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Comment by californiadreem | Hacker News Reader

I just got rid of the phone entirely. Humans did fine without them for uh, checks notes, all recorded history. I have a VoIP to use as a MFA bucket (doesn't always work). There are plenty of reasons not to go this route, which I'm sure will be in any replies I get. Yet it works for me.

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> Humans did fine without them for uh, checks notes, all recorded history.

This really isn't the zing people think it is. Not having a smartphone isn't just hard because you can't look at memes all day, it's hard because society all but requires us to have them to participate.

If anything, if you are able to live in today's world with just a dumb phone, it is a luxury.

> it's hard because society all but requires us to have them to participate.

I hear this sort of thing a lot, but it certainly isn't anywhere near true in my part of the US. Is this maybe a regional thing?

If you actually define the terms "society" "require" and "participate" in a way that refers to real things, it's very likely that the majority are luxuries themselves and for those that are absolutely necessary to existence, there are workarounds that don't require you have an internet connected device on your person 24/7. Exceptions do exist, I'm certain, but the majority of people aren't part of that group.

The Australian government used to threaten you with the police force if you didn’t scan QR codes when walking in to essential stores or locations.

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