If you could swap your smartphone for another device, what would that be?
You're strongly encouraged to explain your response.
#Smartphone #DumbPhone #FeaturePhone #DeathOfTelephony #Comms
@ldcd Oooh! Nice, and news to me.
We remember with fondness the excitement of answering the phone in our childhood home, pulling the cord into our bedroom, closing the door over the cord and sitting there, talking to friends for hours. We miss that excitement.
@liliedubh I was just describing a similar experience / memory to a millennial the other day.
Long cords FTFW 😺
@dredmorbius I already have it: an iPad. It might be nice to have a mini-sized device instead, but when I need a book I need a bigger page.
Ideal would be a cell-connected iPad, headphones, and keyboard, but in practice I can't stand bluetooth audio or typing lag, so I have two devices.
Phone with a big external screen & keyboard would have shit battery life.
@mdhughes I've been carrying a 13.3" e-ink tablet, the Onyx BOOX Max Lumi (Android).
It's ... excellent for reading and listening to podcasts. Less excellent at being a Real Computer, though bluetooth keyboard and Termux help immensely here.
I'm looking at laptops which would actually be a smidge smaller than that tablet in overall size (Framework 12"), but could run full native Linux.
@doraii Pretty much exactly this.
Mobile devices are slightly more accessible when you're actively on-the-go.
But in terms of actual capabilities, upgradability / maintainability, privacy and security, owning your own data and apps, etc., etc., yeah, laptop's where it's at.
I'd add in additional devices for image/video and audio capture. Oddly enough, cameras and microphones have lifetimes far in excess of 3--5 years.
@dredmorbius My grandparents gave me one of their old handheld cameras (which is currently 17 years old) when I was eight. I *still* have it now, and it can shoot pictures around 1440p. Despite the old nature of it, there's litterally small compartments to replace the storage and battery, and it's lasted me years without a single failure.
Look at a phone from that long ago. It doesn't even compare.
@flyingsaceur Where there's fire there's smoke signals.
And/or power lasers.
@dredmorbius Anything that had a security update that didn't expire as you walked out the shop, or a battery that did the same.
Love my Nokia n900 except for the above. Battery at least is replaceable.
@dredmorbius In my case, a de-Google'd Android phone with absolute minimum apps, like the list barely scrolls. I'd almost be happy if I needed to use adb to install apps.
I had a Motorola Defy+ that I ran CyanogenMod on from day 1 and it was excellent until I made the mistake of upgrading it to Jellybean. I want to do that again, with a more modern phone, but even less Google.
Failing that, a modernised Palm Pre 3 running WebOS.
Sadly, though, I live in Australia.
@dredmorbius I used to be able to get by with a Chromebook running Android app such as train companies ticketing apps. People were amused as I opened gates at stations by scanning the laptop screen instead of a smartphone screen.
It's one of these Google-made pixelbooks they stopped making, despite people wanted them. But it's Google for you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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