Posted on 01/24/2022 1:06:47 PM PST by nickcarraway
In a world where many of us are glued to our smartphones, Dulcie Cowling is something of an anomaly - she has ditched hers.
The 36-year-old decided at the end of last year that getting rid of her handset would improve her mental health. So, over Christmas she told her family and friends that she was switching to an old Nokia phone that could only make and receive calls and text messages.
She recalls that one of the pivotal moments that led to her decision was a day at the park with her two boys, aged six and three: "I was on my mobile at a playground with the kids and I looked up and every single parent - there was up to 20 - were looking at their phones, just scrolling away," she says.
"I thought 'when did this happen?'. Everyone is missing out on real life. I don't think you get to your death bed and think you should have spent more time on Twitter, or reading articles online."
Ms Cowling, who is a creative director at London-based advertising agency Hell Yeah!, adds that the idea to abandon her smartphone had built up during the Covid lockdowns.
"I thought about how much of my life is spent looking at the phone and what else could I do. Being constantly connected to lots of services creates a lot of distractions, and is a lot for the brain to process."
She plans to use the time gained from quitting her smartphone to read and sleep more.
About nine out of 10 people in the UK now own a smartphone, a figure broadly replicated across the developed world. And we are glued to them - one recent study found that the average person spends 4.8 hours a day on their handset.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
It is called a book.
I’m about ready to go back to the flip phone.
My phone service was cut off by AT&T because that model was not sold originally AT&T branded. So, I got along without for a few weeks.
This actually works. I reverted to “old time” navigation methods, which is a little tougher now that gas stations don’t have maps.
Embrace the adapt. Most of my life I was inaccessible unless in the house, in earshot of the phone - or in the house, at the PC. Even those modern conveniences are not necessities.
Blue light.
I drove for a living for most of my life, so the maps are already in my head.
I never used the computer maps or Garmin supplied by GE.
Some smart phones have options to turn off blue light. I have that on auto after 7 pm.
I have a smartphone and the only time I get on it to do anything is break time at work. I prefer the PC. I don’t understand why its so hard not to be on it all the time
I have a $60 flip phone from At&T and my usage fee is $100/year.
It has the ability to hook up to the net {which I don't use}.
The usage fee is ten cents/minute for a call and twenty cents for a text message.
My phone is used mostly for emergency calls and it's too tough to text so I rarely text.
I switch mine to night setting but then forget and it stays that way for several days. I can use either without problem. Don’t like automatic scheduling because one night I go to bed at 11:30, the next at 3:30 or 4 (like last night).
Down yes, off no.
It is sort of like turning down the volume from 120 decibels to 100 decibels.
It is an improvement but damage is still being done.
A paper page emits no blue light. And it does not waver or blink.
Oddly it requires less concentration to read a paper page then it does the same thing on a lit screen. Which is why you will see people looking up from reading something on paper and keeping their head down when looking at a screen. They are "locked in" to what is on the screen because it takes more effort to go in and out.
We are all being tracked and monitored via our smart phones which we use for convenience sake. Just having traveled, the phone was very useful for getting automatic updates from the airlines, getting directions to unfamiliar areas, finding nearby restaurants, etc.
However, for privacy sake, I can see the need to have a “dumb” phone in the future that only allows calls and texts for regular usage.. I would purchase this type of phone.
Or chatting with each other, heaven forbid! Or maybe interacting with their children!
For me, the most offensive thing about Android phones (and possibly Apple phones?) are all the buried settings designed to mine your personal info and disregard your privacy.
Soon, like their role model China, everyone will be required by law to have a cell phone on their persons at all times.
I have a smartphone. To me, it’s just a phone.
“PITA - damn phone is always beeping at me ...”
My smartphone sits quiet till someone calls.
I see that with my friend’s grandchildren.
RFK Jr mentioned all of this, in his speech, yesterday.
He was mocked, by the left (and, even some, here), of course.
All while the IRS is now saying facial recognition will soon be required to log in.
Frankly I don’t see how the IRS can use facial recognition to log in, their systems are SO OLD they have nothing but problems constantly!!
Yeah....just like the $hot passports and other systems/surveillance mechanisms they’ll install...I’m sure they won’t be effective.
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