[dandandandan2]

> Nowadays, you can no longer exist in society without a phone

Hyperbole doesn’t help. I’m a 44 year old former software engineer now with a modest social media following (100k per platform). I don’t have a phone.

I’ve never had a smart phone, last dumb phone gone in 2015.

I have to hassle my bank to let me use email instead of SMS for 2FA, and I hand jot notes for driving directions sometimes.

Otherwise, I’m immensely happy not to have one.

[abc123abc123]

This is the way! I do not have a smartphone. I print maps, use email, print boarding cards, do my banking and shopping with a web browser, pay with cash or a debit card.

I think people have been brain washed to believe they can no longer live life without being enslaved by a surveillance device.

Lost? Ask for directions. Need a map? Go to a hotel or a tourist center, or print one in advance.

[microtonal]

The thing is, most people do want to have a smartphone. Either because living without requires an amount of effort they are not interested in or because they actually like using a smartphone for certain things. Personally, I like having the web and maps accessible from the palm of my hand everywhere I go.

So, the solution is not to suggest that people should not use a smartphone. That ship has sailed. I agree that it should still be possible to do things without for people that do not want to use one. But you are not going to convince more than a small percentage of the population to abandon smartphones.

Instead we should focus on making alternative smartphone ecosystems (AOSP can be a starting point) and getting technology that is used to shut out competition (e.g. Google Play Strong Integrity) banned.

[dangus]

Yeah, this whole discussion thread is essentially irrelevant to the underlying topic because of exactly what you said.

It’s just the typical HN humble brag thread about being present and owning no technology.

Awesome that these folks don’t own a phone and give their landline to businesses. I love that for them.

But I like my smartphone, GPS directions, digital wallets, streaming music, etc. I just don’t want it to be controlled by two companies. I want there to be a healthy market of multiple options including open source alternatives.

This for me has been achieved on my desktop and laptop but not yet on my smartphone.

[nyanmatt]

Walking into a hotel lobby to get a map printed seems like a much greater surveillance risk than looking up directions on my phone. The cameras, the printer, the hotel staff, the other hotel guests; they’re all third party to your private information. Is that really any better than Apple or Google telemetry?

[_bernd]

Sorry Pale but I doubt you are either James Bond or Edward Snowden. Chill out. I once visit Japan, and you get papers with full of information and maps where stuff line out the direction for you ALL the time... You see there are alternatives and in this special use case you even gain privacy by blending in with all the other crowd.

[aembleton]

When you go on holiday, do you have to find an Internet café to print off your boarding pass for the flight home? Or do you select destinations covered by airlines that allow you to get a boarding pass more than 48 hours in advance?

[deaux]

They said they don't use a phone. You can do online check-in on any device with a browser. I'm sure you can point to a single airline that only offers it through a native mobile app but that'd be an extreme exception.

[medvidek]

Most hotels would be happy to print your boarding pass for free.

[aleph_minus_one]

This is actually exactly what I it when I was in this kind of situation.

I really have the impression that using a smartphone makes a lot people much more dumb with respect to seeing obvious solutions for their problems.

[jjav]

> Internet café to print off your boarding pass for the flight home?

You can print the boarding pass at the airline kiosk at the airport, at least in any US airport I've been to. I always do this.

As noted in a peer post I try very hard to do everything without a phone. I do have a phone but don't want to depend on it.

Boarding passes in particular seem very unreliable on a phone. I always have the paper boarding pass printed at the airport but for curiosity I check the phone app boarding pass. More than 50% of the time the phone app boarding pass hangs from bad connectivity while standing at the gate and I can't retrieve it. Fortunately I always have the printed boarding pass so that always works. Paper does not rely on internet connectivity so it will always be infinitely more reliable.

[_bernd]

Pardon me but you could have in many cases have cached the data. I honor your strong commitment. I most often use digital because "it's easier" for them. But not for me. Sometimes I make fun and use printouts of their digital system just for the lulz. But back to cached data. Most often the mobil application catches data upfront and still be valid later even offline. Just as a reminder. Peace.

[lproven]

> in any US airport I've been to

So that is half of 1%.

Now try in any one of the other 194 countries in the world.

I, sadly, live in a small island and fly a lot. I haven't been able to do this in years.

[tardedmeme]

Which airline requires you to print your own boarding pass and won't let you on the plane without a phone? Now I haven't flown in years but last time I did, the normal procedure was to show up at the airport either with your printed ticket or just your reference code and ID, and either use a kiosk or talk to a person to get your boarding pass, and also to check in your bags.

[victorbjorklund]

Ryanair or Wizz air. You can have them print it for you in the airport but they charge 55 euros for it.

[jpsouth]

Ryanair don’t charge you 55 euros, at least not from what I’m reading [1]. It’s completely free, at the airport, provided you’ve checked in already, which from my experience can be done up to 24 hours prior to your flight. Plenty of time to use a hotel computer, someone else’s device or find an internet cafe if you aren’t completely disorganised.

I’m not sure about Wizz Air, I’ve never flown with them and their website isn’t quite as clear as Ryanairs.

[1] https://www.ryanair.com/ie/en/lp/explore/digital-boarding-pa...

[com2kid]

Most airports have kiosks to print boarding passes. It isn't the end of the world.

Also luggage check-in counters will print a boarding pass.

[slumberlust]

How could it be hyperbole when you give two examples of the increasing pain?

[j_bum]

GP said “can no longer exist”.

Listing a few challenges of a phoneless life doesn’t negate the point that one can still exist without a phone, even in 2026.

[abc123abc123]

Because these two examples are tiny in comparison with the decrease in surveillance you will get, and the example you set for your fellow men, and just spreading the norm in society that ubiquitous surveillance is wrong and that we can live ethical lives without being slaves and chained to the government and corporations.

[cromka]

You still use the internet. Just avoiding a mobile phone is not a magic pill against surveillance.

[aleph_minus_one]

> You still use the internet. Just avoiding a mobile phone is not a magic pill against surveillance.

Very true. But it is a huge first step.

[cromka]

Well, true as well

[dandandandan2]

Undoubtedly having a phone would increase convenience in my life. I’d also have to go to work more to pay for it which would seriously inconvenience my snowboarding time.

I’d also spend more of my life staring at a small device instead of talking to people or just enjoying the trees, mountains and rivers.

On the whole, I much prefer it this way.

[selfhoster1312]

Here in France, my bank won't let me 2FA into my account (i have to physically go to the bank every single time i need something), and i can't get car ownership papers for a car i legally bought from the registered owner 2 years ago due to the administration closing down 100% of their offices in favor of online forms (tried the online forms many times, as well as registered letter to the headquarters).

This anecdata probably says more about french techno-fascism and politics of destroying public services than about how phones have somehow become mandatory because of society evolving in general. I'm still very happy not to have a phone.

[tabiv]

A big issue for me was events that require digital only tickets. I haven't been able to work around that yet.

[sillyfluke]

If I have an issue with my phone when travelling I usually tell them beforehand and luckily all of them have figured out a workaround thus far.

[ShinyLeftPad]

How do you post on social media without a phone?

[nerdsniper]

I mean, I cant rent city bicycles without a phone in a lot of cities or use uber or lyft but okay.

[rixed]

Or pay for parking in many european cities. So I guess you are not forced into a hermit life as long as... you are already happy with your hermit life.

[dandandandan2]

I live in a small town. There is no uber or Lyft, or QR code parking. I ride my bike a lot. Snowboard nearly everyday in the winter and there is cell service in the mountains.

I lived in mega cities for 10 years, I’ll never do it again.

Call in hermit life if you want, I call it the simple life where enjoyment and happiness are the priority

[nerdsniper]

US cities as well, now that you mention it. Open lots often require scanning a QR code to pay. They watch cameras and tow your car very quickly if you don't.

Maybe the reason this guy gets away with not having a smartphone is that his friends use their smartphones for him whenever things like this pop up?

[dandandandan2]

I live in a small town with no such nonsense

[nerdsniper]

You're incredibly, even astoundingly dismissive and judgemental towards the 80% of Americans who do not live in rural areas. Again - 80%.

> Hyperbole doesn’t help.

For MANY Americans, it's not possible to function normally in society without a smartphone. That's not hyperbole, but your argument was.