- cross-posted to:
- simpleliving
- tech_nostalgia
- cross-posted to:
- simpleliving
- tech_nostalgia
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Oh it’s this time of the year again. I swear every year for the past 5 years I’ve read the same article about the return of dumb phones.
It’s the year of the dumb phone, right after the year of the Linux desktop!
Yeah but Valve might push Year of Linux into actually being a real thing.
The ship sailed on dumbphones a few years ago.
Been thinking about it, but I think we’re a bit past the point where it’s even possible especially around banking. Maybe it would be important to have as many as possible go back to dumb phones before they start to introduce obligations to own a smartphone.
I’m a software developer. I have a modern phone. However, I just log into banking via the Web. I don’t use any apps. So, I do so on my computer, but maybe my lifestyle doesn’t require a phone to do this, and other people’s do? I’m not sure. I just don’t need to online bank when out and about. Is that a normal thing?
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Some banks in Europe are slowly removing features from their websites in attempt to push people onto their app which can execute whatever spyware they want without the constraints of javascript. Some banks have ditched their website and force their customers to use the closed-source app… while also forcing them to buy new hardware periodically. Yes it’s a terrible direction things are going.
I think there are more advanced dumb phones that allow you to run android apps, so you could still have banking and whatnot, but then you’d risk of it becoming just another smartphone.
A bank has already done that. If you don’t install their app, you simply lose access to your account. In Europe the post office banks will likely not pull that shit and will remain useful for analog/offline folks.
I have been considering changing to my local farmer’s credit bank. They still have actual places you can go in every small town. I drive 20km every time I want something from my actual bank, it’s ridiculous. I imagine the farmers bank also might be analog-friendly in other ways.
I am thinking of going back to a not Google or Apple data collecting experience. Looking at the light phone 2 and a librem 11 for when I need a browser.
I’d recommend staying away from any Purism products. They’ve been doing some extremely shady and unethical stuff to people who’ve preordered their products. I always supported their mission of open-source Linux phones/tablets, but I’ve completely written them off as a company at this point.
Thanks. That’s too bad.
Agreed.
#Purism has a gitea repo which was open to the public. A repo was created to track all the under-handed & dodgy things #DuckDuckGo was caught up in, archive the evidence, and demonstrate how effective their illusion of privacy is on people to inform the public. It was also to establish rationale to suggest that Purism eliminate DDG as a default search. Purism simply deleted the repo and contributors accounts without warning out of the blue, without explanation. Assholes.
I can’t get over my disgust in how the world threw all their perfectly good feature phones into landfills & now they’re buying new feature phones at absurd prices. WTF. Go to any flee market or street market and there are piles of old dumb phones. It’s like the people who are sensible enough to realize smart phones are a bad idea are still addicted to buying new stuff.
So for people with no self-restraint?
Certainly some people who lack self-control benefit from a feature phone.
I guess you probably got down voted because lack of self-control is only one of many reasons to use a dumb phone. The other reason mentioned in the article is battery life.
I have both a smart phone and a feature phone. The smartphone is permanently in airplane mode & it goes wherever I go. The feature phone actually has a mobile subscription but I don’t typically carry it.
They are like 12 of you who want this. It’s not going to happen.
It’s not what I want, and thus no one wants it! Enjoy your obligatory surveillance state, non-tech bros!
👌👍
Why don’t they just uninstall the apps they don’t want?
Because then your device is still expensive, needs to be replaced after a couple of years, battery lasts a day only, apps need to be updated constantly, Google tracks you and if you drop it your screen breaks.
It’s the worst of both worlds.
That being said, my middle ground solution is a Unihertz Atom. With its 2.4" screen you just won’t use it unless you have to. But it still lets you look up info you really need on the internet or maps, use messenger apps, speech-to-text, swipe typing, second factor for banking, and a camera.
Cheap, durable, low-capability androids with user replaceable batteries exist. Install a de-googled version and google tracking is mitigated, though your carrier is still keeping tabs on you. “Dumbphones” still have software and need to be periodically updated against vulnerabilities.
That Atom actually looks really cool, thanks for introducing me to it.
Install a de-googled version
There usually isn’t one for cheap, low-capability phones.
“Dumbphones” still have software and need to be periodically updated against vulnerabilities.
Dumbphones aren’t connected to the internet. The only data reaching them comes from your provider in the form of SMS and phone calls, so there is no attack vector.
If you don’t need the Atom’s ruggedness, but want a newer Android, the Jelly Star was just released.
I really like the rugged aesthetic and would have it on me for tunes while dirt biking.
Just for research I powered up my old ~2006 flip phone (yeah I do have a tech hoarding problem) and though it doesn’t have wifi, one of its functions is a browser, so it’s definitely still getting an IP address in one form or another. With the 3g discontinuation, I’m pretty sure even if a device doesn’t use a data plan, it still gets an ipv6 address. Do carriers even support analog voice anymore, or is it all delivered digitally? I know AT&T priority push-to-talk traffic is digital transmission, even if the device doesn’t have a data plan.
