[alkaloid]

> access basic life needs like food and transportation and social services

You are so very right. Do we even realize that smart cell phones have become a required utility? So 25 years ago I would have had a $50 phone bill instead of a $500 phone bill for phones that are required for me to do anything with my government, like renew a driver's license.

Many made fun of "Obama phones," but I think I understand the point of them. I'm not a fan of these phones (and technology in general) leaving people behind because they cannot pay for it.

> or are we being spied on and stolen from by an increasingly ubiquitous industry with no conscience or self awareness

In the name of "security." Yes, we are being spied on and treated as human batteries, just like in the Matrix.

[mlom]

no, people still act like mobile phones are luxury items. they're not. they're cheap, but rent isn't. it's very easy to be homeless and have a phone. all it means is that you can complain and be literally dying on the street but someone on some social media app will say it can't be that bad, you're on the internet :p a lot of "nerd" culture is still living in a world more than ten years gone, a world of precocious suburban kids on their desktop computers… it's not like that now…

(haha wow, speaking of which, hn edits emoji out of posts on this site, amazing)