This former influencer gave up her smartphone. She says you should, too

npr ^ | 04/07/2025 | Anandita Bhalerao , Andrew Mambo

[grumpygresh]

Yes. Always take advice from NPR.

[Jamestown1630]

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then.

Some young people are really crazily addicted to their phones, and socially unbalanced because of it.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I have a cellular telephone. I only ever use it to make telephone calls, and it spends about 99% of the time turned off in a desk drawer. I had no idea I was so far ahead of the times.

[Paladin2]

I mostly use my hand-me-down smart phones as [Billions of] transistor radios to listen to internet delivered talk radio.

One is generally charging while the other is in use.

[Jamestown1630]

Radio is the main use of my smart phone as well. I may make a few calls or texts per month.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Nonsense, I’d bet you a dollar to a hole in a doughnut she’s posted this from her cell phone.

[Paladin2]

I get tons of two factor authorization texts too.

They don’t take long to process though.

[metmom]

I have never had a smart phone. It’s always what I call a dumb phone, which I can use to call and text. Period.

But I’ve also been trying to cut my screen time overall and have noticed just how much less stressed I’m feeling. Screen time seems to put your mind into high gear and condition it to rapid input and responses. Real life seemed slower and almost boring at that point.

Having gotten away from the screen time is resulting me in enjoying real life more and feeling more relaxed.

[Fledermaus]

Does NPR get paid by the word?

[Jamestown1630]

I don’t use it for any business if I can possibly avoid it.

[algore]

I only got rid of my flip phone cause they cut off 3g

I liked my Msft phone, but then they stopped supporting them.

if they made a decent 4g flip with hotspot I would be using it now.

[Nachoman]

I had a smart phone which took an unplanned swim. I replaced it with a flip phone which does most things I want. I feel like an alien because so many people assume every man woman and child in America has a smart phone.

[Paladin2]

“I don’t use it for any business if I can possibly avoid it.”

Good Plan, they are all still hack-able I assume.

I only do financial stuff on a desktop, but have to get the texted number to enter on the desktop.

[cuban leaf]

My wife and I use our phones way too much. Maps, tracking each other’s location, quick info on the fly, etc.

We do bow out of the social media aspect though. Well, I do. My wife mostly does. No politics, etc. Just keeping in touch with family all over the nation.

[blackdog]

I use my RF shielded velcro closure pouch. Drop in the phone, fold closed the velcro, and you've gone Galt as far as the data harvesters are concerned.

When we have gatherings, parties, holiday meals, etc... the guests have a bag too.

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve had several places try to make me accept those texts; but almost every one agreed to use email if I insisted that I don’t use the cell phone for business.

[I-ambush]

I started to read this post.....

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Yep.

People all sitting together and all of them with their heads bent over their nitwit phones. There is a beautiful world in front of them and not one of them sees it.

And they have ear plugs because they can not stand to be alone with their thoughts even for a moment.

People, the world, life is not real to them. Everything is on their little box.

[Jamestown1630]

I used to work for a boss who occasionally took the whole office to a nice lunch at a restaurant. At one of these outings, one of the little ninnies in the office spent the entire meal playing around on her phone. It seemed like the most blatantly rude thing I’d ever seen.