I've been trying to use my phone less as well, it all seems so disgusting lately. I'm finding it both especially hard to want to pay for a standard music-streaming service and to figure out how to live without one. Maybe I need to buy a discman (do they still exist?) and connect it to my car somehow? It's a bummer that I also would like to not use a car all the time but I currently live in Texas so that's not an option. The need for a car and the need for a smartphone reinforce one another
You’re right about the car, too. I’ve been thinking about how it’s hard to navigate long distances without GPS mapping. I plan on getting a GPS dashboard that’s separate from my phone, so I can drive with just my flip phone, and to practice with maps. I think that as tech merges with the government to create a surveillance state that it’s in everyone’s best interests to learn to use paper maps, too. If you want to get an abortion in a state where it’s illegal, for example, it’s probably best not to plug the clinic into Google Maps, as they’ll hand over all information to the government without qualms.
I’m going to write about music next! I’m thinking of getting an MP3 player, buying digital music on Bandcamp, and getting a disc drive to burn CDs from disc to MP3 and MP3 to mixtape disc. I like record players so if I can get one that doubles as a CD player in the house, I might do that, too, so I can shop both old record sales and CD ones. It’ll be a bit more expensive but I’m looking forward to it: I’m tired of Spotify, and even Apple Music, feeding me placating, algorithmically created playlists.
Thank you! I think it’s a pain to get off these things but the newfound pleasures outweigh it. Technology was already so convenient pre-smartphone that going back to it is less painful than I thought: even flip phones are a miracle, being able to be contactable and to contact in emergencies at any time was unthinkable 50 years ago.
I've been trying to use my phone less as well, it all seems so disgusting lately. I'm finding it both especially hard to want to pay for a standard music-streaming service and to figure out how to live without one. Maybe I need to buy a discman (do they still exist?) and connect it to my car somehow? It's a bummer that I also would like to not use a car all the time but I currently live in Texas so that's not an option. The need for a car and the need for a smartphone reinforce one another
You’re right about the car, too. I’ve been thinking about how it’s hard to navigate long distances without GPS mapping. I plan on getting a GPS dashboard that’s separate from my phone, so I can drive with just my flip phone, and to practice with maps. I think that as tech merges with the government to create a surveillance state that it’s in everyone’s best interests to learn to use paper maps, too. If you want to get an abortion in a state where it’s illegal, for example, it’s probably best not to plug the clinic into Google Maps, as they’ll hand over all information to the government without qualms.
I’m going to write about music next! I’m thinking of getting an MP3 player, buying digital music on Bandcamp, and getting a disc drive to burn CDs from disc to MP3 and MP3 to mixtape disc. I like record players so if I can get one that doubles as a CD player in the house, I might do that, too, so I can shop both old record sales and CD ones. It’ll be a bit more expensive but I’m looking forward to it: I’m tired of Spotify, and even Apple Music, feeding me placating, algorithmically created playlists.
Thank you for writing this Kieran. Incisive as always
As with your other two Flip Phone diary entries, I loved this piece - so well written, thought provoking and despite it all, hopeful.
Thank you! I think it’s a pain to get off these things but the newfound pleasures outweigh it. Technology was already so convenient pre-smartphone that going back to it is less painful than I thought: even flip phones are a miracle, being able to be contactable and to contact in emergencies at any time was unthinkable 50 years ago.