UPGRADING to a dumb-phone

Janx · Jun 23, 2014

sabrinathecat said:
I always express sympathy when someone drives by in a jacked up, over-sized truck or any vehicle with over-loud speakers. Obviously they feel under-endowed and self-conscious about it.

I have a big feet and drive the smallest pickup in the neighborhood. I ain't compensating for anything

Homicidal_Squirrel · Jun 23, 2014

Hussar said:
Yes, but Umbran's in his leather skinny jeans (pink), so that might be the issue.

Well, that explains it. My apologies for not knowing.

Alan Shutko · Jun 23, 2014

I can understand complaints that smartphones are too engaging and one is prone to spending too much time on them. After all, I don't play Dwarf Fortress. The reason I don't play Dwarf Fortress is that any time I install it, my friends and family beg me to remove it because I've just lost a week of my life, cackling incomprehensibly.

But most of the complaints here have not been against the concept of the smartphone, but a few particularly crappily designed ones out there. There are models which don't have those problems. () If you don't want a crazily overpacked dialer, don't buy a phone with one.

Umbran · Jun 23, 2014

Homicidal_Squirrel said:
Really? I have the Galaxy Note 3, a far larger phone, in an Otter case, making it even larger, and it fits comfortably in my front pocket.

In one front pocket, I already have my wallet - I'm too citified to consider carrying my wallet in a back pocket - and that does not leave room for this phone. My other front pocket has my keys, which would do nasty things to the touchscreen.

So, nope. Not carrying the thing in the normal pockets. I typically wind up wearing cargo pants, and use one of the side pickets for the phone.

Umbran · Jun 23, 2014

Morrus said:
Well, to be fair, you've chosen the largest smartphone on the planet!

Yep. And that was half on purpose (mostly it was about performance and price - the Galaxy S was cheap, cause they were pushing it). I, myself, am not particularly worried about the size.

The comment still holds, though - even the iPhones are larger than the dumbphone I used to carry. And for some, that's an issue.

Eventually, casual fashion will adopt a smartphone pants pocket as general, accepted practice, and the issue will be greatly reduced.

Homicidal_Squirrel · Jun 23, 2014

Umbran said:
In one front pocket, I already have my wallet - I'm too citified to consider carrying my wallet in a back pocket - and that does not leave room for this phone. My other front pocket has my keys, which would do nasty things to the touchscreen.

So, nope. Not carrying the thing in the normal pockets. I typically wind up wearing cargo pants, and use one of the side pickets for the phone.

Interesting. I tend to put my keys in one of the side pockets when I wear cargo pants.

Kaodi · Jun 23, 2014

I still have a dumbphone. Mostly because I am unemployed and have no money,

. But I think I can empathize a bit. I could have been happy with the dumb phone but everyone else in my immediate family has a smartphone now, even my computer inept Dad. The ease with which they can look things up kind of makes me a bit envious. The real problem though is that I really love politics, and the ability to livetweet and photodocument is something I really wish I had. Maybe that is accomplishable on a dumbphone, but not the one I have. First thing I plan to do when I have money, other than maybe go to the dentist, is get a BlackBerry Q10. That is their newer one with a physical keyboard. Not all journos use physical keyboards, but my tweeting idol, Kady, does. I think her thumbs are infused with the wind.

Scrivener of Doom · Jun 24, 2014

Kaodi said:
(snip) First thing I plan to do when I have money, other than maybe go to the dentist, is get a BlackBerry Q10. That is their newer one with a physical keyboard. Not all journos use physical keyboards, but my tweeting idol, Kady, does. I think her thumbs are infused with the wind.

I loved my old Blackberry which is now dead for that very reason: I like real keyboards even if they're in miniature. If only they had two SIMs....