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Comment by xvxvx | Hacker News Reader

Last week I finally deleted my LinkedIn account, the last social account I had. This week, I'm close to deleting my YouTube account. There's less content I want to see and more slop than ever. Apple Music is on the chopping block. These days, I only use it to preview vinyl records that catch my eye. Once my iPhone dies, I'm done with smartphones.

The internet had so much potential. Shame.

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At least with youtube you can turn off your watch history and a whole bunch of other things. Then proactively curate playlists. Cudos for Youtube for making it really easy to opt out of "the algorithm"

I will say this with ditching the smart phone. I have done it but also gone back to it. But it is merely used for specific tasks. SMS, a camera, weather report, the occasional podcast or audio book. And that's about it. Things that are difficult to do on a flip phone but alright on a 'smart' phone.

I have said it many times. Look at the original iPhone presentation. It was a device that was very deliberate. It wasn't made to addict, it was made to be productive. Get in, do the thing you want and then move on. If only it stayed that way.

I really liked my Windows Phone, mostly because it didnt have apps on it.

Although it did have facebook, it was facebook delivered by Microsoft engineers and was missing a lot of features.

I absolutely loved Windows Phone. It hit all the right notes on usability even if it didn't have the best app support.

Still bitter about that over a decade later.

I paid for a yearly AppBlock subscription. I tried locking up my phone (literally, in a drawer with a lock), uninstalling almost everything, and just plain old willpower, but I'm the type that needs to see money go out in order to motivate myself sometimes. It's been a few months and working well for me. In fact I only pick up my phone to see if I have any whatsapp/line notifications.

Other than that it's just an occasional google maps usage. I never browse anymore. My home PC has reddit/youtube DNS'd to 127.0.0.1. This isn't impermeable but it creates small gaps of boredom where I'm more likely to go for a walk or pick up a kettlebell. Adding up small wins is where the ship starts to turn around

What's the rationale behind ditching musicapp? It just delivers files to you with some UI fluff on top.

That is a fair take. Personally, I use my android basically an iPod. Only offline files via VLC.

Never hopped on the streaming bandwagon for anything but the most throw away stuff. Yes, I kept all my DVD's from decades back.

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