[hammyhavoc]

What they're really asking for is interoperability and openness with none of the cruft and dark patterns.

E.g., a music service that doesn't exploit artists or users, an interoperable messaging and calling system, a GPS mapping system, a way to spend and check their finances, RSS, and some way of interacting with their friends and family.

An e-ink device with a decent battery life could potentially do a lot of these things, but their processors are seldom great, and most apps aren't made with e-ink in mind, so render like crap. Android has also become quite bloated.

Perhaps proper Linux is our only hope.

[stonogo]

They might want the results of interoperability and openness, but what they ask for is a dumbphone that can run all their favorite apps. If you gave them a linux phone, they'd ask how to install their favorite apps. When they discover that you, essentially, can't, they'll throw it out and post another thread on r/dumbphones asking the same question.

That's why I think there's a market for phones like this 'Minimal Phone' even though to a techie it's just another android gadget. People ask for this device all the time. By the time they find out the walled garden still sucks in monochrome, someone will already have made a profit.