Tech lovers are trading in their smartphones for dumb phones and embracing 'appstinence'
  • throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    5·
    2 months ago

    I love smartphones. Instead of having to buy books, I can just pirate like thousands of epubs to put in my pocket and I’m effectivly carrying a bookshelf with me.

    I ain’t carrying a fucking book, too heavy. (Also, yaRrr 🏴‍☠️)

    Edit: Also, audiobooks.

    • njordomir@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      2 months ago

      I wish popular cell phones would offer an eink option. I know there are 1-2 phones out there, but they always seem to be on some ancient version of Android.

      • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        The best one is a Chinese only one that is a massive struggle to get GApps on it. It can be rooted now, but still not exactly an easy phone to set up for Western use without caveats.

        Boox Palma was so close. It just needed cellular capability.

        • njordomir@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          I saw that one. Wasn’t it a newer Android version too instead of an ancient one like most of Boox’s stuff?

    • bobs_monkey@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      2 months ago

      BI is one of the biggest culprits of trying to push social trends in a ridiculous, serflike direction, and then they wonder why their ‘prestige’ has dropped to the level of rag.

      • CarnivorousCouch@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        Genuine question - can you speak more on how this article would promote a social trend in a “serflike” direction? I’ve been thinking about switching to a “dumb phone” for the same reasons as the person in the article, and I’ve seen it as a potential reclamation of my time and attention to the present moment.

        BI definitely publishes a lot of nonsense, but I feel like I’m not fully understanding your meaning.

        • bobs_monkey@lemm.eeEnglish
          2·
          2 months ago

          It just seems like a good chunk of the articles I see from them are stories promoting going without, dealing with less, and downgrading lifestyles in response to cost of living, but doing so in a “feel good” sort of way, kind of like a life hack in a sense. They just seem to keep pumping out stories that portray families and people in their 30s to 40s that are downgrading into small homes or even trailers, eating next to nothing, or forgoing basic necessities as a way to somewhat normalize not having shit but still working your ass off, or at least that’s what I’ve perceived from it.

          Like with this article, they promote it as some kind of performance-enhancing life hack to not have an internet-centric phone, yet the person on the article is carrying three of them for different purposes. It just seems ridiculous. If you want to spend less time on your phone, uninstall the time wasting apps, set do not disturb on a per app basis for the ones you keep, and make a conscious effort to put your phone away. It just seems like a clumsy solution for not having self control.

          But hey, that’s just my opinion.