[titanomachy]

Calling a smartphone a "luxury item" if you live in America (or similar) is a bit disingenuous. Anything that has 85% market penetration is by definition not a luxury item.

In some countries this could be an accurate description, though. And I agree with the overall sentiment, I would like it to be easier to get through my day without using a smartphone.

[lastofthemojito]

Yeah, even as a smartphone owner, I find it annoying how some places just assume you're able (and willing!) to install some arbitrary app to do business with them, etc.

That being said, it really doesn't have to be all that expensive. Sure, if you buy the newest iPhone every year and get a high-end Verizon plan, that'll cost some dough. But you can get a used or low-end smartphone and a cheap plan - they're out there: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-cheap-cell-phone-plans,rev...

[vladvasiliu]

> Yeah, even as a smartphone owner, I find it annoying how some places just assume you're able (and willing!) to install some arbitrary app to do business with them, etc.

Especially when they're a broken mess.

This summer I visited LA, and at one restaurant they had a QR-code menu. They didn't require installing any app, it just sent you to some web page.

I had good service (outside, LTE, full bars) but it was impossible for me to see the menu. The thing would never load. Sometimes it would somewhat load, but when scrolling and trying to pick things (it was an ungodly mess of drop-down lists) it would disappear again.

> But you can get a used or low-end smartphone and a cheap plan

The above was on an iPhone 7, which I admit is "old" (but it is up-to-date software wise). So, I wonder what you mean by "cheap low-end phone", and how that would compare with mine. Especially since we have some low-end Android phones at work, which are "current models". And the scrolling in the settings app, for example, feels much less smooth than on my geriatric phone. They just lag all the time. My phone basically never does that, which is the reason I'm not particularly looking to get a new one.

This was the first time I couldn't have my phone do what I needed. The site worked well-enough on my friend's 11 pro.

[throwaway4aday]

It adheres to the definition. The problem with the phrasing is that nearly all people in America and many other countries are inundated with luxury items to the point where we view them as basic necessities. That doesn't make them necessities, they are still lifestyle choices that while more affordable than ever are still superfluous to our existence.

In other words, we're all spoiled brats ;)

[chefkoch]

At least in Germany you get a Smartphone for way less than 100€ and a call + SMS + 4GB data flat for 5€. If that is luxury what is going to the cinema for 20€ (movie and popcorn) for 2 hours?

[megous]

I never bought a smartphone for myself, but I've seen 100 EUR smarthpones, and what you get is just a toy (unless you want to do your banking or login to e-mail on a Linux device with severely outdated kernel and no OS updates, which can't go for a few minutes without phoning home, wherever that is)

More expensive ones are not significantly better, either, unless you pick a brand known for keeping up with security updates.

[throwaway2037]

5 EUR per month for service? That is crazy cheap in a highly developed country. Which provider?

[petemir]

Although I do not live there, I have a SIM card from Italy (Fastweb) which for 6€ lets me have 50GB Internet (of which 6GB could be roaming in the rest of Europe), 100 sms and unlimited calls.

[domh]

In the UK I get a sim-only deal with unlimited calls and 4GB of data for £6 with Smarty: https://smarty.co.uk/plans/4gb-data

Recently moved and didn't have internet service setup yet. I got an unlimited data bundle from them for £17 for 30 days. Felt like a pretty good deal, and it didn't get throttled at all. Latency was a slight issue with zoom calls though.

[cyxxon]

You don't get that consistently. You can go to check24.de and get their sim.de offer for 5gb data and sms/telephone flat, but that's a limited time deal. So technically yes, but in general you are more in the 8-10€ ballpark for this kind of offering.

[chefkoch]

winsim.de gets you this all the time. They just call it temporary like these permanent going out of business sales.

I get 15gb for 10€ from them.

[reacweb]

I am in France paying 5€ per month to red-by-sfr for 20Go and illimited call/SMS/MMS

[throwaway2037]

No kidding. India has GDP per capita less than 2.500 USD and mobile phones are ubiquitous -- old, poor, kids, whatever. Plus service is dirt cheap. Reliance JioPhone is insanely cheap: https://www.jio.com/en-in/jiophone