My Month Without a Smartphone

[midian182]

You’ve probably seen plenty of "I spent a week without my smartphone" articles on various outlets in the past. They’re often social experiments designed to show how addicted we are to our mobile devices and that, deep down, they hinder creativity and destroy the art of conversation.

Two things make this article different from all those others. First, I’ve been without my device for over a month now, not a week. And second, I didn’t choose to go this long without my phone, it was taken from me -- in a way.

Read the complete article.

 

[Puiu]

It's fun reading this in a British accent ^_^

 

[MoeJoe]

Full featured backup device.

Have one.

Problem solved.

 

[ET3D]

One of the most enjoyable articles I've read in a while. Thanks for sharing, and I could certainly identify with the troubles of getting support (though that was certainly a great chain of unluck there, which I hope not to face).

It's good to hear that you got used to not being glued to a phone. That's promising.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I've enjoyed reading this article very much.

 

[highlander84]

Very good read... Ive felt your pain... Was just with my new S3. Got to where I could swap the screen in 10 minutes! It's sadly not like that anymore.

 

[alabama man]

Buy older phones, they are just as good and cost ½ the price. If I break my 150$ phone it doesn't matter, I can always get new one for 200-300$. Haven't seen app that would benefit from having a "better" phone, everything runs perfectly. I rather use the money I save on PC parts where you can actually see some difference.

 

[bissy]

I loved the article.

 

[63Jax]

Lol, I still use an old Nokia 6300, I can talk, so f...k it!

 

[Arris]

I always wondered why bother with "edge" devices. Just making it easier to damage for a token amount of functionality. Should have gotten a S7 non edge as the replacement

 

[Kibaruk]

Had a blast reading through this, you could read the pain all over. And the end... that was the frosting.

Buy older phones, they are just as good and cost ½ the price. If I break my 150$ phone it doesn't matter, I can always get new one for 200-300$. Haven't seen app that would benefit from having a "better" phone, everything runs perfectly. I rather use the money I save on PC parts where you can actually see some difference.

It used to be much much worse, a year ago you could really notice the difference. Nowadays apps and hardware are so optimized it doesn't feel that much different from having an S7 to a Moto E-G.

 

[wayne1486]

Enjoyed this article a lot of emotions

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Good article! As some comments above suggest, I also always keep my old phone. I once had one get blown into a swimming pool by a light breeze. I had put it on a towel and the towel acted as a sail and helped it into the water. My wife once had a screen break when her phone was in her pocket (I think she bumped something against it). She also once wrecked one by knocking over water on night-table in her sleep and the phone spent the rest of the night in a puddle. (Did you know the insurance cancels you after two broken phones in a year?)

Point it - you never know what crazy thing will break your phone. No one ever breaks one because they were throwing it up in the air while jogging down the sidewalk. They always break in the most innocent and unusual ways that we can't even think of.

Get the insurance - keep your old phone - buy a case. the gods are watching - if you do these things your phone will stay perfectly safe.

 

[Uncle Al]

Grew up asking the operator to connect me to "Pembroke 289", advanced through the rotary dial, then touch tone phones; first portable was the legendary "brick" and passed through an entire generation or two of flip phones as well. Problems today? Utter amazement at those that cannot function without their smart phone ... it unfortunately speaks volumes about this and future generations ability to adapt and survive. Fortunately survival schools back in the service of Uncle Sam will insure there are still a few of us communicating, even if only by smoke signal or beating on tree's with large sticks. Morris Code will never be out-of-service ......

 

[EClyde]

Spent my life without a smartphone...I figure they are like M&M's...just don't start

 

[Theinsanegamer]

What I got out of this article is that samsung's customer service is absolute crap, kinda like their software, and these days, their hardware as well.....

 

[Mogymog]

Really? Kinda sad this article is. I get it, today's generation is obsessed and hooked on these things, but it's not like your worlds over without a smart phone. I went 30+ years without one. I didn't get a smartphone till January of last year. Whilst I do agree they are nice, and can do lots of things, it wouldn't be game over man, if suddenly I couldn't use it anymore and had to resort to gasp a normal cell phone, or a land line phone. The article reads like some kind of crack junkie going cold turkey.. I mean, I can feel your pain, but it's kinda sad.

 

[Kibaruk]

Really? Kinda sad this article is. I get it, today's generation is obsessed and hooked on these things, but it's not like your worlds over without a smart phone. I went 30+ years without one. I didn't get a smartphone till January of last year. Whilst I do agree they are nice, and can do lots of things, it wouldn't be game over man, if suddenly I couldn't use it anymore and had to resort to gasp a normal cell phone, or a land line phone. The article reads like some kind of crack junkie going cold turkey.. I mean, I can feel your pain, but it's kinda sad.

The thing is, if your people use smartphone to communicate through whatsapp or facebook or whatever -yeah, phone calls are the last resort of communication nowadays- you are normally screwed if you don't use it.

What I got out of this article is that samsung's customer service is absolute crap, kinda like their software, and these days, their hardware as well.....

Their customer service in the UK is crap according to what was seen, it doesn't mean it's like this worldwide and it's clearly not any indication their hardware or software is. If you want an all glass phone and you are not careful with it, it will break no matter what you do.

 

[SirGCal]

Put your phones in a good case will prevent this in most cases...

 

[psycros]

If 75% of *any* demographic (mobile users, smartphone users, whatever) actually can't stop texting long enough to do their bathroom business, that's incredibly sad. The only things I would miss about my smartphone are streaming radio and maybe mobile email - anything else I could do on a good ol' dumbphone. I don't use Facebook or any of that junk...which is probably why I never hear from anyone, come to think of it.

 

[Kibaruk]

If 75% of *any* demographic (mobile users, smartphone users, whatever) actually can't stop texting long enough to do their bathroom business, that's incredibly sad.

Some people think it's much more interesting than reading the shampoo label.

The only things I would miss about my smartphone are streaming radio and maybe mobile email - anything else I could do on a good ol' dumbphone. I don't use Facebook or any of that junk...which is probably why I never hear from anyone, come to think of it.

You are either too old or you may need something that's apparently missing in your life

 

[cliffordcooley]

You are either too old or you may need something that's apparently missing in your life

You must have misinterpreted this whole article.

 

[Kibaruk]

You must have misinterpreted this whole article.

You must have misinterpreted the post

 

[Raoul Duke]

You are either too old or you may need something that's apparently missing in your life

You are either too young or you may need a life since yours is apparently lost in a phone

 

[Raoul Duke]

Very enjoyable read. I understand your frustration in dealing with large organizations/companies. I admit I am already amazed at how people are glued to their phones (metaphorically) and have already thought it likely qualifies as some sort of addiction, but some of this was incredible;
"Normally, the first thing I do when I open my eyes is check my phone". "Like 75 percent of people, I’m a toilet texter.", "I learn "phantom vibration syndrome" is actually a thing.", " Anyone who says that using sat navs while driving can be distracting has obviously never tried to read directions from a piece of A4 while navigating a busy city road network." Personally, I've used maps all my life, the paper kind, and I memorize the main roads to get in the area, for the finer details just pull the vehicle over and check it out..
"I think addiction is sometimes too strong a word for our attachment to these devices. I love technology, obviously, but I believe it enriches our lives and isn’t some kind of electronic heroin."
I would say these phones seem exactly like some kind of electronic heroin, in fact whilst on public transit I looked at how virtually everyone was plugged in their phone and doing whatever with their fingers to the thing and thought came into my mind that the earphones must actually have electrodes that go directly into the brain and whatever they do on the phone stimulates the dopamine 'reward' receptors. Hence the obsessive, repetitive behaviour, kinda like a invasion of the body snatchers thing except it's the damn phone.
Loved the article though, thanks for being honest about yourself