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Comment by akerr | Hacker News Reader

No one is stopping you from using a Treo 650.

I remember dropping my treo 650 while hiking. The back cover came off, the battery went flying and worst of all - my memory card was dislodged and disappeared in the woods.

Was there a point to this story?

I have a pixel 5a with a dead screen that runs but can't be used because the dead part is part of the motherboard not the screen. It's a known problem with this model. So it still runs, but I can't recover any pics or texts from dead people from it because I can't respond to the screen prompts to allow the USB connection.

I don't see how I'm any better off.

Nothing solves for data loss except a half decent backup strategy.

Commenter was pointing out a design problem. Your phone has a different design problem. Are you arguing that a device being able to fail in one way makes it ok for it to also be able to fail in other ways?

Use USB-C to connect a hub with display and mouse, copy data over internet.

Could usb-c also connect an ethernet port and/or a flash drive?

I managed to use scrcpy's awesome KVM feature to do just this: it simulates a keyboard and mouse, so fumbling through hitting tab multiple times and enter, the phone showed up as MTP device and I could download the pictures.

Phone had dead display+touchscreen like yours.

Couldn't manage to enable usb debugging so no backups of texts though :/

Better than dropping an iPhone, breaking the glass screen/back, then getting angry about the limited repair options…

How is that better? At least the phone is still usable and no data was lost.

If I had had an iphone, I would have just picked it back up.

Sadly, Verizon is:

CDMA Network Update https://www.verizon.com/prepaid/cdma-network-update/

> Starting Dec 31,2022 we no longer support 3G/4G Non-VoLTE. To keep your service active, upgrade your phone.

The same way that McDonald’s or H&R Block are preventing you from using a Treo 650. Those companies also do not provide cellular service compatible with that phone.

The main difference being that Verizon sold me the phone and supported it on their network until they didn't. So yes, the Treo 650 still turns on and can be used without voice or data service, but claiming that Verizon is no more preventing me from using it than McDonald's or H&R Block in this case seems disingenuous.

Not just Verizon; the literal FCC, who licenses and restricts what bandwidth can be used for what purpose.

The FCC did not mandate the transition:

Why are 3G networks being phased out? https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/plan-ahead-phase-out-3g...

> As mobile carriers seek to upgrade their networks to use the latest technologies, they periodically shut down older services, such as 3G, to free up spectrum and infrastructure to support new services, such as 5G. Similar transitions have happened before. For example, some mobile carriers shut down their 2G networks when they upgraded their networks to support 4G services. Mobile carriers have the flexibility to choose the types of technologies and services they deploy, including when they decommission older services in favor of newer services to meet consumer demands.

You can get a combo 5G hotspot plus power bank and tape it to the back of your device. Then you can keep using your device on WiFi alone.

Better to use rubber bands. You don’t want to have to remove that Apple-like adhesive tape when hot-swapping batteries like a quick-draw gun slinger.

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