Link to 15min video from July 2022. Producer is an australian outlet. Apparently there is a growing movement to buy a brick phone, because people feel controlled by their smartphones. Selena Gomez is cited as being offline for four years and enjoying it.
That's a nice summary. I submitted this video, because i don't have a smartphone and i am pretty young.
Many friends of mine have one, but at the same time there is a sizable number of them which have older phones. I do have a computer, which i use for many hours a day, a pretty hefty computer at that, but i do not feel the need at all, to buy a smartphone.
Anyway the numbers are staggering, billions of older phones are sold every year, which is a little unexpected if you ask me.
Maybe the lack of transparency in Window phones (long live window phones), in Android phones, and Iphones is to blame. Closed source software, pulling software out of app stores on a whim, poor permission design of userspace and apps which enables spyware to thrive contribute to dumbphone revolution.
I am wondering if there are some well thought articles accompanied by some data on the subject.
I don't think I have a smartphone problem, but how can I be sure? I do have a bunch of apps installed but mostly only use Maps, Uber/Eats/DoorDash, Spotify, banking, and some work ones. In particular I don't consume most social apps on my phone, just some aggregate news like HN, Reddit, and some Youtube.
One tell is that sometimes I'll forget my phone at home and not go back for it, going all day without it (back when I used to commute to the office). Instead I have a computer-tech addiction/hobby? where I have some uneasiness if I'm without a laptop for a day or more. I even used to take one on vacation, just in case I have an idea I want to prototype.
This is actually kind of scary. Between this and the "Young people are no longer good with computers", plus many people who care more about privacy than technical capability... it seems like nobody really cares about keeping tech going. And with all the environmental issues happening, we definitely need some tech progress.
Smartphones do have real problems, they are possibly the most addictive thing most people are currently exposed to now, but they are also about the convenience equivalent of having a full staff of help.
the irony is it is charged language thrown together single viewpoint videos that claim things like a "revolution" is really the problem.
The smart phone at the end of the day is a device, which isn't the problem, it is the content and culture of the content consumers and creators that are the problem.
I don't understand the mentality of instead of disciplining myself and my behavior, I will turn on something I can't moderate, and then try to convince or suggest that others are in mass doing the same.
There is no revolution here, it's a bit silly to even suggest there is.
Yep, trying to avoid emotionally charged language from traditional/conventional reporting is almost impossible. It is certainly easier to contact some green aliens or something. Some more informative blogpost/article would be preferable.
>I don't understand the mentality of instead of disciplining myself and my behavior, I will turn on something I can't moderate, and then try to convince or suggest that others are in mass doing the same.
My personal experience of an avid computer user not using a smartphone, is that as soon as there is a piece of information i consider important, i make a mental note to research it afterwards on a normal computer. No need to research it right there in the middle of people and traffic. Not much of a revolution that mental note thing.
