● 02.04.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

●● Society Would Benefit From a Smartphoneshame Movement

Posted in Hardware at 6:11 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Image: Air_Sweden Airbus A320 Pesonen Licence: GFDL 1.2. Air Sweden Airbus A320 Pesonen. Created: 18 November 2010.

Summary: In a society plagued by blackmail, surveillance and frivolous lawsuits it is important to reconsider the notion of “smart” phone ownership; these devices give potentially authoritarian companies and governments far too much power over people (in the EU they want to introduce new legislation that would, in effect, ban Free software if it enables true privacy)

↺ in the EU they want to introduce new legislation that would, in effect, ban Free software if it enables true privacy

The other day in Daily Links we included a link to this article from The New York Times (paywall). Despite the use of seemingly offensive analogies (e.g. “teen-luddite” in the URL), the article does raise legitimate concerns. “Logan Lane gave up her smartphone,” the summary states. “That changed her life.”

↺ this article from The New York Times

> “The harms of “modern” “smart” phones are so many that it’s hard to enumerate them in full…”

“Health matters,” noted an associate.

we’ve meanwhile also included about half a dozen press report, including one from The New York Times, about “apps” that sell medical data about people “to Facebook and Google” (and thus a lot more down the chain of “data brokers”/advertisers).

↺ one from The New York Times

Back in September I recorded a long video about why so-called "smart" phones aren't any good. Only 2 days ago we got two new landlines (cordless, digital, intercom and speaker mode included) and they satisfy what constitutes an actual phone rather than a spying device.

I recorded a long video about why so-called "smart" phones aren't any good

> “A lot of the time face-to-face service (telephone, counter, bar) is also vastly better than anything an “app” was designed to do.”

The harms of “modern” “smart” phones are so many that it’s hard to enumerate them in full and society may need a ‘flightshame’-like movement, which might start with young people, if only we can compel them to reject pseudo-novelty like “apps”, whose functionality is easily exceeded by proper applications that run on laptops with mice and keyboards. A lot of the time face-to-face service (telephone, counter, bar) is also vastly better than anything an “app” was designed to do.

↺ ‘flightshame’

As readers of this site may recall, the introduction of so-called “smart” phones at Sirius ‘Open Source’ led to escalations. It wasn’t the last straw (there had been far worse scandals and disputes), but it did contribute to the witch-hunt. At the moment we’re discussing even worse scandals with other victims of Sirius; there might even be a class action. █

Sirius ‘Open Source’

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