Nostr Web Client

Man, the smartphone market is such a racket. Offer people a spying brick of silicon that they don't truly own, give them all sorts of addictive properties that they justify as "convenience", then stop supporting the OS within a couple years so that they either have to spend $300+ on a new phone every few years or risk both security and incompatibility.

Oh, and that's not mentioning the fact that the majority of phones don't even let you use a custom ROM (further contributing toward the lack of ownership) and unless you use something like Tracfone, you're tied to a KYCed phone subscription that makes it hard to cancel, switch or even afford.

There's a reason why I put off using a smartphone until two years ago, when I was basically forced to get one. I really wish I could go back. PCs and laptops are so much better.

#smartphone #SundayThoughts #rant

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

i also feel the same way, and in fact the two things that keep me using one are my xapo bank app and SMS

if i could ditch the bank app i can use a dumb phone

funny enough "you can't use our app other than on a mobile phone" convenient

been thinking about the idea of finding a rugged tablet that has no mobile network capability and just trying to put the app on it anyway... and a metal box to put it inside when i'm not using it

but there's a substantial risk that i will not be able to run the app

Reply to this note

Please Login to reply.

Discussion

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

i'm addressing this... firstly, both of my old phones (2 and 4 years) have got blowed up batteries because i leave them on charge constantly, so i don't want to use them for this any more

getting a new one, with a really fat battery, and i should be able to just charge it to 80% and leave it plugged in and turned on with no radios on to an ethernet adapter, or, it looks like the one i'm getting i should be able to root it and set a proper charge limiter so it never charges over 80% so it can stay plugged in (i have an OTG adapter that puts power in at the same time as allowing a device to pull power out)

this device will just sit on my bench behind my pc, emitting no radio waves and all sensors disabled (more certainly, if rooted) and just provide me a bank terminal, end of

then i can use my little baby 2g no data calls and sms only thumb-sized dumbphone for calls and sms, and no longer need to carry around a sensor array just to have phone while out and about

plus, if i do need navigation, i can install that on the new phone (which has a 5000mAh battery) using osmand maps, with all the radios turned off by force and maps all pre-downloaded... i basically know half of this island like the back of my hand anyway so it would be pretty rare, but also nice to have a map that is not gonna break when i look at it with a frown like most phones do, and will stay usable for days on end... so it would be useful if i wanted to go for a hike once this winter cold and damp eases off in may