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Could You Live Without Your Smartphone? (theglobeandmail.com)
Three-quarters of Canadians own smartphones-- and 94% of 15- to 34-year-olds. But this week the Globe and Mail profiled "digital refuseniks" who are "deliberately logging off -- and they say it's done wonders for their imaginations and peace of mind."
They are hidden among us, neither jobless nor friendless, and living quite happily. Cut off from Uber, yet somehow thriving. For example, Tony North does not live for his smartphone, because he's never had one. "I just didn't want to get into the habit of distraction," he says simply, in an interview conducted over landline from his home in Paris, Ontario. The high-school teacher spends about 20 minutes a day [on his laptop] on his one social-media platform, Facebook, which he uses to keep in touch with family back home in Australia. In fact, you could blame Australia for Mr. North's desire to be digitally unleashed: He remembers leaving home to travel overseas, and the wonderful feeling of being uncontactable that came with it. "It was such a feeling of freedom, and I guess I wanted to keep a bit of that."
As a teacher of English and drama, Mr. North, 53, is worried about the consequences of teenagers' near-constant devotion to their online lives (his own two children, 12 and 13 years old, do not have phones). In drama class, he makes his students put away their phones and engage in face-to-face exercises: "I'm basically forcing them to interact," he says. "When I ask for evaluations at the end of the semester, it's one of the things they most seem to appreciate...." Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 spend nearly five hours a day online, according to a 2017 survey from Media Technology Monitor... "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?" the Atlantic magazine asked last year in a cover story designed to keep parents up at night, frozen in the blue light of further bad news.
North says in the extra time "he reads many novels and enjoys quiet moments of reflection and watching the world go by." And 18-year-old Bethany March is also severely limiting her phone use. ''I saw the way that people got so invested, not just in their phones, but in social media, and I didn't want to be that person," she says. "So many times people would be zeroed in on their phones. It was just rude, to be honest. I'd think, 'I'm here with you, talk to me.'"
71-year-old John Moir insists that living without a smartphone makes him really experience new locations, "rather than trying to be in two places at once," adding that "Whenever I tell people I don't have a phone, they say, 'Oh, that's so great. I wish I didn't have to have one.'" That's "one thing digital refuseniks never have to worry about," the article concludes: "Who is the servant in their digital relationship, and who is the master."
As a teacher of English and drama, Mr. North, 53, is worried about the consequences of teenagers' near-constant devotion to their online lives (his own two children, 12 and 13 years old, do not have phones). In drama class, he makes his students put away their phones and engage in face-to-face exercises: "I'm basically forcing them to interact," he says. "When I ask for evaluations at the end of the semester, it's one of the things they most seem to appreciate...." Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 spend nearly five hours a day online, according to a 2017 survey from Media Technology Monitor... "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?" the Atlantic magazine asked last year in a cover story designed to keep parents up at night, frozen in the blue light of further bad news.
North says in the extra time "he reads many novels and enjoys quiet moments of reflection and watching the world go by." And 18-year-old Bethany March is also severely limiting her phone use. ''I saw the way that people got so invested, not just in their phones, but in social media, and I didn't want to be that person," she says. "So many times people would be zeroed in on their phones. It was just rude, to be honest. I'd think, 'I'm here with you, talk to me.'"
71-year-old John Moir insists that living without a smartphone makes him really experience new locations, "rather than trying to be in two places at once," adding that "Whenever I tell people I don't have a phone, they say, 'Oh, that's so great. I wish I didn't have to have one.'" That's "one thing digital refuseniks never have to worry about," the article concludes: "Who is the servant in their digital relationship, and who is the master."
No problem, EVERYONE can live without their smartphone. Next question.
I could live without "apps". I could live without social media. I could live without games. I could even live without a browser.
I cannot live without a map - I'd be forever lost or limited to what I could locate without getting lost.
In the 80's we had lots of celeb and other magazines along with shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. In the 90's we had America's Funniest Home videos.
All this blended into social media and Youtube
Even then the whole point of magazines was to put advertising in front of your eyes. The content was secondary. And the subscription prices never covered the costs of running the magazine.
Those who have been alive longer than smartphones, cellphones or pagers will have an easier time going without such things as they have done it before.
Those who have never known a life without them, not so much.
It would be akin to denying a heroin addict their daily fix I think.
We must be doing reasonably well that not being able to live has come to mean suffering minor discomforts.
One of my favorite stories to tell is about the phone book.
A long time ago (almost 15 years) I was supposed to visit a customer about their home computer and needed to reschedule, the phone number was not recorded on the work order, I tried looking it up in our databases, no joy, tried finding it online, nope, so I didn't call.
Of course the next day he calls angry that I didn't show up and didn't reschedule, I spoke with him and said I didnt' have his phone number and he quickly replied 'its in the phone book', I had completely forgotten about that (yes its not a thing anymore) and was firmly in the headspace of, 'if it wasn't on the computer it didn't exist', boy did I feel dumb.
I believe that I have pulled my head out of the sand ever since then and at least try to look at the real world on a regular basis, so much going on out here.
Regularly put the phone down and walk away, its an adventure to see what happened a few hours later, give it a try.
I hate the whole Ap software culture, where what a web browser can do has been split into 1,000 diferent programs. I hate the Android every permission culture. I hate the Apple no-strange-flash-card-before me thing. I hate curve screens that cannot be protected. I hate facial scanning. I hate the lack of smartphone keyboards. And at least if you could get cellphone enabled tablets here in the U.S., then it would be more useful, where allowed.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
I find this puzzling. I ignore my mobile most of the time. I've disabled most notifications (and rely on email notifications for the most part, and check at my leisure.) Even with text messaging, thanks to the new Android app, that's in a browser for me, and I respond at my own convenience. Although to be honest that's pretty low traffic as well.
I can't be the only person who has one of these, and can go several hours without attending to it....maybe adopting an attitude more along these lines would help.
For me, the main thing is convenience and safety, and playing music. It's not something that gets a lot of my attention otherwise.
he reads many novels and enjoys quiet moments of reflection and watching the world go by.
Hey you know what - I do that too! Only I'm generally reading on my smartphone. And while I might grab a picture once in a while, I too love to just sit sometimes and watch the world.
It's fully up to you how much and just plain HOW you use a smartphone. But it seems incredibly short-sighted to get rid of them because you lack self-control - that is a value that can be self-taught, and brings benefits to all areas of life.
No way would I go without a smartphone if I could help it because I find it very useful. What I don't find is that it uses *me*, because I do not let it.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
That means 25% of Canadians are living without a smartphone. Meaning that yes, you could in fact live without a smartphone.
Next question please?
is that they harass those of us who do.
Unfortunately, the world has gotten to a place where you really need one to survive.
I was out with my dad for dinner (who absolutely refuses to own one) the other night and he wanted to know:
- What did the Dow Jones ended off at
- Read the article about the guy in England who saw and photographed Air Force 1 when Trump was going to Iraq on Christmas day
- Use the scientific calculator on the phone to figure out the angular width of Air Force 1 when it is 25 miles away and flying at 31,000 feet (it's 0.08 degrees if you care)
- Confirm that the angular width of the moon and the sun was 0.5 degrees (actually it's just over 0.5 degrees)
- If a Facebook friend had replied to him
- Check the status of my wife's aunt who was in the hospital
There are two things you can conclude from this:
1. We're a geeky family
2. Too much of modern life has moved onto mobile platforms to make not having a smartphone a realistic proposition
I can respect people who only want a dumb phone - personally, I primarily use my iPhone for phone calls and texts but it's nice to have a browser available and a lot of apps do make our lives more efficient and allow us to be more mobile.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
It was probably good to be apologetic in that case but... why didn't he call around 15 minutes after the appointment was set to check on if you were coming?
Not that he should have had to do that, but it's what U would have done in his place instead of getting mad and calling the next day... I'd personally be very understanding of someone having lost a number.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I've never owned a cellular phone. In this day and age, there are some advantages:
1) I save ~ $1000 (pretax) per year on the cellular service bills. (That's $10,000, or a brand new, cheap car, every decade.)
2) I don't have to worry about losing it.
3) I don't have to worry about it being stolen.
4) I don't have to worry about being robbed for it.
5) I don't have to worry about whether its battery is charged.
6) I don't have to worry about its software updates and whether they broke anything.
7) I don't have to worry about, and spend time researching and buying, the next one.
8) I don't have to worry about spying apps/ID theft via it.
9) I save money on what would be each new phone purchase.
10) I don't have to worry about breaking it.
11) I don't have to worry about it being hacked/malware.
12) I am never bothered by people or robots via it.
13) And when the space ants come to enslave me in their sugar mines, they won't be able to find me via wireless tracking.
I am well aware of what cellular phones are capable of; they are amazing machines. But they are tools, tools I don't need right now. I don't knock anyone for having one - I would like the same courtesy.
Problem is with people who don't use smartphones is that they harass those of us who do.
[...]
it's nice to have a browser available and a lot of apps do make our lives more efficient and allow us to be more mobile.
I would respect that if all the smartphone users agreed to actually look and listen to other people. Seriously, when I'm talking to someone, eye contact and a real conversation is what I expect. Smartphone users have decided instead to opt for "mhmm..." as they stare at their phone scrolling through their social media feed and then at a break they ask questions about information you just provided ago seconds ago. These smartphone zombies are the worst people because they aren't really there.
TL;DR: [dis]respect is a two way street.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
>""Whenever I tell people I don't have a phone, they say, 'Oh, that's so great. I wish I didn't have to have one.'" That's "one thing digital refuseniks never have to worry about," the article concludes: "Who is the servant in their digital relationship, and who is the master."
This is just silly. You don't have to NOT have a smart phone to prevent being rude, unsafe, or being obsessed. Smart phones are great for so many other things- news, easy texting, hotting down a note, maps and directions, flashlight, finding a store, calculator, listening to a podcast or music, weather, calendar, looking up word definitions or encyclopedia pages, playing an occasional casual word game, easily taking photos, etc.
If you have ZERO self control, then try this, I know it is a new concept: Delete the social media apps and disable/block them from sending any type of notifications/Email. Done. THOSE are what seem to drive people to be so totally obsessive with their phones. Delete Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. If you want to participate on those, allocate some time to use them on your home desktop/laptop, perhaps once a day for an hour or something. Then get on with your life!
What kind of harassment are you referring to? That was missing from your post. You also did not post anything that could be considered necessary .
[i]Sitting down[/i] and looking up things on a device with Internet access is not something that people tend to have an issue with.
Issues are with people who have in effect become tethered to their phones, who have developed disruptive manners.
"We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
I live my digital life on my desktop computer with a 30" screen
My smartphone sits unused on the desk unless I'm on the road
I'm rarely on the road
People had paper maps of nations, cities.
Needed to call a person? They had a answering machine, a secretary.
Games? That was a desktop computer, board games.
Wanted to see the new tech? Printed catalog.
To meet someone/sell something? A classified magazine/contact magazine.
Read something? That was a library, a book shop. Microfiche.
The world worked before walking around with tracking, games, maps and ads on a "smartphone"
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
I am strongly considering giving it a try because I've had it with technology! I mean I've absolutely had my fill of it. Technology has created a dystopia that it was meant to stave off. I want to be more present in my own life. Reading this article makes me think of how much joy that my smartphone has stolen from my life. I can no longer just sit down and watch TV without reaching for my smart phone. It's even become a distraction from reading. I used to lie down and read myself to sleep. Now I just "fuck around" on my smart phone and I don't really get super sleepy. I am sure it's negatively impacting my sleep biorhythms. I think my new year's resolution this year is to ditch the smart phone. I'll buy a printer so the few times that the few times I need directions, I can just print them out. Hells, maybe I'll just buy a used hardware GPS.
I mean it. Did you notice refugees have smartphones? It is not because they are rich, it is because they can't afford to do without.
First thing. Can you live without internet access nowadays? Difficult, if not downright impossible if some administrative procedures can only be done online. Now, how do you access the internet? For the hardware, you can use a smartphone or a computer, but the computer is usually more expensive and less portable. For the access, you can use a land line, which is also (usually) more expensive and less portable than an entry level data plan. You may find computers with free public internet, but even then, getting there may not be free.
Next feature of smartphones: navigation. Again, you can use paper maps, and again, they will probably end up getting more expensive and less portable than smartphones.
Of course, a smartphone is a phone, a way to communicate. I mean, try to find a job without a phone. And sometimes, strangely enough, data communication (VoIP, IMs, etc...) is cheaper than phone calls. And if you have only a dumb phone, you still need to pay for it, and you still need to deal with your lack of internet access. Considering the price of entry level smartphones, especially used, you might as well get one.
Speaking about internet access, you probably noticed that it is useful in order to find good deals and compare prices. Without it, you will probably end up paying more, not a good thing if you are poor. And it is a case where a semi-permanent connection (i.e. not just a public library) is nice to have.
Also: access to knowledge and entertainment, camera, notepad, calculator, alarm clock, etc... I mean, besides food and shelter, if you are only allowed one thing to live in the modern world, that would be it.
Ha, ha, ha, the younger generations are so much like sheep.
Nobody needs a smart phone.
Ditto. I rarely use my iPhone 4S and go out. I do go online with the Internet a lot at home though!
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I could live without my smartphone with absolutely no problems - as long as I have my tablet :-)
From the article, some 71 year old dude is saying "it makes him experience new destinations".
I'm 60. Smartphones came out 11-12 years ago. If you're 71 years old and need a smartphone to experience new destinations then I'm guessing you have bigger issues in your life than lack of a phone.
What gets me are the surveys "do you sleep with your smart phone". Guess what? Soon as they were available I got a wireless phone. Think '82 or so. I slept with that phone. Fast forward 35 years, wireless handset got replaced with a smartphone. Guess what? I slept with my smartphone for years. Then dad died, and I realized I was the 3rd or 4th person anyone would call in case of emergency. Now my cellphone charges in the living room while I sleep with my cat in the bedroom.
I've never owned a smartphone, and don't plan on ever owning one, either. They're impossible to secure properly access-wise, easily hacked, overpriced, and so-called 'data plans' are a ripoff. I understand what all their capabilities are, am capable of even writing my own apps for them if I really wanted to, and I don't regret not having one, not for a single moment. A basic clamshell cellphone capable of calls and texts is all I need, and I don't even use it for those things much. If I need internet access I have computers. If it wasn't for the convenience of being able to take a small light phone with me wherever I go I'd even dump that and get landline service instead. If you claim you can't exist without a smartphone then you need to take a hard look at your life and your priorities.
I actively use a faked "smartphone zombie" mode to avoid conversations on the bus. I'm not interested in spending my commute getting to know some homeless dude with no edit button. I find being intent on my phone and telling him "sorry, I'm texting my girlfriend." tends to shut that down early.
And if it doesn't I feel free to just tell him to fuck off out of my face.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
All that stuff, if it really mattered, could be looked up when you got home. Meanwhile, what non cellphone addicts see is the person across from them, who they only have a few hours with, having their head down, eyes and ears zombiefied, reflected in the ghostly glow of their tiny sun (that their lives seem to revolve around). Instead of talking and being present with them in the moment. Most people don't care what you talk about, especially family, but that you are there and present and talking with them.
You know, conversation isn't all about having the facts at your fingertips. I can see your UID is low, so you obviously remember the world before smartphones.
Those of us without phones survive fine, as we have for countless millennia. It only took 10 years for 3/4ths of canada to be brainwashed into the necessity of an always on spy device in their pocket. Its quite sad.
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North says in the extra time "he reads many novels and enjoys quiet moments of reflection and watching the world go by."
Well, I read novels on my smartphone, so there ;)
Yup - I'm already doing that. I can't stand them - wouldn't want one if someone bloody paid me to have it. I enjoy being able to get up and walk way from my job (a Network Analyst/Engineer) and be off the grid. There is no need for anyone to be connected all the time, other than addition.
$1000 (pretax) per year
My cell phone cost me $120 to buy, and it costs me less than $50 per year (on average about $4 per month) to run. This is because I chose a plan with few voice minutes or text messages and no data.
2) I don't have to worry about losing it.
3) I don't have to worry about it being stolen.
4) I don't have to worry about being robbed for it.
5) I don't have to worry about whether its battery is charged.
[...]
10) I don't have to worry about breaking it.
11) I don't have to worry about it being hacked/malware.
Instead, you have to worry about the six of these with respect to your non-phone pocket computer, non-phone digital media player, or non-phone portable satellite navigation device.
12) I am never bothered by people or robots via it.
If your employer required you to carry such a phone (with such a plan) in order to take elevated support calls after hours as a condition of continued employment, would you quit?
What do you do when a web application requires you to receive a code through SMS in order to begin or continue using the web application? For example, some users of the Twitter microblog host report that Twitter locks an account for alleged automated violation of its rules after a certain amount of use until the user provides an SMS number and enters the code in a text message sent to that number. Some such services can make a voice call instead of SMS, but Twitter allows only SMS, not voice. Do you instead choose to give up all the relationships that you maintain through that web application on the first such roadblock that you hit?
I'm rarely on the road
Others' habits differ. For example, they may have a bus commute of an hour each way to and from work.
I forgot it at mom-in-law yesterday :(
The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
but the computer is usually more expensive and less portable.
Only because manufacturers killed entry-level 10.1" laptops in fourth quarter 2012. In addition, good luck training for (say) a programming job using a phone unless you dock it to an external keyboard and monitor, at which point you might as well buy a low-end 11.6" laptop, such as a Dell Inspiron.
For the access, you can use a land line, which is also (usually) more expensive and less portable than an entry level data plan.
Even after you pay overage fees? It's a lot harder to get into overage fees on an entry-level cable data plan, which provides 1000 GB/mo (source: Xfinity by Comcast) than on an entry-level data plan from a cellular carrier in the United States.
You may find computers with free public internet, but even then, getting there may not be free.
Walking to and from the public library during regular hours is free unless you have a substantial mobility impairment.
From the actual article, and you're really too old to qualify to answer. I'm sure my 90 year old grandparents are fine, and can live, without a cell phone. They still have AOL. They sleep with their phone because it's by their bed.
Anyway, here's the non read bit you dork:
John Moir is another refusenik, although he is quick to say, with a laugh, that he is not sanctimonious about it. He does have e-mail and Skype, after all, and a basic flip phone. However, the 71-year-old Vancouverite has the phone only because his cycling group requires it, and he has âoeonly ever used it to make sure it works.â Like Mr. North, he likes the freedom of being disconnected, especially when he is travelling. It means he is really experiencing a new location, âoerather than trying to be in two places at once.â
If you claim you can't exist without a smartphone then you need to take a hard look at your life and your priorities.
And for anyone who develops smartphone applications for a living, being able to test the application you're developing is likely to beat having to find a different job.
"Could You Live Without Your Smartphone?"
Response: "I've never owned a smartphone"
Oh, you don't count here. Your smartphone never existed. You don't have a relevant opinion. You think you do, but no, you did not answer the question. You don't understand the question.
You actually don't understand people, but let's just start with words on a screen. You should understand them.
I'd say that it would be very hard to live without a phone at all. It's become a way to verify identity, and not having one would mean I could lose access to some important stuff.
Beyond that, the only reason I went back to a smartphone (I was an early adopter, but went back to a Nokia S60 phone) is because my wife wanted me to have access to Whatsapp. And really, that's something that a lot of people expect these days (I imagine other message apps, depending on your region), so although I could theoretically drop out, I think it would be rather anti-social. Even my 70+ mother is on Whatsapp, and she's struggled with tech her entire life.
So I treat a smartphone like I treat Facebook: it's a tool that's occasionally useful, and worth keeping for when it is.
my neighbor does day labor, ya know, minimum wage. he does not have a smart phone and does not want one. sad but we live in a 6 figure hood with him and his military retired mom. they enjoy waiting for the usps every day.
I lived the first 30 years of my life without a smartphone, so yeah, no problem. But since the age of ~10, I've always had a computer and television. I don't really think I'm any more addicted to the phone than those things from years ago.
The only real change is how much information advertisers have about us these days. For me personally, not a big deal. I plan my budget months in advance and I'm not all that affected by advertisements. Getting ads for things I actually want isn't that big of a deal.
Necron69
I mostly use it for a phone.
In some respects, it's worse than my old flip phone.
I can't see it in sunlight. I cannot feel the keys. I cannot just open it to answer. It's bigger, and more expensive.
Fuck off, troll.
So they're part of the cancer? Gotcha.
I actively use a faked "smartphone zombie" mode to avoid conversations on the bus. I'm not interested in spending my commute getting to know some homeless dude with no edit button. I find being intent on my phone and telling him "sorry, I'm texting my girlfriend." tends to shut that down early.
And if it doesn't I feel free to just tell him to fuck off out of my face.
Truly, a hero for our times.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it