Comment by ahf8Aithaex7Nai | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ahf8Aithaex7Nai | Hacker News Reader

ahf8Aithaex7Nai

I’m 41 and drive a 2011 car: no touchscreen, no GPS—just filling up, checking tire pressure, and an occasional oil change. None of my household appliances are smart, and I don’t have a smartwatch. I subscribe to two podcasts and pay a few euros a month for a VPS and a handful of domains. No Spotify, no Netflix, no subscription software. At the beginning of the year, I bought one of those e-scooters you ride while standing up. I installed the app needed to configure the scooter. Then I uninstalled the app. Now a little blue Bluetooth icon is always flashing because the thing wants to connect to my smartphone. I stuck a small sticker over it so it wouldn’t bother me. With the app, you can lock the scooter via smartphone. Instead, I carry a bike lock with me. I always wonder what people who live in this hyper-connected world do when they lose their smartphone. (Please don’t answer that. The question is rhetorical, and I’m not really interested in the answer.)

What’s wrong with GPS though? Honestly the only reason not to have GPS in your car is because your phone is so much better at it, or if you never go anywhere new.

If you want to disconnect, there are many cars that have GPS but no way to transmit data (and also no internet connection) GPS by itself only requires receiving signals after all.

It's harder and harder to get that combination, so you'd have to install an aftermarket device, which is potentially expensive and "not worth it" depending on your travels.

I use my phone's GPS quite a bit but the reality is that I have maybe one trip a year where I need it, and that can be handled by MapQuest beforehand - remember printing those?

The PARROT is SMART. https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/08/19/can-you-tell-m...

> What’s wrong with GPS though?

Sorry, I mixed up the terms. I meant GSM. But that’s not quite right either: as far as I know, connected cars use 4G or 5G. I do use GPS regularly in the car, but always via my smartphone with the Osmand app.

Exact same parameters for me. Except, no scooter in the Alps, but I have a CD copy for all the music that I listen to in the car.

Lifetime is the most valuable asset, and protecting it from leaking through infinite scroll, TV, screen time, and meta products is not optional anymore.

On the positive side, I have more time to spend with my children, as they deserve my attention much more than a phone screen.

If tomorrow the internet connection were downgraded to 33.6k, I perhaps wouldn't notice this immediately.

If that's a rhetorical question then it's meant to have an effect on the reader, but I can't for the life of me understand what you were trying to say. Losing a phone is almost the same "problem" as losing your wallet, and solving it takes maybe half a day.

What I mean is, it never ceases to surprise me when the situation described in the article is portrayed as inescapable. A good life without all that horror is possible—without having to move into the woods or carry a folding shovel with you every time you go to the bathroom.

Edit: I just realized that your question was specifically about losing a smartphone. I’m not sure if “half a day” is a universal estimate. I can easily imagine that many people would completely lose access to their digital lives because they only realize the implications after the fact. I think I’d need at least half a day just to figure out how to unlock the scooter again after losing my smartphone. I have absolutely no desire to deal with that.

Except a phone does a lot more than a wallet. For many people it replaces their wallet, and their phone, their car keys and many other things. Therefore the impact of losing it is greater.

It is taken out more, so you are more likely to lose it. I often see people with their phones out on a table in a cafe, or even on a flight while they are asleep.

I think it would be more effort to replace a phone than a wallet. You need to buy a new phone and restore it. With a wallet you might need to make a few phone calls but you can manage more easily until it arrives.

Car keys? Replacing your car keys with a phone seems insanely risky, especially since the car is often a primary method of charging your phone.

Hmm. How easy is it to swap all these third party authenticators (Steam, Microsoft Authenticator, etc) and passkeys, etc?

Google's backs up to your Google account, but... yeah that is a major issue, same with having my password database compromised for example.

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