No smartphone?

[+ deej]

Aren’t there some really cheap smart phones out there? Of course they are probably as slow as Christmas, and then there’d be the outlay for the data each month. And of course if he already has a phone then whatever he gets -a new flip phone or new smartphone would be an outlay.

I'm not going to tell him how to spend his money. <shrug>

 

Then there's my 85 year old uncle who showed up at my place with his old iPad (the original) and two new ones asking for help setting them up. That's another story entirely. (Password for WHAT????)

 

When I was 30 years old, I almost never went inside an actual bank. My boss, who was my age, absolutely never used an ATM. He always went inside to deal with a teller. Diff'rent strokes, man.

[+ Tarte Gogo]

That's the thing about smartphone-aphobes -- there is often this curmudgeonly pride about "not needing" a device that I just don't understand. They never go somewhere new where they need directions? Thet never interact with someone where there is a language barrier? They never want to find a new restaurant in an unfamiliar area? I guess I just don't know that many shut-ins, but my guess is that most of them rely on other people's devices.

Indeed, it seems to me that these are people staying home and just shopping at the local store, and eating every Sunday at the same time in the same local restaurant.

I moved for work to go live in 6 different countries and have seen another 42 countries on top of that as a tourist. And I am not even that old, that number will grow significantly before I die. Staying at home would reaaalllly depress me.

[TruthBTold]

My dad, bless his heart, showed up with a printed map to Chili's when we went to dinner last week.

 

You seem to find something wrong with that.

[+ Eric Hassan]

Do you know anyone without a smartphone? No iPhone or Android? Maybe even no cellphone?

 

I'm an NFL season ticket holder. Several years ago, as part of a transition to e*ticketing, they stopped printing and mailing paper tickets. But subscribers could still generate pdf tickets, and print them out for attendees without smart phones. PDFs are also the method to resell, for example, on StubHub.

 

Today, my team announced that in 2018, no more pdfs. No printing tickets. No gifting tickets in Christmas Stockings....

 

So I wonder... how do people without smartphones, no team app, no ability to display an image or barcode, get into the game?

 

As a side note, the NFL has an exclusive relationship with TicketMaster. Resales are permitted via Ticketmaster. StubHub, which relies on pdfs for NFL sales, will be thwarted by this change. . I get that the decision is about money and the relationhip between NFL & TicketMaster .

 

But I still cant fathom how this will work for those without an Android or iPhone.

 

And, it also makes me wonder.... what else is stymied by lack of a phone?

 

I recently met someone without a cell phone. He's someone who's hoping to launch a porn site and a mutual friend connected us, thinking I could give him some guidance. I told our mutual friend to have this guy text me and we could set up a meeting. The mutual friend told me he didn't have a cell phone but assured me that I could call him at home and he'd either answer or call me back. I called, he answered, we met. We met one more time and discussed more details and had plans to meet between Christmas and the New Year. I got sick and called to cancel. Left a message. He called back and left a message about another day. I called him back and left a message to tell him I couldn't make it because of another appointment. Then he was asking me - through our mutual friend - to call him about another day. I told our friend that I was sick and would call him back once I felt better - this was just after the new year, and I had been down and out for a few days. While I was in bed sick, he called and left a message. I didn't call him back because I was fucking sick and had already told him that and that I would call him back when I felt better. The next day he called again and I just didn't answer, because at this point I was getting pissed. A few days later I was feeling better and had some cabin fever, so I went to the gym to ride a bike and get some movement. Ran into the mutual friend and wouldn't you know it but this fucking friend of his is asking again if I can call him.

 

So, I did. And I told him that I couldn't work with someone that I couldn't contact easily - I wasn't about to exchange endless telephone calls back and forth when I wasn't feeling well. It seemed to him to be a point of pride that he didn't have a cell phone but would always return calls and if you made plans, he would be there, but to me, he was just a smug dumbass. I get there's a lot of debate about the value and impact of smart phones, but it seems silly to me in 2018 to not use it for at least basic purposes - a quick phone call, sending someone a text when you're late and can't call, telling some annoying person you're trying to work with that you're sick enough to have to stay in bed and they need to leave you alone. Nobody makes you turn into an iZombie when you get a smart phone - that part is completely optional - but not getting with the times enough to make it at least a bit easy for people around you to interact with you is just ... well, not smart.

 

Apologies to anyone without a cell/smartphone who might read this. It's not you, it's me.

[+ sniper]

Well I will say my Luddite friend has said the not being too easy to reach is a deliberate decision on his part. He has been offered a phone from work but he wants to keep work and home separate and not having the work phone is part of how he enforces that.

[+ Gar1eth]

Right now I don't. I had an iPhone and used it about 3 times. Then the battery blew up. And I just never could quite figure it out. People kept saying it was intuitive but it never quite made sense to me or I would turn it off/on without knowing. And that female voice kept coming on. I never texted. However, I have to give in and get one for health purposes. My relatives are insisting. I guess it is because I tend not to answer my landline either. Oh, well.

 

 

You had trouble with an iPhone. I don’t really understand the difference between the words ‘fewer’ and ‘less.’ We all have our bete noires.

 

Gman

[Phlmuscle]

I still use a flip phone without texting. I refuse to become addicted to a smart phone.

[MikeBiDude]

I still use a flip phone without texting. I refuse to become addicted to a smart phone.

No need to get addicted to any useful tool

[LaffingBear]

<sigh>

 

I didnt intend to initiate a referendum pro and con smartphones. Guess thats social media.....

 

I posted because it appears that those who want to attend an NFL game in my market CAN'T without a smartphone.

 

There are commercial things more convenient with an app. There are enhanced services, like ordering food to your seat at the football stadium.

 

I need a phone app to use the Moviepass service, because checkin is necessary at the theater. But I can go to a movie without using Moviepass.

 

Ive never been in an Uber or Lyft... can you order from a PC or tablet at home? Phone? Any way to pay without using an app at the end of the ride? If no, thats a similar example.... not exactly the same, as one is not prevented from going someplace, only has the transportation methods limited.

 

This app-based, e*ticket access ONLY is my first exposure to such an absolute restriction: cant attend the game without a phone. It wont affect me directly... I already have a phone, the stadium app, and use the app for my tix, my parking, etc. It will hamper my ability to sell, or gift, unwanted tickets.

 

Whatever their reasons, some people dont have smartphones. And its becoming ok to have them cut off from access to some things.

[+ Tarte Gogo]

I still use a flip phone without texting. I refuse to become addicted to a smart phone.

Why are you guys so obsessed with addiction? It is just a small computer.

You are using a computer right now. Are you addicted to it?

 

I just have a smaller one in my pocket.

 

Again, all you are doing is admiting you have no self control.

[samhexum]

I just have a smaller one in my pocket.

 

It takes a very secure man to admit that.:cool:

[LaffingBear]

Why are you guys so obsessed with addiction? It is just a small computer.

You are using a computer right now. Are you addicted to it?

 

I just have a smaller one in my pocket.

 

Again, all you are doing is admiting you have no self control.

I can't speak for others.

 

I have a smartphone. But I refuse to engage in behaviors appearing with increasing frequency, and often labeled as addictive.

• The inability to put down the device. A bizarre version of the old "idle hands" adage many of us recall, whereby many people feel compelled to stare at their phone. While socializing. As pedestrians, even while operating motor vehicles.
  
• Its insidious. One of the greatest challenges of management is that people don't focus 100% on work. They need to check their devices. Labeled multi-tasking, they're really cheating their employer.
   
  
• The attraction to want the latest device, despite having a perfectly functional device, and most people using only a very small percentage of what their current device is capable of doing.
  
• There are people who report, in surveys, that they love and need their phones.
  
• Thoughtless compliance with the cellphone industry's marketing strategies. .. the greatest marketing strategy of my time. To exploit herd mentality and magpie-like fascination with bright, shiny objects to get people to pay ridiculous sums of money for airtime/data. The best example of "planned obsolescence" ever, far outstripping the auto industry. The system has changed so that most don't own their phones at contract-end. Newer phones no longer support expansion via cards. Its all designed to keep the industry primed with demand for new phones and more data.
  
• It's shortened attention spans. People react before fully comprehending what they're seeing.
  

Our way of life, capitalism and entrepreneurship, is based on flawed self control. If we all had perfect self control, huge segments of the food industry, the entertainment and casino industries, and major percentages of anything sold retail, would whither. What percentage of the experiences related on this forum arise from flawed self control? If guys thought only with the brain at the top of their neck rather than the brain between their legs, they'd hire far fewer rentguys. The fake pics we discuss here would go away if they weren't successful. Phone scams would stop if everyone had self control.

 

Yes, phones are very good tools, and many treat them as such.

 

But many people treat them as much more than tools. They cant even put their phone in their pocket.... they go through life, room-to-room in their homes, to the break room or bathroom at work, clutching their phones. Thats more than a tool. That's a dependency.

 

I have no self-control.... a few hours ago I wrote that it wasnt my intention to start a discussion on phones, but only mandatory event access-by-phone. But I couldn't resist the urge to opine. On my phone.

[samhexum]

 

 

[+ tassojunior]

I have one friend left who has no phone other than a land line and no email. Makes things really hard...

 

Same here. One of best friends, an intelligent very educated woman about 72. I bought and gave her a tablet and a smartphone and paid for service for her. She never used either, although she claims she did. She is techno-phobic. Many years ago I got her a computer and taught her to use that, which she does a lot. She uses email, Word, and Googles...But no way smartphone.

 

I deposit checks by phone, she takes a half day to go to a bank to deposit. I pay for parking on the street by phone, she spends a half hour searching for change to put into the meter. When I'm shopping with her there's no way to find her when we get separated and she throws a fit. When I pick her up I call when outside. When she comes to my house she rings the doorbell that hasn't worked in years (because my company texts me outside), then she screams at me for 5 minutes for not having a doorbell. When Amazon and UPS deliver to my house they send a text immediately. She's had two packages stolen in a month because she rarely checks her front door. When we're out for a long time I check my home security cams on my phone, she screams I'm addicted to phones like a 16 year old girl. My friends text me a lot and keep me up on daily news and some funny gifss and photos. Her idea of communication is sitting down for an hour on a telephone call.

 

We're like different species.

[samhexum]

Same here. One of best friends, an intelligent very educated woman about 72...

 

I don't know how she puts up with you.

[+ sniper]

Tassojunior, have you considered geting her a flip phone? They do exist and she'd be able to figure that out at least.

[+ Gar1eth]

Same here. One of best friends, an intelligent very educated woman about 72. I bought and gave her a tablet and a smartphone and paid for service for her. She never used either, although she claims she did. She is techno-phobic. Many years ago I got her a computer and taught her to use that, which she does a lot. She uses email, Word, and Googles...But no way smartphone.

 

I deposit checks by phone, she takes a half day to go to a bank to deposit. I pay for parking on the street by phone, she spends a half hour searching for change to put into the meter. When I'm shopping with her there's no way to find her when we get separated and she throws a fit. When I pick her up I call when outside. When she comes to my house she rings the doorbell that hasn't worked in years (because my company texts me outside), then she screams at me for 5 minutes for not having a doorbell. When Amazon and UPS deliver to my house they send a text immediately. She's had two packages stolen in a month because she rarely checks her front door. When we're out for a long time I check my home security cams on my phone, she screams I'm addicted to phones like a 16 year old girl. My friends text me a lot and keep me up on daily news and some funny gifss and photos. Her idea of communication is sitting down for an hour on a telephone call.

 

We're like different species.

 

My Mom turned 83 in December (sorry for telling on you, Mom). She almost never turns on her computer anymore. She has an iPhone 7 as well as an iPad MINI and sends out texts and emails with emojis. She also keeps up with family and friends on Facebook. And while I don’t think ever has ever posted anything to Instagram ( and I don’t really use IG, so I’m not sure how this works), but she’s alerted to the feeds of some family members so that she sees their pictures. Oh and did I mention she has a Roku, and uses it to watch Netflix on her TV?

 

On the other hand I have an Uncle who is about to be 92 in August. He loves surfing the web on his iPad but refuses to get a smartphone. It’s like a badge of honor to him. He doesn’t even always carry his flip phone. The other day he was playing Skipbo at his lady friend’s apartment-and by the way that wasn’t a euphemism. She lives in the same retirement complex he does-same building. He didn’t take his phone with him. My cousins couldn’t reach him for several hours. They were quite worried.

 

Gman

Edited May 17, 2018 by Gar1eth

[samhexum]

I only got a cell phone when pay phones began disappearing because I was on the road a lot for work. It was a cheap flip phone on a prepaid plan, the cheapest possible, so I was always conscious of using up my minutes. As a result, I got into the habit of only using it to make necessary calls, and keeping it off otherwise. When I'd go out of town for work, I'd tell people I'd turn it on at night when I got to the motel so they could reach me if necessary (not everyone would have my itinerary). And after the initial contact, I'd have them call me back on the room phone.

 

Friends know not to try me on my cell. I tried to set up voicemail, but it was a pain in the butt, and customer service was no help, so I didn't bother.

Edited May 7, 2018 by samhexum

[+ tassojunior]

Tassojunior, have you considered geting her a flip phone? They do exist and she'd be able to figure that out at least.

 

She has one. It takes her 20 minutes to figure out how to use it every time she charges it. She considers cellphones to only be for emergencies. She charges it up twice a year and pays $10 airtime for her drive from DC to New Hampshire where she has a farm as a safety backup in case of breakdown. I doubt she's ever made a single call on it. She really doesn't know how to use it and thinks it's silly.

 

Although she has a computer for daily email and writing technical pieces, she refuses to sign up for any social media as it's all spyware. So no seeing family and friends updates and no photos unless someone emails her one as an attachment. It's really a shame.

[samhexum]

She considers cellphones to only be for emergencies. She charges it up twice a year and pays $10 airtime for her drive from DC to New Hampshire where she has a farm as a safety backup in case of breakdown. I doubt she's ever made a single call on it. She really doesn't know how to use it and thinks it's silly.

 

 

[+ Gar1eth]

 

Friends know not to try me on my cell. I tried to set up voicemail, but it was a pain in the butt, and customer service was no help, so I didn't bother.

 

@samhexum -I don’t want to be argumentative-ok maybe I do-in which case I apologize in advance. But I really have trouble believing that setting up voicemail is that difficult. And that even if it by some strange chance was, then I am still having trouble believing that after scheduling a visit at the phone store, rather than trying to do it over the phone or online, wouldn’t get the voicemail set up in less than 20 minutes.

 

And now I will apologize in the after position too.

 

I’m sorry for being contentious.

 

Gman

Edited May 7, 2018 by Gar1eth

[+ quoththeraven]

She has one. It takes her 20 minutes to figure out how to use it every time she charges it. She considers cellphones to only be for emergencies. She charges it up twice a year and pays $10 airtime for her drive from DC to New Hampshire where she has a farm as a safety backup in case of breakdown. I doubt she's ever made a single call on it. She really doesn't know how to use it and thinks it's silly.

 

Although she has a computer for daily email and writing technical pieces, she refuses to sign up for any social media as it's all spyware. So no seeing family and friends updates and no photos unless someone emails her one as an attachment. It's really a shame.

She's not wrong about the lack of social media privacy, particularly on Facebook.

[samhexum]

 

[Frequentflier]

I somewhat admire people who have stayed with a flip phone. I like the compact size of them but have a smartphone for the convenience of what it offers. I used to upgrade regularly but I'll wait to shell out nearly $1,000 for the latest iPhone until I absolutely have to. Yes, I like iPhones but their pricing has become insulting. Does Apple not realize they are a public company whose profitability and cash hoard is easily seen? Not to mention of course the amount of US taxes Apple evaded for many years. Maybe the latest Blackberry next time - nice look to them. I have cut the leash with my smartphone though and if I'm at dinner with someone who keeps looking at theirs, the dinner will end early (I ask them first though to please put their phone away). A not for profit I'm involved in has some ancient people in it. One asked me to call her if I'm going to send an email she needs to see because she rarely looks at her account - nope - not going to do that. I have to keep reminding some people that they shouldn't expect a response to an email they send anyone in less than 24 hours. If something is important - call the person! A friend of mine complained because there was a water leak in the basement of her condo building and she was annoyed the property management company hadn't responded to her email of one hour ago! Really?

 

I think sports teams eliminating paper tickets is one way to reduce scalping. I don't know how scalpers sell if tickets are primarily electronic. I hadn't been to a baseball game in a while and was going to skip out of work early one weekday. A not so great seat was $70. I can afford that and more but really? I skipped the game and added another $100 to one of the animal rescue charities I donate to every month.

[+ Charlie]

I arrived early at a new dentist's office this afternoon, prepared to fill out the usual pile of medical information they all require. Instead of a clipboard with paper forms, the receptionist handed me a tablet. The keyboard was unfamiliar to me--it was not the same as the one on my 5 year old iPad, the only one I have ever used--and I kept trying all sorts of maneuvers to learn how it functioned. It took me twice as long to complete as it would have if they had just given me papers.