Soatok DreamseekerNov 8, 2024

I hate needing a phone number to function in life.

Having a phone number means unsolicited phone calls.

Having a phone number means unsolicited text messages, often from political organizations asking for money...so they can continue to spam people. And it's not illegal to spam people if it's for political reasons.

But too many systems demand you have one. Employee management software, government agencies, etc. all demand you have one. So you gotta have one.

I'd rather everyone just email me instead. At least, on my desktop, I can setup inbox filters to get rid of crap I don't want without ever needing to see it.

Show threadSoatok Dreamseeker

Here's the unfiltered truth of the matter:

Unless you belong to a very short list of people, I never want to talk to you in real time (if at all).

Async, text-based communication or bust.

I don't care what you're selling. I'm not interested.

My life is infinitely more enriched by not dealing with this bullshit, and the finite value of whatever's being proposed cannot compare.

Nov 8, 2024 at 12:48amWeb
Show threadSoatok DreamseekerNov 8, 2024

But how are we supposed to market to someone like you? You use an adblocker too!

You don't.

If you have a product or service that's worth a damn, I'll find out about it on my own. I read a fuckton every day.

Show threadRobots can be gay deal with itNov 8, 2024

@soatok The dealer I bought my car from keeps calling me to try and get me to trade it in.

Now, the 13-16 Kia Soul has some serious engine problems on top of theft issues. I have a dealer lifetime drivetrain warranty so they probably want to get me out of the thing before they have to eat an engine replacement... I get it.

They call me at the worst times, and the last time I called I told them it caught fire and exploded before recanting. Makes me crazy!

2015 Kia Soul engine problems | CarComplaints.com

2015 Kia Soul engine problems with 658 complaints from Soul owners. The worst complaints are engine failure, oil loss, and engine shut down while driving.

Show threadSkylerBoldNov 8, 2024

@soatok Exactly. And chances are I don't care about your product anyway, I'm not going to click on some link or watch your stupid ad. I am going to roll my eyes, grab a drink, fast-forward it if I can, and do whatever it takes to skip your ad because it's nothing more than a MASSIVE annoyance.

If I care, I'll find out. Because I do shop around often. For the things I actually WANT.

Show threadJohn ColagioiaDec 3, 2024

@soatok It's time to haul out my favorite article to remind people that the United States (yes, that United States!) once almost banned advertising on anti-trust grounds. https://theconversation.com/advertising-is-obsolete-heres-why-its-time-to-end-it-101639

And the article's thesis (the "obsolete" part) is basically your argument.

Advertising is obsolete – here’s why it’s time to end it

In the information age, advertising is no longer needed to inform consumers.That means its primary role is to manipulate.

The Conversation
Show threadMika on rails Nov 8, 2024

@soatok wouldn't a landline number linked to a modern answering machine thats accessible online (or only on the local network from PC if preferred) solve many of these issues?

- no texts to landline
- async, listen whenever you please
- selective, weed out calls from numbers you don't want to listen to

Show threadparenTessaLationNov 8, 2024

@MikaKpk @soatok well, do you have a recommendation for a system like that?

Because "treat voicemails like emails" really only works if you know the sender...eg, filtering out all unknown numbers means that the cognitive load of listening to voicemails from unknown numbers is still there.

Show threadMika on rails Nov 8, 2024

@jakimfett @soatok can't give software/hardware recommendations but most modern routers should also offer some configurable voicemail feature.

What it does indeed require is maintaining your contact list so that phone numbers resolve. This is easy for important personal contacts and in my experience not hard for work related stuff either where landline use under a common prefix landline is still common. I have a well maintained contact list on my mobile phone and for me this works well. All important contacts resolve, and from things that do not resolve I can tell that wrong country code is spam, wrong city code is spam or misdial, unknown mobile number isn't worth my time until they try a second time but my city code and the first three numbers are 857 it's something work related and legit.