Hacker News Reader

Comment by Unbeliever69 | Hacker News Reader

I am probably one of the few techies in the world that does not own/use a smartphone. Since 2011 I have used a cheap Verizon flip phone for exactly this reason; I want more control over my life. NOTHING is that important that I need to be plugged in 24/7. My wife has a smart phone which is great for when we travel (maps, Yelp, Fandango, Uber, etc.) Don't get me wrong, I was standing in a long line outside the Apple store the day the first iPhone came out. However, over the years I came to realize that in order to have the amount/type of work/life balance I desired, technology would have to take a back seat to my relationships and interests outside of my career.

I haven't looked back.

View on HN

This seems a bit disingenuous - you definitely still use a smartphone, you just claim to not directly own one. You essentially said this:

> My wife has a smart phone which is great for when [I want to use a smartphone].

If you don't want to carry a smartphone around that's totally fine, but you definitely still use one. I carry a smartphone myself and only use internet-aware 'smartphone' features like maps, yelp and uber when I need to. I don't use social networks.

> This seems a bit disingenuous - you definitely still use a smartphone, you just claim to not directly own one.

I think you're misreading the comment (or at least not acknowledging the degrees of use that the author seemed to intend to convey).

There's "using a smartphone", in the sense of using one to respond to messages quickly, having an entertainment device on hand for idle moments, and generally "[being] plugged in 24/7".

Then there's "using a smartphone", in the sense of being able to borrow one for a specific use, then giving it back to the owner. The difference in usage patterns us the distinction that was being made.

To say "I don't use a smartphone" in order to qualify how disconnected you choose to be is dishonest if what you really mean is, "I don't use a smartphone for [some really specific context]." or perhaps "I don't use a smartphone because I lack discipline regarding notifications/social apps/etc."

Using maps/yelp/fandango/uber covers a majority of the functionality that a smartphone provides.

> Using maps/yelp/fandango/uber covers a majority of the functionality that a smartphone provides.

What? That's a minority of my use.

Saying that the comment is dishonest or disingenuous implies that you think there was an intent to deceive, and I don't think there was any such intention. I'd say that you're taking an unusually and unnecessarily rigid interpretation of what was said and possibly ascribing deception where none exists.

Humans are imprecise. Natural language is imprecise. What ever happened to allowing some leeway for imprecision and even inaccuracy in a casually-written piece of text?

Welcome to hn :)

> What? That's a minority of my use.

I said functionality, not usage.

If we're having a discussion and not caring about being imprecise or inaccurate then we should all just stop wasting our time on this discussion.

Cheers

For clarification, she uses the smart phone, not I. I might touch her phone to solve some technical issue, but that is about it.

And it's not like I'm a Luddite. I still consume my news and watch some HBO Now on my laptop, but I set boundaries. Relationships, life-long learning, and hobbies are all very important to me, and I see technology as something that has the strong potential to compete with these things.

Do you text?

EDIT: someone downvoted me, probably interpreting my question as a snark. It was a serious question: I'm considering to do what you are doing and I'm wondering whether you ditched texting too and whether that got you social repercussions.

In my country it's a bit more complicated even because everybody WhatsApps and nobody uses SMS, so a true dumb phone won't cut it if you want dumb + text.

Hmm how about a dumb rom?

Yes, I text (albeit rarely). I'm one of those people who would prefer to hang out with my friend rather than spend time writing walls of text or firing texts back-and-forth ad nauseum. I'm very much a minimalist at heart and this pervades most aspects of my life.

It's not all black and white

I'm reading your comment on my smartphone, while in a bathroom, while on a conference trip.

Instead of thinking about what was said at the conference, who were the best speakers, which people you should talk to more, or one of the million other, possibly much more beneficial, things that would pop into your head if you didn't occupy yourself with this thread.

I'm as guilty as everyone else here, admittedly. What's making me think seriously about something like this is that while I was on holiday recently and kept leaving my phone in my room, I had more random thoughts than I've had in a very, very long time.

A number of years ago I did a year without the Internet (except at work, but only for work purposes). You would be amazed how much I got done without the distraction. To be more specific, I designed over 12 table top games, wrote numerous stories, and learned a ton by reading good old fashioned books.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com