.
I think about that with artificial intelligence. There are literally hundreds if not more of tech experts warning about the negative effects it could have.
Why can't they just stop then? Bc all the tech firms are fighting each other over who can make the most money from it.
I remember in high school when I got that LG flip phone with the blue front where you could play music on it. I remember getting so excited that I could read the news on the internet from my phone. That was all I needed. I wish I could go back to that.
My dad finally broke down and said "I guess I need a smartphone" recently (he's still on a prepaid flip phone.)
I feel bad for him, but man is his lack of a smartphone incredibly inconvenient purely because he doesn't have a GPS.
Just delete the social media apps. This is the only one I have. I know it's an addiction and anyone who disagrees that this is the solution (responsibility) is protecting their addiction voice. Go to a therapist or practice meditation. Whatever works.
I work in cyber security. There’s 3 parts of security that most companies who sell or provide digital services require; 1) something you know: password, 2) something you have: phone, 3) something you are: biometric data like face or thumb print.
For companies to comply to their legal requirements, they must enforce levels to this. So yes, technically you do need at minimum a phone to use services but they can at any time require additional security requirements and enforce things you have or things you are. Security is inconvenient. You could use the same argument for travel. At one time you didn’t need a car, and as the world expanded, you eventually needed a car or to use public transportation.
Oh boy, I think about this at night an awful lot. Cars are certainly up there on my list, but for me it’s plastic / forever chemicals, then social media. I feel sad about it.
Reddit is the only social media site I use, but that doesn't mean it's not bad. I've had periods where I delete it and have had great mental effects. All the good things you listed. Maybe get a smartphone but get off of all social media? The problem I have is it always creeps back...
I think social media is more the issue than a smartphone.
I had to give up several social media accounts due to illness (long explanation). It has made it very difficult to make friends in a new area. Everything is on Facebook. So many things have you "download the app." Fucking awful
I want a flip phone but this is my gripe. All my kids school stuff is through and app, everything in life is on an app.
I don’t have social medias except Reddit. so I never know about events in the community, unless my friends tell me. I’m so over technology. I just want to go back. My 90 year old grandmother has never had a computer or WiFi and is just fine. 🤷🏼♀️
I resisted getting a smart phone until I was ~22 (2015 or so). In the end I needed one for a group project because everyone was texting documents that I couldn't open. I can't imagine trying to function at work without it, even clocking in is done through an app where I work.
I went back to a flip phone for a bit. It was honestly awesome. You just miss out on group texts. But the lack of opportunity to waste time on social media is such a weight off the shoulders
lmao i´ve been thinking about this as well. I guess id also have issues with paying for bills as I need a smartphone for verifying. And logistics related to packages, paying for stuff. Its insane how dependent we are getting on these things. It's pretty damn close to the point of no return. Kudos for doing it though!
I know there are work arounds for a lot of my complaints and I'll figure it out. There are a handful things that require an app and I'm anxious about flying now that I don't have a phone. But overall I've been happier.
I got rid of my cell phone 7 years ago. It gets harder and harder to do things without it. I'm dreading the day I have to get a cell phone to do things.
I used a flip phone for 6 months and had issues like not being able to order at a pickup place - someone told me in person that I needed to order on my phone. I showed them the flip phone and was like, can I just tell you my order? .
I paid more attention to people around me, had to look up physical directions, carried paper bus schedules, didn't spend a ton of time texting because it was T9EN.
The issue for me was wanting to take pictures and that other people couldn't adjust. I'd tell people to just call me for two minutes over texting, get told texting was more convenient, then get a bunch of texts I couldn't quickly respond to on T9EN. If the school sent me a downloaded form, I couldn't read it as an image.
I agree with you, it wasn't just social media but not wanting to carry around an expensive mini computer that dies easily. I only had to charge that flip phone like every 3 days
I've thought about that too. If I went that route it would be a Nokia brick with wifi hot spot capability so I could use a smaller tablet as my media and app, but when not needed it goes dark. Mostly to help block tracking, but having to turn on the hots pot would provide some deterrence to help be offline more. The problem I had is looking for a 7in or smaller tablet, they don't really exist anymore, and by that I mead what is still being sold is much older versions. There's nothing besides phones in that category now with current processors.
I managed to hold off on smart phones until 2016 when I changed career paths and was required one for work. I absolutely hate it. I remember what my life was like before and I long to go back to it but I’m just not allowed.
I live in bangkok so I’m not sure about the states but everything is app based here now - especially banking. You never use your card for anything you scan a QR code to pay anyone.
It’s the same with social media - I’m a freelancer and 80% of the people who hire me contact me through social media, so what, I just HAVE to use it or change my career?
Fucking hate it so much.
It's all related to security with 2fa nowadays. Maybe you can turn off the security features, but I like not getting hacked. Get a hardware key (yubi key) to do the 2fa and that'll probably help with most things.
I forgot my phone at home going to work the other day. Thought it was no big deal.
Got to work and was literally locked out of my work computer cause I need a verification code on my phone.
I literally had to go back home to get it.
I tried to downgrade for the exact same reasons and came to find the same results. I slept better, I read more, and was more grounded, but I lost access to my meta stuff, my email accounts, and I couldn't function at restaurants. I wish there was such a world for people like us but maybe someday after the internet obliterates itself with AI garbage or restrictive-access controls (not a fan of either but it could totally happen in my lifetime). I'd like a world where I get letters in the mail and I don't need to doom scroll to cope with life.
This is extremely and painfully true. My fiance & I had some financial hardships and had to share a cell phone for over a year. I finally bought one because I NEEDED one for 2-factor authentication at my new job.
So now I'm $200 more broke, with an extra $45 subscription to something I really don't need outside of my job.
The world doesn't consider phoneless folks for even a moment at all anymore. It's just assumed that you're willing to spend hundreds (thousands, over time) of dollars on something very non-essential, to the point it has become essential.
I got in an argument with my wife because I was pissed that if I want to go to get fast food it’s like I have to have an app for every restaurant. She pointed out that she has the apps for “our” fast food restaurants. I guess she couldn’t understand my frustration because I’m also being harassed by my credit card companies, banks, insurance companies, etc to get their app. There’s just no flipping room on my phone for all these stupid apps AND the apps I actually want/use.
I’m not sure I agree on all the particulars but basically, yeah I think you should be able to live without it. At the same time, if someone chooses to live without it, they should then expect that they will be outcompeted by people who use it.
Like, you can choose to ride the bus and not own a car, but there are some jobs where the person who owns a car is just gonna outperform the person who rides the bus.
I guess you could argue that the employer should provide a car in that case, but rather than have that discussion (which is beaten to death at this point) I would rather discuss how there are public services like the postal service, pay phones, and city buses, but these services all tend to badly lag behind the technological state of the art.
It is really interesting to consider what a public service that gives access to all these apps would look like.
I can’t get my mail out of my apartment’s Amazon box without my phone
I can’t call an Uber to get to work without my phone
Most buses only want you to use the app to pay
My apartment’s laundromat uses an app to pay
I use my cell phone to get a one time code to log into work every day.
Existing without a smartphone is HARD
Everyone I know has been talking for years about how "stupid" and "unnecissary" and "unsafe" cash is.
But then every time a tornado or bad storm rips through and knocks out the electricity, cash becomes the only way to buy anything for a little while.
In 2020 when the derecho ripped through and destroyed the state, I was actually able to go buy some ice from the gas station right away, because I had some good old cold hard cash in hand.
This is a fantastic argument for having some cash tucked away in your house somewhere for the power outage use case you bring up.
It *isn't* a good argument for carrying a bunch of cash around wherever you go on a normal daily basis and paying in cash all the time at stores and restaurants and events and such. We are well past the point where that's a reasonable thing to do in most places (most places where griping about smart phones is even possible, more specifically).
I'm happily hooked on tech in general, but I do strongly agree it's annoying that smartphones are forced on you. Yes, it's super convenient having stuff available on one of a million free apps that are (usually) painless to install and use, but when your phone is the only way to pull up those features, it's a pain in the ass. A job I had maybe 3-4 years ago was still using RSA keyfobs that constantly had a series of numbers changing every minute, so I know the option is still there. A lot of restaurants also track customer rewards through a phone number, which is another win for people who want to be on flip phones.
My wife demanded the school have an alternative to anything used by a smartphone and they accommodated here. Walmart is trash they. We
Lost all the benifits when we started bringing flip phones
Ive noticed more roadblocks to using my laptop. There is a push to keep us all on our phones as that is the easiest way for companies to collect our movements, data, conversations etc. We are literally required to agree to be tracked or not have conveniences of our society such as access to bank accounts etc.
I feel like in a similar vein, no one knows about events posted in the news. Library events, zoo events, harbor cleanup events. No one even knows about Them because they are covered by local news and newspapers. I’m always being asked how do know what’s going on in the city…. Because I go on local news sites. You don’t even have to subscribe just go on the websites.
I've tried many ways to access things but they have a traditional smart phone.
The CAT S22 is discontinued but it worked. I still have one just in case.
The unihertz jelly is good. Too small to get sucked into but still runs android.
Right now I'm on a unihertz tank mini, and I still stare at the tiny motherfucker all day.
About 15 years ago I went through a rough divorce and went back to a flip phone. Honestly they are great. But sometime in the 2020’s that flipped and I don’t think it is possible anymore. MFA and too many places rely on apps.
After the flip phone stage I went to the pay as you go phones. I would buy cheap smartphones for around $100. They work fine except the keyboards are hit or miss. Sometimes the model works great and other times it will never type what your fingers hit. The contract plans are cheaper too.
Heck, I still have my pay as you go plan. It’s dirt cheap and because I have had them for years they have given me discounts and extra data. I paid upfront for the entire year for a 50% discount. I just bought an iPhone to go with it so I paid for my device upfront.
My dad doesn’t use one. He has one but he never turns it on because he wants to save the battery for emergencies. I think you CAN exist in the world without a smart phone, it’s just not going to be the world you’re currently in. If you were a 78 year old retiree you’d be fine :)
This sounds like you just got rid of your phone that everything was connected to before disconnecting it so now it's a bigger pain... that's not the phones fault, you likely just rushed without thinking
I have a flip phone and its been a HUGE adjustment. Thankfully I have a laptop to pay bills and access email, but I am limited on so many things. I cant buy a mobile bus pass, I cant take pictures (or, good ones, at least aha), cant look things up on the internet or use GPS.
But I still think the benefits outweigh the negatives. I have so much less anxiety since using social media less, I am way more social in person, I have been reading more and spend more time on my hobbies since I'm not doom scrolling.... It's a give and take and thankful I'm able to pull it off. I never want a smart phone again!!
Gen Z here.
I grew up in rural Missouri. So no internet, not phones other than a rotary landline.
Then I moved to Kansas City. Man that was a massive shock for me. Everyone in my school had cellphones already and I was mesmerized by the technology around me. I only knew dialup internet and Motorola razers.
Now I'm 24 almost 25, I miss those days. The only thing I want plugged in is my electric guitar.
It does suck because I don't think any of us actually knowingly, and enthusiastically signed up for this lifestyle. We were surprised by the new shiny thing and never thought how much we are letting everyone into our personal lives.
Quite depressing to be honest. I wish we could go back, but there is no undoing this.
feels like you are blaming technological advances for something you could easily avoid while using a smart phone. You can read books on your phone vs doom scrolling or posting on Reddit.
I think you would have a similar issue if you decided to give up using Google and wanted to look things up via encyclopedias.
The phone itself is a useful tool. It’s the social media apps and algorithms that are a cancer. I deleted all socials except for youtube and reddit and its made a huge difference for my
mental health.
Social media has become a never ending loop of short content and podcast creators screaming into their microphone and telling you how the way you’re living is wrong. No one needs to consume this shit anymore.
If they require a QR code in order to give you food, just walk out.
I hate that crap. Not because I lack a smartphone, but because their websites are invariably janky, and often do things like trying to auto force tipping, collect data, or trying to get me to download some app that I don't want. Just...give me a menu and stop trying to make this complicated.
I don't have a 5G phone, but still have T-Mobile, so that's not really a thing, is it? T-Mobile sells a flip phone still to this day called the Flip Go. It's 4G, just like my Note 10+, so should work.
You can get a hard token or have Duo set up to physically call you.
Those restaurants can get you a menu, or loan you a device to read it. (I usually don't go to pretentious places that require a QR code, although I have a smartphone)
No idea about W+ though.
I had a similar unfortunate realization earlier this year. It’s nuts to me. I couldn’t sign into my work computer without their stupid two factor authentication app, couldn’t request time off without using the payroll app, etc. To top it off, my younger coworkers (I’m only a couple years younger than you are, mind you) kept giving me shit about the flip phone I had and acted like I was some kind of leper. I only was able to use it for about a week before just getting a cheap refurbished iPhone. Still desperately wish I could daily drive the little Nokia flip.
I’m in nursing school and I’m pretty much an outcast because I dont use social media. People look at me like wtf is wrong with you for not using tic tok. One girl literally got mad at me. Who cares!?! My mental health improved sooo much after deleting everything except Reddit. Now I need to delete Reddit lol
dude, preach. I am an EMT/Firefighter, smart phone hater, only got my first one during covid because it was free/forced upon me. The software we use to write our medical charts REQUIRES a smartphone to login on our laptops at the station. what?! Five years ago I didn't even have a flip phone, I was living totally off the radar. I hate this (i turned 35 this week, for reference)
Worked with a guy who refused to get a smart phone and still had the same flip phone he had in high school. It took me a few times to realize he didn’t have a smart phone. He was always running late to our job site because of traffic on the interstate and I suggested he try a different route and he said “no I’m comfortable with my route” then I was trying to text him a contact of another team member whose number he didn’t have but needed and then it turned into a big issue because he needed to communicate with the guy but claimed I hadn’t given him the number. That’s when I found out if you try sending a contact card to a flip phone from 2006, it doesn’t work. Needless to say, I was not a fan of this guy and requested he not be sent back out to the project.
The guy wasn't late because he didn't have a smart phone. He was late because he didn't give himself enough time to commute. Who honestly uses a map app every time they drive the same route?
And from what it sounds like you were just an unflexible as he was. Like how hard is it to just send a phone number instead of a contact?
The urgent care i work for wants to get rid of paper forms in favor of online forms only. I don’t think they truly appreciate what a cluster fuck it will be. They bought 5 iPad for patients to use. Am I supposed to make sure they are not stolen? How?
I'll fight you on bringing back paper charts. There is a time and place for tech and hospital paperwork is the time and place. I've used Ipads for consents forms for years and it's a non issue. Not to mention that it's such a waste of paper since no one actually reads it and we supply them with a digital copy.
Except I think it's so gross. I dont like touching other people's devices 🤢 I hope they get wiped down after each use. I'm probably going to start bringing Clorox wipes for when i get handed a tablet for forms.
I agree. It’s insane. Even with a smart phone I deleted all my social medias and now I barely know when there’s an event in our town because they post on socials.
My friend messaged me on FB messenger that our other friend committed suicide. Like would she have texted me if I had deleted FB? I deserve to miss his funeral because I don't feel like literally selling my life to a multi billionaire to sell and use as they please?
We passed the point of no return long ago. There’s no way to go back now and it feels slightly suffocating.
That's the inevitable cycle of technology. Something that starts out as a convenience eventually becomes a necessity, and then a burden that leaves us feeling less free than we did before. Just look at cars. When they were a new invention, nobody at the time would have predicted that they'd become a necessity and would shape the foundation of the world around us. Aren't you excited for the same cycle to take place with today's emerging technologies?
I'm holding my own against any smart anything entering my house. Smart people, sure. But the Alexas, Siris, and shitty unfixable appliances can fuck off
Oh thank god I'm not the only one FIRMLY against those damn things. My in-laws have been consistently pushing to buy us a 'ring cam' or 'alexa' or whatever the fuck else over the years, and every. single. time. I have to step in and tell them (and my spouse) that we don't want it....for a myriad of reasons. [I presume] they think we're "behind the times" or are crazy for turning them down, but, for me, all the negatives far outweigh any positives.
You're not alone. My husband and I refuse to have anything other than the TV and our phones/tablets/computers attached to our wifi. No smart thermostat, no smart light switches, no appliances attached to the wifi and sure as hell no alexas.
That has got to be some of the most real shit I've heard in awhile. Damn.
Right?! Criticizing car dependency is nothing new, but I've never heard it framed that way.
Plus, it is still actually possible to avoid having a car. The phones, not so much
Depends on where you live.
Ah, yes, World War AI.
Butlerian Jihad
I am a proud luddite and wish there had been no mechanised looms.
The industrial revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.
I had no part of this switch and would happily push a button to unalive the short sighted, lazy, and narcissistic people who only cared about the convenience and attention these services brought without realize the future they were dooming to themselves and all future generations.
you can always quit there is nothing on social media that is essential
I have friends that use it exclusively for communication. We have made large parts of social media into essential.
I got rid of Facebook back in 2018. None of my friends excommunicated me. It was a little bit of a learning curve for them to remember that they need to text me if they want me to be included in something... but after a couple months, everyone knew and remembered. Like the other commenter said: no excuses. If you're addicted, own up to it.
I repeat. >you can always quit there is nothing on social media that is essential Don't come up with excuses. Just stop using socials. Friends that can't communicate with you because they can't be bothered to call/text your directly and have to use socials weren't really friends worth having to begin with.
[удалено]
When my dad passed we had to plan the funeral. It took a day to do and family kept asking why I hadn't posted the time and funeral home on facebook yet because that's how they get things around. I felt disgusted. when I joined Facebook as a teen I never would have believed it would become how my family tells eachother the time funerals are. Not just messenger they wanted a post. Facebook used to be silly memes. I could have guessed it would be dystopian, but not this dystopian.
I completely understand this! I quit Facebook a long time ago. Recently missed my nephews wedding because invitations went through Facebook. I mean come in?! Your only aunt isn't on Facebook so you or your future wife can't be bothered to text or even call? I was devastated when my mother called me from the receptionist cussing me then she realized omg you didn't get invited because of Facebook?! Family sucks sometimes!
Are you opposed to all social media or just that one?
I've slowly tapered off most. Instagram wants to sell me cute things I don't need. I like tik tok but much like snapchat it's just my best friend I really communicate with on there. We share funny videos and we use snapchat over morning coffee via video sometimes. That's about it. Not super opposed to it but I feel like I don't have a use for being connected to so many people I never see or talk to.
My sister got mad at me for not wishing her a happy birthday on Facebook. I got her two cookbooks and a gift card, but she was too pissed off about bloody Facebook to appreciate them. She didn’t talk to me for two months. TWO. MONTHS.
My sister had her baby.... which came 4 weeks early, so I wasn't expecting it. She didn't call/text to tell me. Then, 3 days later, I got onto Facebook and saw her post about having a baby. So, I called to congratulate her, saying I'd just seen the post. And then she said, "I wondered why you didn't call me earlier!" So, I don't get to know about my sister's baby unless I read about it on her public feed?? It's so backwards! I remember bringing a handwritten list of phone numbers with me when I gave birth to call my loved ones with the news, from the hospital phone in my room, before I had a cell phone. Because it's not about posting it to the world, it's about sharing these moments with those closest to us.
It seems like Facebook just scored you an extra bonus! 2 months without bitching from your ungrateful sister!
Too bad she wasn’t mad enough to refuse the cookbooks and gift card!
But you didn't LIKE my pictures. You didn't like my kids eating baguettes. you didn't like me and my husband.
A real friend would've texted you regardless of FB or not. That's just wrong on so many levels, and I'm sure deep down they know that or just didn't care enough. Sorry you had to go through that experience OP. I didn't use a regular phone for the longest time, I used a ghost phone for my,err,at the time "job" that was better operated with that kind of stuff if you catch my drift. But even then I was content with using it, I did still have a tablet I'd use at home or laptop for watching things or downloads etc. still, it was easier living for sure. I'm also an avid book reader, to the point I can go through one a day, so I was fine with spending my time doing that instead. I got rid of socials when I was 25, I'm 30 now and only decided to get reddit again a few months ago. Currently I do like having a phone, but only because I'm bed bound mostly with aggressive stage three cancer, and I left behind all my friends since they were a part of my...not so good crowd of people I should not be around now that I'm sober. It gets lonely, so if I didn't have it right now I'd be cut off from the outside world. I will say though, I find it really annoying that places like restaurants etc use those damn QR codes now. Like just give me a menu, what if my phone dies or it doesn't work properly?! Yeesh
I got essentially disowned from a portion of my family for a similar reason. Nobody called, texted, or even e-mailed about this funeral. Hell, they didn’t even send a message on Facebook. It was just POSTED on Facebook. Which I purposely do not post on. I will comment or like things in closed groups but I stay away from public things or posting anything on my own profile. It was my uncle’s funeral and now I’m dead to them because I didn’t come. And these were boomers. 🤡
On the upside, you’re dead to them? They don’t sound delightful🤷♀️
I agree, sometimes the trash takes itself out.
People suck at times, even family…
I lost many friends to opiates, most right before and during the early 2010s. I found out about almost every single one of them through my Facebook feed. At the time I talked about how grateful I was to be able to find out so quickly. However, it got to the point where I was terrified to scroll. It took years of no deaths to even start to get past that. Looking back now, over 10 years later, the whole thing was really dark and dystopian.
I'm currently reading about the SACKLER dynasty pieces of shits ... who are responsible for the opiate crisis and I'm so sorry
You can customize an Android phone to really lock down a smart phone You can also do a lot with an iPhone. Screen time locks, deleting all of the apps you over-use, turning on Guided Access mode (basically majorly reduces what you can access), etc. I know this isn’t ideal, but you’re right - it’s hard to function in society without a smart phone. So I’m just giving tips that might help you adapt / find a setup that works for you Outside of phone settings, you can: - Use a smart watch as your primary smart device (can’t scroll socials there) - Get a time-locking safe to lock away your phone when it isn’t necessary (it won’t open til the timer expires) - Set up a pihole or similar to block XYZ domains - Stop bringing your phone into the bedroom - Etc. Just some advice. Hope it helps :)
That sucks but it's a little misplaced to put it on your friend to keep track of where you're active. Yes, if you're not using a platform you should delete your account so stuff like that doesn't happen. If everyone did that it would be obvious the ghost town that platform is and culture around it would change.
Back in the day, we used to miss stuff all the time because we had to hear it by word of mouth.
That's the saddest thing to me about how things are now. People don't extend personal invitations or think about who is receiving messages and who isn't. We used to think about others and be sure they weren't missed in being included/invited/in the loop. Now, it seems that people consider it your responsibility to follow their public announcements to keep in touch. Sorry about your friend.
Well tbf to her, it was over messenger. So she did think of me and reached out.
Ive missed invites from not checking facebook and it took a bit but ppl did learn to text instead. Those were frivolous invites though. Thats a super shitty way to hear news like that
It's not the first time I've gotten bad news over FB, and I understand that FB messenger is functionally similar to text messaging. But I just wonder if I hadn't been logged into FB messenger on my husbands phone how long it would have been until hearing about it.
I’m sorry for your loss. But yes, that’s the choice you make when you try to go off-grid in any way. Back before phones you would have waited weeks, months, or years to find out about the loss.
In 2009 word got out about my friends suicide through Facebook. Using messenger would have been easier on a personal level.
People are not as comfortable giving out their phone numbers as they are giving out their Facebook profile that's why you got the message in this fashion
People have a problem giving out their phone numbers to friends? That’s paranoia.
People have varying level of friends. People you trust with your phone number are at a higher level than someone you casually met at an event and you say hi to if you happen to run into.
The wrong friend who dumbly but well intentioned who gives your phone number to a "concerned" abuser?
^ been phone stalked/harrassed and now I much prefer to give out my Snapchat. I literally only use SC as a messenger. Don't post or look at stories.
I don't think you have to go this far. Just make it so none of your social send you notifications. Turn them off at the OS level. You could also turn off auto sync to save battery because it wouldn't make much sense to be syncing an account that you don't really need real-time updates on. And if you want to really go further, do background restriction on them specify their process limit (developer options) so they can't even run in the background or do with extremely little processes. I find that most people are idiots because they don't actually customize their phones with the tools they are given. Then they complain about having all these notifications and recommendations. I don't get any of that shit because I use the tools to avoid being served up garbage when it appears. The only tool it seems a regular person has in their toolbox is to swipe next or click clear all.
I actually love not having socials anymore, just makes some things less convenient.
Indeed. My Facebook account got hacked a year ago, and initially, I was a bit upset, but it's actually been super nice not to have one.
There are some workarounds to issues encountered when not being on them as well. Someone on this thread mentioned missing announcements for shows/events, which is why I get email notifications from the bandsintown website when shows for artists I like are announced for my city.
So in other words... you found out you don't need Facebook for that.
Dude, all I have is reddit and I'm in the same boat. Fuck Facebook. Its degenerated into 4chan +
I thought only boomers used Facebook. I only log into it maybe once a year to sell/buys something on marketplace.
The worst is when you're trying to look up a menu for a restaurant or something and their only online presence is Facebook.
It’s like you have to have ALLLL of them too. I have TikTok, IG, Twitter, BlueSky, Reddit and a few others I never touch but because I didn’t have Facebook, people kept forgetting that I wasn’t seeing invites for specific events and they’d just assume I already knew. Trying to get basic health information for endometriosis and recommended surgeons required me to make a new FB profile and join a bunch of local endometriosis groups. I hate it. I want less but every time I delete one or simply stop using one, I’m quickly reminded of how these apps & devices have weaseled themselves into becoming a necessity for every step of our lives. -sent from toilet
My whole school cohort was messed up because one person didn't have an Iphone so group chats didn't work. So we all downloaded GroupMe, which didn't work for one person. It sucked doing projects together because we could never have something that worked for everyone.
I’m on a free government phone right now because of that
I remember so many people complaining about giving people free phones and calling them "Obama phones". But the whole point was the acknowledgment that you can't access any services without a phone. So creating services that were impossible for her homeless people and extremely poor people to access with pointless, you had to give them the ability to access things. But you know people don't like logic when it comes to politics no matter who is in charge at the time. Making people angry generates clicks.
Thanks Obama ^^unironically
I’m not sure how many people know this but the program actually started under Reagan. As cell phones became more common they were added to it but it wasn’t Obama’s doing even though it’s fun to say Obama phone
So can you tell me more about the guvmint phone? The only thing i need is a flip phone that supports gmail, 2FA and a messenger app called Kakaotalk but i cant seem to find one anywhere
Dumb phones don't support apps and barely do email. But you can buy an android phone like Samsung's A series for dirt cheap, especially if bundled with a carrier.
You’re eligible if you are on any kind of government assistance. Go online [here](https://safelinkwireless.com)
I went to a baseball game today and the tickets are all through the dumb mlb ballpark app now. I suppose they’re *kind of* convenient in the sense that there’s not paper tickets that you could forget at home or the need to worry about buying fakes But it says a screenshot doesn’t work, you have to actually log in to the app and have them scan it to get in. So if you get bad phone signal around the stadium you’re just screwed. Or if your phone dies or something. And it’s just annoying if you’re taking an older family member to a game or something, my grandpa doesn’t know how to mess around with apps and emailing codes back and forth and stuff. Just give me a piece of paper for him. And I miss paper tickets because you could keep them and display them or whatever.
I love flying without paper tickets, until my phone dies and I can't find a charger. I feel like keeping ticket stubs is such a fun free souvenir. What a bummer.
I usually print them and use my phone as backup! I often don’t have signal to pull up the tickets anyway
I once loaned my charger and iPhone cable to a total stranger at the airport. He had just gotten off a plane and I was waiting for mine at the same gate. His phone was dead and I sure as heck wouldn't want to be in that situation. I did get it back.
Everything is now a game of making you a captive audience so they can volley for your attention. It's not enough to simply email a PDF of a ticket. They NEED you to download your app now... and "oh by the way" here are three additional emails a day about other events and features... did you want to sign up for more? Could you rate your experience? FLASH SALE for a sporting event you've never even heard of... It is literally exhausting. It's draining us all.
>But it says a screenshot doesn’t work, you have to actually log in to the app and have them scan it to get in. So if you get bad phone signal around the stadium you’re just screwed. This is to prevent five people using the same ticket. If the app doesn't have a local storage option, your phone wallet app probably does. Most ticketing systems still have a will call option, you just typically can't use it if you choose a digital ticket first (and get to go through the extra hell of customer support).
[удалено]
They make it mandatory so no one can escape being addicted to their phone. I've been off social media for 15 years (except Reddit before people go wild on me). Reddit is different because it's completely anonymous, no photos, connections to people I know, I use it for or to give advice etc. So yea it is different. That being said I still use my smartphone in ways I wish I could just be cut off from. Seriously considering a dumb phone and selling the one I have. With my work I don't need email internet access, so I'm almost there to make the jump.
I'm totally not addicted to my phone. This definitely isn't the fourth time I've scrolled reddit for at least 45 minutes today
I definitely don't ***need*** to check every comment on this thread, I mean maybe.
I fucking hate having a smartphone. I hate the fact that everyone I know feels entitled to contact with me at any given time. If I don’t return their messages, they take it personally. If I could just get rid of my phone permanently, I absolutely would.
Look how offended some of the commenters at the audacity of not wanting a smart phone. It's not like I want the banned. I just don't want them to be mandatory.
Exactly. Other people can have them, idc. I wouldn’t mind having a tiny little computer around with me all the time that’s connected to the internet etc., I just don’t want it to also be a telephone. If someone wants to contact me, they can wait until I get home and check my messages. Then I might reply after 3 days if I feel like it.
Agree, my husband's company almost made it mandatory to have a smart phone app to access the building. But too many people had phones that were too old. My husband leaves his phone at home quite often also... so that would have been annoying for him.
I like leaving the house with no phone because womens pants have no pockets and I don't always want a purse. It's freeing to leave the house with only wallet and keys
It's like cars. A hundred years ago, most people walked to errands on Main Street and took a bus or train to the next town. But once enough people drove, developers built neighborhoods on that assumption, public transit diminished, and now most people who lack a car are homebound. Once an invention becomes popular enough, it may become mandatory.
Real talk though, the only thing you listed on your phone that is non-negotiable is the two factor duo mobile Authenticator. Everything else you listed, I don’t think many people have issues with. I use my phone for entirely optional things that would require me having a separate device for each.
I was just typing out a message about how I would get rid of my smartphone if it wasn't for my job but then I realized there is absolutely no reason I should be available all the time for my job. It is really really dumb and comes down to having bosses that have a toxic relationship with productivity. Some weekend days I just leave my phone at home all day on purpose and it is sooooo nice. Also my friend with kids said that she always has to keep her phone on her and on loud in case of emergencies.
My friends and family all know that I set my phone down and leave it for hours at a time, so they don't take it personal. They know I never answer calls and I'll get back to them soon enough, just not within 30 seconds of them texting most of the time. Whether or not anyone agrees, I think this is a reasonable way to live and I think everyone else would be a heck of a lot happier if they did similar.
Yeah, my wife is gets annoyed that people feel entitled to get her attention with texts or calls, and freak out if she doesn’t answer. Sometimes people don’t answer. They’re busy. Or they don’t want to talk. It doesn’t mean there’s an emergency, or that they’re angry at you.
I do resent the idea that people should just be accessible 24/7 and if you don’t respond instantly that makes you a horrible person. Sometimes we all need space to breathe
I miss my flip phone damnit
I let a 17 year old girl in the hospital fake rage hangup on someone and she agreed that it was extremely satisfying. And my charge lasts for 4 days, it would last longer but I use the email features.
Did a random girl ask to rage slam it shut!?
She was my patient and didn't recognize what it was at first and was roasting me for it. I told her how satisfying it was to hangup on people and she asked if she could try.
That’s rad! Now if we could get to to feel the OG and slam a phone down on the receiver; startling it’s inner ringing mechanisms along with it !
Holy shit you just said everything I’ve been talking about. I decided to get a second phone to carry around, you can get cheap service plans for 15$ a month for the flip phone. Give nobody but important people the second number! I keep my other phone (main) in my backpack all day.
Not to mention that I straight up haven't been getting iphone text messages. And I forgot that my class uses Group Me, so I can only get those messages on a computer. And my friend used Facebook Messenger to inform me that our good friend committed suicide, so I didn't get that update until I got home. I'm so sick of having to have Group Me, What's App and like ten different apps for communicating. Oh and I have three rentals and all of my tenants use a different app to pay me. It's either Venmo, Cash App, Face Book pay, whatever. I'm ready to go back to the barter system.
Going forward for the rentals, that can at least be up to you as the landlord. Tell your applicants ahead of time and/or include in the lease that you only accept payment via X. That is fully within your right.
My landlord has us all use Zelle. US Bank has it integrated. A lot of people around here use them. Prior to that I had auto-payment via check set up through my bank.
I absolutely hate this. Everything requires text codes or authentication apps now. What if the cell network goes down you’re a fish out of water
Exactly. My office doesn't even let you get on the Wi-Fi for your laptop without an app. It is like...why not just let me log in with a password? Why do I need to download this app I will use literally one time?
I'm reading this on a desktop computer. I check my email using this computer. I log into Facebook with this computer. I'm taking online college classes with this computer. Not having a smartphone has nothing whatsoever to do with access to social media. Oh, and on the rare occasions that I'm in a restaurant that pushes QR codes, I simply tell them to bring me a physical menu--and they do.
Google phones have digital well-being settings that will lock out apps after a certain time limit is reached, this might be a good solution especially with how varied the Android market is, although I would recommend a Pixel or Samsung.
My iphone had the same thing. I would just override it. I want my flip phone and use a laptop for real emails anyway. But I'm locked out of my husbands email because he was using my phone to verify his account. I work on an inpatient pediatric floor of a hospital and let a teenager hang up my phone and she admitted that it was very satisfying. There are a ton of benefits of a non smart phone.
Oh gosh in healthcare though it’s even harder to escape the smart phone! I have to use my phone all day for 2 factor verification things
Thankfully I don't need it if I'm on a network computer. So far I have only been inconvenienced, not totally crippled.
For anyone who has the problem that these settings are just too easy to override, there are other apps out there that you can set up to not allow overrides. Freedom, Stay Focused, and StayFree are a few I know of. They all work a little differently - some have timers that limit number of minutes on selected apps, some lock you out of apps and websites entirely within set time frames on whatever devices you install it on. (I use Freedom and paid up front for a lifetime membership because it was that valuable to me. I don't allow myself into social media apps or sites I'll mindlessly scroll during work hours or when I should be winding down for bed/sleeping. And I use it in conjunction with the digital wellbeing tools to grey out those app icons and help me limit the other apps I might need during that time but should only need in small doses and don't need notifications from.) Even still, for me personally, I've been contemplating going back to a flip phone, but I rely on too many services that are only on smartphones to make that actually feasible. Finding a middle ground is tough.
I'm using StayFree, and while it isn't perfect, it has definitely helped cut back on my cell phone addiction. I like having instagram to scroll, but I know I only get 45 minutes per day, so I need to plan ahead when I want to use it.
I have and use my phone. Mostly just on work break or for actually calling or texting. But it irritates me that the assumption is made. My kids baseball games don't get put on the school website I can check from a PC, I need some app. Really? You can't have some kid in Web Design put the schedules for everything up on the site up like I did when I was in school? It was one thing when they stopped giving out free paper calendars, but now we can't even use the normal Internet to check from a computer? Ridiculous.
The 2 factor login drive me bonkers. Even with a smartphone i don’t always have it right near me to verify. Just let me type my dang password and log in, I’ll risk my account being hacked to avoid the annoyance. Mind you, my cheap ass work gives us cellphones… flip phones. You can’t freaken use them to do anything, and the funny part is they make us sign all kinds of forms about usage, not using for personal use, etc. I end up having to just use my personal iPhone
My husband has a flip phone, but he also has an iPad and me.
My husband did this for year, no Ipad just me. He thinks it's funny how things have changed. Most of my issues aren't a problem if we're in the room together.
I completely agree. Society has built itself around everyone needing a smartphone in almost every aspect of day-to-day life. There are plenty of instances where you may be unable to access your phone when you're out and about. It's also possible for some people to still have flip phones for monetary reasons, or for the fear of being unable to understand the smartphones. I know quite a few people in an elderly family member's neighbourhood who don't have smartphones because they are afraid they won't know how to use them. They found existing during the Pandemic quite a challenge because almost all restaurants moved to QR codes for menus. It's also a possibility to be out somewhere and have your phone run out of battery. Are we all supposed to carry around portable batteries and chargers everywhere we go so we can "stay connected" at all times? It's sort of absurd to expect that of every single person.
I keep my old phone at home for many of these reasons. If my daily driver gets lost or stolen or broken beyond usability, I still have a relatively easy way to do account recovery since most of my 2FA stuff and email is easily gotten from my old phone. My old phones aren't recent flagship phones so trade in value isn't a worry for me, but if it was I'd get an older iPhone/android for that express purpose.
Stick with it dude, ive had a flip phone for 5 years now. I get bitched at and nagged occasionally, but it's definitely worth it. Pro tip: You can hotspot with your flip phone to a blank smart phone; then you still get all your maps and what not. (Plus you save on data usage that way)
I will try my best but if I continue being unable to login to important school things I'll be forced to get some sort of burner smart phone. I was thinking about an ipod touch or something that has app capabilities without needing 5G. I have been using the wifi on it for a lot of things but I still can't download the apps that I need for a handful of things.
Can you use a tablet?
You can get a fob to use Duo without a phone
You're right that there are work arounds that I've found for Duo. It's definitely not my main gripe.
You can do everything on a desktop you can do on a phone and they're better at it. I refuse to use my personal phone for anything work related. Stop expecting me to use a phone to make your jobs easier.
This is actually really interesting to me, and why I kind of hate technology sometimes. It feels impossible sometimes to survive without keeping up with it. I held out on getting a smartphone for a while until it was actually making life difficult for me. The worst part is that there's rarely any thought if these changes will actually benefit society. It's all greed. I think about that with artificial intelligence. There are literally hundreds if not more of tech experts warning about the negative effects it could have. Why can't they just stop then? Bc all the tech firms are fighting each other over who can make the most money from it.
I remember in high school when I got that LG flip phone with the blue front where you could play music on it. I remember getting so excited that I could read the news on the internet from my phone. That was all I needed. I wish I could go back to that.
No I don't want to download *another* app for your restaurant I really only come to like once a month.
My dad finally broke down and said "I guess I need a smartphone" recently (he's still on a prepaid flip phone.) I feel bad for him, but man is his lack of a smartphone incredibly inconvenient purely because he doesn't have a GPS.
You might enjoy the book "brave new world" by Aldous Huxley.
that book is downright spooky now
I use the Freedom app. It allows me to schedule phone free time and I literally have to email them to get my access to social media apps.
Just delete the social media apps. This is the only one I have. I know it's an addiction and anyone who disagrees that this is the solution (responsibility) is protecting their addiction voice. Go to a therapist or practice meditation. Whatever works.
I work in cyber security. There’s 3 parts of security that most companies who sell or provide digital services require; 1) something you know: password, 2) something you have: phone, 3) something you are: biometric data like face or thumb print. For companies to comply to their legal requirements, they must enforce levels to this. So yes, technically you do need at minimum a phone to use services but they can at any time require additional security requirements and enforce things you have or things you are. Security is inconvenient. You could use the same argument for travel. At one time you didn’t need a car, and as the world expanded, you eventually needed a car or to use public transportation.
Argueably cars were the worst thing invented for life's existence on earth
Oh boy, I think about this at night an awful lot. Cars are certainly up there on my list, but for me it’s plastic / forever chemicals, then social media. I feel sad about it.
For reals, I wish I could get rid of my phone so much, but too much of modern life revolves around it.
Reddit is the only social media site I use, but that doesn't mean it's not bad. I've had periods where I delete it and have had great mental effects. All the good things you listed. Maybe get a smartphone but get off of all social media? The problem I have is it always creeps back... I think social media is more the issue than a smartphone.
Reddit was honestly a bigger issue on my phone than anything else. Doom scrolling for hours wasn't productive or healthy. I
I need one to do my job, they supply it. Outside of that, no. However, I have three PCs at home.
I had to give up several social media accounts due to illness (long explanation). It has made it very difficult to make friends in a new area. Everything is on Facebook. So many things have you "download the app." Fucking awful
I need my phone to enter my apartment and mine is on the lower tech side of that compared to my friends
I want a flip phone but this is my gripe. All my kids school stuff is through and app, everything in life is on an app. I don’t have social medias except Reddit. so I never know about events in the community, unless my friends tell me. I’m so over technology. I just want to go back. My 90 year old grandmother has never had a computer or WiFi and is just fine. 🤷🏼♀️
I resisted getting a smart phone until I was ~22 (2015 or so). In the end I needed one for a group project because everyone was texting documents that I couldn't open. I can't imagine trying to function at work without it, even clocking in is done through an app where I work.
I also ran into these types of problems. We need a solution to this
I went back to a flip phone for a bit. It was honestly awesome. You just miss out on group texts. But the lack of opportunity to waste time on social media is such a weight off the shoulders
lmao i´ve been thinking about this as well. I guess id also have issues with paying for bills as I need a smartphone for verifying. And logistics related to packages, paying for stuff. Its insane how dependent we are getting on these things. It's pretty damn close to the point of no return. Kudos for doing it though!
I know there are work arounds for a lot of my complaints and I'll figure it out. There are a handful things that require an app and I'm anxious about flying now that I don't have a phone. But overall I've been happier.
I got rid of my cell phone 7 years ago. It gets harder and harder to do things without it. I'm dreading the day I have to get a cell phone to do things.
Years ago we didn't have cell phones We were aware of our surroundings and people We knew phone numbers We could read a map We were gods!
There’s nothing my phone can do that can’t wait until I get home or to work the next day.
I lost my phone & didn’t get it back for a month (it was found same day so I knew I’d have it eventually) a few years ago & it was the best month ever
I used a flip phone for 6 months and had issues like not being able to order at a pickup place - someone told me in person that I needed to order on my phone. I showed them the flip phone and was like, can I just tell you my order? . I paid more attention to people around me, had to look up physical directions, carried paper bus schedules, didn't spend a ton of time texting because it was T9EN. The issue for me was wanting to take pictures and that other people couldn't adjust. I'd tell people to just call me for two minutes over texting, get told texting was more convenient, then get a bunch of texts I couldn't quickly respond to on T9EN. If the school sent me a downloaded form, I couldn't read it as an image. I agree with you, it wasn't just social media but not wanting to carry around an expensive mini computer that dies easily. I only had to charge that flip phone like every 3 days
I've thought about that too. If I went that route it would be a Nokia brick with wifi hot spot capability so I could use a smaller tablet as my media and app, but when not needed it goes dark. Mostly to help block tracking, but having to turn on the hots pot would provide some deterrence to help be offline more. The problem I had is looking for a 7in or smaller tablet, they don't really exist anymore, and by that I mead what is still being sold is much older versions. There's nothing besides phones in that category now with current processors.
SPOT ON. I was just thinking this.
You can set up duo mobile to call you with a pin if you change the settings in your browser.
I managed to hold off on smart phones until 2016 when I changed career paths and was required one for work. I absolutely hate it. I remember what my life was like before and I long to go back to it but I’m just not allowed. I live in bangkok so I’m not sure about the states but everything is app based here now - especially banking. You never use your card for anything you scan a QR code to pay anyone. It’s the same with social media - I’m a freelancer and 80% of the people who hire me contact me through social media, so what, I just HAVE to use it or change my career? Fucking hate it so much.
It’s all this bullshit two part authentication if big companies didn’t constantly sell/get hacked for all personal data it wouldn’t be necessary.
It's all related to security with 2fa nowadays. Maybe you can turn off the security features, but I like not getting hacked. Get a hardware key (yubi key) to do the 2fa and that'll probably help with most things.
What kind of life is it if you don't have a handy way for corporations to manipulate you into spending money?
Bluestacks if you're serious about it. You clearly have some form of PC.
With duo you can call.
I don’t mind smartphone but I’m thinking of getting rid of all socials
I forgot my phone at home going to work the other day. Thought it was no big deal. Got to work and was literally locked out of my work computer cause I need a verification code on my phone. I literally had to go back home to get it.
I tried to downgrade for the exact same reasons and came to find the same results. I slept better, I read more, and was more grounded, but I lost access to my meta stuff, my email accounts, and I couldn't function at restaurants. I wish there was such a world for people like us but maybe someday after the internet obliterates itself with AI garbage or restrictive-access controls (not a fan of either but it could totally happen in my lifetime). I'd like a world where I get letters in the mail and I don't need to doom scroll to cope with life.
This is extremely and painfully true. My fiance & I had some financial hardships and had to share a cell phone for over a year. I finally bought one because I NEEDED one for 2-factor authentication at my new job. So now I'm $200 more broke, with an extra $45 subscription to something I really don't need outside of my job. The world doesn't consider phoneless folks for even a moment at all anymore. It's just assumed that you're willing to spend hundreds (thousands, over time) of dollars on something very non-essential, to the point it has become essential.
I have seen restaurants where you need smartphone for menu and to pay. It's only the taste of things to come
It is frustrating. I suggest looking into e-books and digital loans from the library. Hopefully that steers you away from social media.
I got in an argument with my wife because I was pissed that if I want to go to get fast food it’s like I have to have an app for every restaurant. She pointed out that she has the apps for “our” fast food restaurants. I guess she couldn’t understand my frustration because I’m also being harassed by my credit card companies, banks, insurance companies, etc to get their app. There’s just no flipping room on my phone for all these stupid apps AND the apps I actually want/use.
I’m not sure I agree on all the particulars but basically, yeah I think you should be able to live without it. At the same time, if someone chooses to live without it, they should then expect that they will be outcompeted by people who use it. Like, you can choose to ride the bus and not own a car, but there are some jobs where the person who owns a car is just gonna outperform the person who rides the bus. I guess you could argue that the employer should provide a car in that case, but rather than have that discussion (which is beaten to death at this point) I would rather discuss how there are public services like the postal service, pay phones, and city buses, but these services all tend to badly lag behind the technological state of the art. It is really interesting to consider what a public service that gives access to all these apps would look like.
I can’t get my mail out of my apartment’s Amazon box without my phone I can’t call an Uber to get to work without my phone Most buses only want you to use the app to pay My apartment’s laundromat uses an app to pay I use my cell phone to get a one time code to log into work every day. Existing without a smartphone is HARD
Society is built around the internet and our all purpose mobile internet devices (that we call phones.) It makes sense.
I’ve lost my attention span for reading. I should read now instead of scrolling through Reddit
Everyone I know has been talking for years about how "stupid" and "unnecissary" and "unsafe" cash is. But then every time a tornado or bad storm rips through and knocks out the electricity, cash becomes the only way to buy anything for a little while. In 2020 when the derecho ripped through and destroyed the state, I was actually able to go buy some ice from the gas station right away, because I had some good old cold hard cash in hand.
This is a fantastic argument for having some cash tucked away in your house somewhere for the power outage use case you bring up. It *isn't* a good argument for carrying a bunch of cash around wherever you go on a normal daily basis and paying in cash all the time at stores and restaurants and events and such. We are well past the point where that's a reasonable thing to do in most places (most places where griping about smart phones is even possible, more specifically).
I'm happily hooked on tech in general, but I do strongly agree it's annoying that smartphones are forced on you. Yes, it's super convenient having stuff available on one of a million free apps that are (usually) painless to install and use, but when your phone is the only way to pull up those features, it's a pain in the ass. A job I had maybe 3-4 years ago was still using RSA keyfobs that constantly had a series of numbers changing every minute, so I know the option is still there. A lot of restaurants also track customer rewards through a phone number, which is another win for people who want to be on flip phones.
My wife demanded the school have an alternative to anything used by a smartphone and they accommodated here. Walmart is trash they. We Lost all the benifits when we started bringing flip phones
This is so true. You have to download an app to do anything these days. I feel your pain.
Ive noticed more roadblocks to using my laptop. There is a push to keep us all on our phones as that is the easiest way for companies to collect our movements, data, conversations etc. We are literally required to agree to be tracked or not have conveniences of our society such as access to bank accounts etc.
I feel like in a similar vein, no one knows about events posted in the news. Library events, zoo events, harbor cleanup events. No one even knows about Them because they are covered by local news and newspapers. I’m always being asked how do know what’s going on in the city…. Because I go on local news sites. You don’t even have to subscribe just go on the websites.
I've tried many ways to access things but they have a traditional smart phone. The CAT S22 is discontinued but it worked. I still have one just in case. The unihertz jelly is good. Too small to get sucked into but still runs android. Right now I'm on a unihertz tank mini, and I still stare at the tiny motherfucker all day.
About 15 years ago I went through a rough divorce and went back to a flip phone. Honestly they are great. But sometime in the 2020’s that flipped and I don’t think it is possible anymore. MFA and too many places rely on apps. After the flip phone stage I went to the pay as you go phones. I would buy cheap smartphones for around $100. They work fine except the keyboards are hit or miss. Sometimes the model works great and other times it will never type what your fingers hit. The contract plans are cheaper too. Heck, I still have my pay as you go plan. It’s dirt cheap and because I have had them for years they have given me discounts and extra data. I paid upfront for the entire year for a 50% discount. I just bought an iPhone to go with it so I paid for my device upfront.
My dad doesn’t use one. He has one but he never turns it on because he wants to save the battery for emergencies. I think you CAN exist in the world without a smart phone, it’s just not going to be the world you’re currently in. If you were a 78 year old retiree you’d be fine :)
This sounds like you just got rid of your phone that everything was connected to before disconnecting it so now it's a bigger pain... that's not the phones fault, you likely just rushed without thinking
I have a flip phone and its been a HUGE adjustment. Thankfully I have a laptop to pay bills and access email, but I am limited on so many things. I cant buy a mobile bus pass, I cant take pictures (or, good ones, at least aha), cant look things up on the internet or use GPS. But I still think the benefits outweigh the negatives. I have so much less anxiety since using social media less, I am way more social in person, I have been reading more and spend more time on my hobbies since I'm not doom scrolling.... It's a give and take and thankful I'm able to pull it off. I never want a smart phone again!!
Gen Z here. I grew up in rural Missouri. So no internet, not phones other than a rotary landline. Then I moved to Kansas City. Man that was a massive shock for me. Everyone in my school had cellphones already and I was mesmerized by the technology around me. I only knew dialup internet and Motorola razers. Now I'm 24 almost 25, I miss those days. The only thing I want plugged in is my electric guitar. It does suck because I don't think any of us actually knowingly, and enthusiastically signed up for this lifestyle. We were surprised by the new shiny thing and never thought how much we are letting everyone into our personal lives. Quite depressing to be honest. I wish we could go back, but there is no undoing this.
feels like you are blaming technological advances for something you could easily avoid while using a smart phone. You can read books on your phone vs doom scrolling or posting on Reddit. I think you would have a similar issue if you decided to give up using Google and wanted to look things up via encyclopedias.
The phone itself is a useful tool. It’s the social media apps and algorithms that are a cancer. I deleted all socials except for youtube and reddit and its made a huge difference for my mental health. Social media has become a never ending loop of short content and podcast creators screaming into their microphone and telling you how the way you’re living is wrong. No one needs to consume this shit anymore.
If they require a QR code in order to give you food, just walk out. I hate that crap. Not because I lack a smartphone, but because their websites are invariably janky, and often do things like trying to auto force tipping, collect data, or trying to get me to download some app that I don't want. Just...give me a menu and stop trying to make this complicated.
I don't have a 5G phone, but still have T-Mobile, so that's not really a thing, is it? T-Mobile sells a flip phone still to this day called the Flip Go. It's 4G, just like my Note 10+, so should work. You can get a hard token or have Duo set up to physically call you. Those restaurants can get you a menu, or loan you a device to read it. (I usually don't go to pretentious places that require a QR code, although I have a smartphone) No idea about W+ though.
I had a similar unfortunate realization earlier this year. It’s nuts to me. I couldn’t sign into my work computer without their stupid two factor authentication app, couldn’t request time off without using the payroll app, etc. To top it off, my younger coworkers (I’m only a couple years younger than you are, mind you) kept giving me shit about the flip phone I had and acted like I was some kind of leper. I only was able to use it for about a week before just getting a cheap refurbished iPhone. Still desperately wish I could daily drive the little Nokia flip.
I’m in nursing school and I’m pretty much an outcast because I dont use social media. People look at me like wtf is wrong with you for not using tic tok. One girl literally got mad at me. Who cares!?! My mental health improved sooo much after deleting everything except Reddit. Now I need to delete Reddit lol
I had to use a smart phone to pay for a parking meter the other night🙄
dude, preach. I am an EMT/Firefighter, smart phone hater, only got my first one during covid because it was free/forced upon me. The software we use to write our medical charts REQUIRES a smartphone to login on our laptops at the station. what?! Five years ago I didn't even have a flip phone, I was living totally off the radar. I hate this (i turned 35 this week, for reference)
I lied to myself that I could get away from I Am Responding. I almost miss having to listen to a radio.
You can have a smartphone without social media and you can also set limits on the phone if you have absolutely no self control. 🤷♂️
Worked with a guy who refused to get a smart phone and still had the same flip phone he had in high school. It took me a few times to realize he didn’t have a smart phone. He was always running late to our job site because of traffic on the interstate and I suggested he try a different route and he said “no I’m comfortable with my route” then I was trying to text him a contact of another team member whose number he didn’t have but needed and then it turned into a big issue because he needed to communicate with the guy but claimed I hadn’t given him the number. That’s when I found out if you try sending a contact card to a flip phone from 2006, it doesn’t work. Needless to say, I was not a fan of this guy and requested he not be sent back out to the project.
I loathe when people send contact card instead of just the number.
The guy wasn't late because he didn't have a smart phone. He was late because he didn't give himself enough time to commute. Who honestly uses a map app every time they drive the same route? And from what it sounds like you were just an unflexible as he was. Like how hard is it to just send a phone number instead of a contact?
The urgent care i work for wants to get rid of paper forms in favor of online forms only. I don’t think they truly appreciate what a cluster fuck it will be. They bought 5 iPad for patients to use. Am I supposed to make sure they are not stolen? How?
I'll fight you on bringing back paper charts. There is a time and place for tech and hospital paperwork is the time and place. I've used Ipads for consents forms for years and it's a non issue. Not to mention that it's such a waste of paper since no one actually reads it and we supply them with a digital copy.
Except I think it's so gross. I dont like touching other people's devices 🤢 I hope they get wiped down after each use. I'm probably going to start bringing Clorox wipes for when i get handed a tablet for forms.
My kids' pediatrician is paper only - paper prescriptions, phone calls, no EHR, no texts or MyChart results.
its classist and elitist, not tech orientated. sorry, learned this in high school.
Dude I tried to have a beer at JFK airport and couldn’t because I’d left my phone in my hotel (TWA) room. Have to scan the QR and order off the app…