Published on 12, July, 2020
So as of this last week I no longer own a smartphone. I have decided to go fully old school. I have an old LG phone that looks like a Blackberry and just texts and calls with a basic VGA camera and no internet. I have even bought myself an old cassette walkman and I am going to put some of my favourite albums onto cassette so I have something to listen to
I tried all this a few years ago and it helped my mental health so much, made my head so much clearer not having the visual stimulation and endless sensory overload of having the internet in my pocket all day and endless apps and social media sites. After a couple of years I ended up getting a smartphone again, mainly cos of work and the fact that everyone there talked on whats app. Im not at work anymore now though, at least not in an office full of people at least
Might even get a camera and develop photos!
Feels like everyone is living their whole lives through these little screens in their pockets and I just want to get away from it and feel alive again. Also, society keeps saying its impossible to live without one these days so kinda makes me want to try!
Billy you won't look back. I got rid of mine in 2019. For whatwver stuff i miss out on its made up for with peace. I don't have whatsapp. I don't have to spend time replying to nonsense pictures or deciding which emoji to use. This forum is the only "socisl media" I use. In those 4 years I haven't missed anything important and have stayed in contact with everyone who matters. If we go anywhere I enjoy the moment and if we want a picture my partner uses his phone. I'm not expected to answer work emails and can reply to personal emails in my own time (isn't there something on whatsapp with ticks so people can see if you have read it but not replied?). Theres often something quite smug in myself when I'm asked to "just download the app" and I say I don't have a smartphone :-) (old school emoticon)
Remember it's only in the past 20 years or so even smart phones have come in. Not much longer for normal telephones really in the grand scheme of humanity.
I don't even have a laptop, this is a desktop. I use a landline for my phone. I have got a mobile phone but only a very basic one. I didn't want to get that but felt almost forced into it. So many places ask for your mobile number, they'll not accept a landline, such as various websites i've joined but more importantly banks: doctors: and hospitals. They say it's so that they confirm who you are. Which i don't understand, if they were to phone me here on my landline, the house is here, it never moves, but confirming my identity using a mobile number ...... that could be anyone, anywhere in the country, using a cheap £10 mobile from Tesco and claiming to be me. Then of course because i'm partially sighted, and the buttons on mobiles so small, i struggle.
Yes i dont like how companies always insist on a mobile number now too. It feels like another way of controlling people and getting more of our information
I have even had to turn down jobs in the past cos they said I had to have their smartphone app to work for them