It’s interesting thinking about the cost involved with not having a smart phone and the services they provide. Having a smartphone opens the door to so many extra costs we don’t think about a lot like music subscriptions and attention harvesting apps, and prevents us from participating in the slightly effort full, yet life-affirming tasks such as memorising a city to navigate without gps, or discovering new music without access to an entire catalog or algorithm. Big fan of the shift and support of acquiring the right kind of products, those that quiet contribute to your life without demanding constant interaction.
I’ve been thinking that too! I think it’s cheap to be on smartphones because they want us on them, the same way Newstalk ZB is free because the right-wing wants us listening to it in our cars. Once I realised how artificially cheap corporations made being permanently online, the question that emerged for me was “Why?”, and the theories I’m mulling over are very discomforting.
The international calling is a tough one, one my smartphone free American flatmate has had to navigate too as his elderly family members can't use ie Skype. I definitely haven't ditched the phone but one thing I want to get better at is making maps so I don't need it with me when I'm out, like that Zadie Smith quote about how we have traded the impossibility of getting lost for never being free.
I love misplacing my smartphone, and as it has aged it's gotten worse at doing things. I am hoping soon I am reduced to call, text, clock, camera, and map. When I replace it, I hope it will be with another older, refurbed device that can't run most apps.
It’s interesting thinking about the cost involved with not having a smart phone and the services they provide. Having a smartphone opens the door to so many extra costs we don’t think about a lot like music subscriptions and attention harvesting apps, and prevents us from participating in the slightly effort full, yet life-affirming tasks such as memorising a city to navigate without gps, or discovering new music without access to an entire catalog or algorithm. Big fan of the shift and support of acquiring the right kind of products, those that quiet contribute to your life without demanding constant interaction.
I’ve been thinking that too! I think it’s cheap to be on smartphones because they want us on them, the same way Newstalk ZB is free because the right-wing wants us listening to it in our cars. Once I realised how artificially cheap corporations made being permanently online, the question that emerged for me was “Why?”, and the theories I’m mulling over are very discomforting.
The international calling is a tough one, one my smartphone free American flatmate has had to navigate too as his elderly family members can't use ie Skype. I definitely haven't ditched the phone but one thing I want to get better at is making maps so I don't need it with me when I'm out, like that Zadie Smith quote about how we have traded the impossibility of getting lost for never being free.
I love misplacing my smartphone, and as it has aged it's gotten worse at doing things. I am hoping soon I am reduced to call, text, clock, camera, and map. When I replace it, I hope it will be with another older, refurbed device that can't run most apps.
I might get the Light Phone once I figure out how to be properly offline!
https://www.thelightphone.com/lightii