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Whether I'm really going to be able to give up my smartphone lol. I just bought a "dumb" phone and am embarking on a 30-day experiment where I use that as my daily driver.
What are you going to do in the bathroom? Just stare at the wall like a caveman?
Catch up on the latest in shampoo ingredients to see if anything's changed in the last 15 years 😆 but good point!
When I tried that, it lasted me for almost a year and a half, when I got a second job that required MFA and I needed to be more online in general due to juggling two jobs. And it was amazing!
What I eventually did however was to get a dumb phone that can do a wifi hotspot, and still carried my smartphone but without simcard and net access, and powered off. When I really needed to get a taxi or look up a way home when I overslept drunk on public transport and ended up who knows where, I could always just fire up hotspot, power on the smartphone and do stuff I needed. Cause when that happened first time, it was when I first realized how much dependent I am on smartphone and net access.
Thanks for reminding me, I just quit one of the jobs and I can afford to be more offline, so back to the dumb phone I go! Convincing my GF again that she has to text me instead of using discord will be hard, though ... Or explaining that I really cant look up the fact she wants, or call a taxi quickly...
I still have a python bot that forwarded discord messages to my own bare html website, so I can chat with her with the basic web browser of the dumb phone.
What I eventually did however was to get a dumb phone that can do a wifi hotspot, and still carried my smartphone but without simcard and net access, and powered off
Literally my plan, lol. This one does hot spot, and I'm planning on keeping my old phone in my bag (rather than on my person) for when I need it.
I'll admit I'm "cheating" a bit with this experiment. Was able to find a flip phone that runs Android Go (stripped down version of Android) so I can have my MFA apps and such. Won't be installing much more than that, but at least it'll reduce the amount of times I have to break out the old rectangle to get an MFA push / code.
I cheated the MFAs by switching what I could to SMS, Yubikey or just copying the MFA private keynto Bitwarden. Kind of defeats the point of MFA, but makes stuff definitely easier.
Anything that's important however is on yubikey, however.
Also, good luck! Are you going through the Digital Minimalism book? I should refresh on it, every time I try it, it doesn't last long, but I always get rid of one more stupid online habit that I don't pick up when I inevitably return to my pre-reading the book intetnet usage. So, after already going through like 4 attempts in the last 3 or 4 years, my internet usage is slowly but surly changing for the better. But it's more of a long run, rather than being able to get everything on the first try, in my experience at least.
If you're not doing it because of the book/haven't heard of it, I definitely recommend reading Digital Minimalism by Carl Newport.
If you're not doing it because of the book/haven't heard of it, I definitely recommend reading Digital Minimalism by Carl Newport.
Haven't but will definitely check it out. Thanks for the recommend!
Mostly just tired of smartphones, apps, "always connected" and that whole shebang, and just generally trying to "lo-fi" my life a little bit. I've been a tech enthusiast all my life, but here lately, it just all feels too much and too invasive. Trying to cut back and reclaim a little "me" time.
Then the book will definitely be up your alley, it's exaclty about that, and offers a great tips about how to approach it.
I think more people will be able to do it than folks think. I have faith in you, Admiral Patrick!
I haven't personally tried it, but I think the main thing smartphones offer is a way to get away from repetitive boredom of some activities, like riding in the subway or taking the bus.
There's still alternatives. You can bring a book or a Kindle and read a book.
I think we all got way too used to entertainment being a finger-flick away, but there's still entertainment to be had without a smartphone.
I'd like to see a resurgence of media-focused devices like iPods that are built for streaming music and TV and not much else, instead of it all crammed into one device.