[ProllyInfamous]

>Next step, certainly to outlaw most operating systems and older devices.

They won't have to.

Instead, they'll just make some new essentially mandatory tech which older devices cannot run – update or stop existing, societally.

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Phones and email already seem this way (i.e. "required") – from my perspective as an internet user whom doesn't use phone/email, personally. Nobody believes me when answering "no phone, no email" – free-est man alive - their loss is disbelief.

[pesus]

I am very curious how you make it in current society without a phone or email. It does sound incredibly freeing, but I'm definitely having trouble comprehending how it works.

[ProllyInfamous]

This is a common response I get. My best suggestion (for understanding) would be: just try, for an entire day day, to be phone and/or email -free. Bonus points for a typical workday replacement.

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For the past nine years I've lived literally next door to my primary places of employement. I do bluecollar tradework, part-time (by appointment, only); I have very few clients, cultivated over years of firing bad clients. I show up, at planned times, complete jobs, go home.

I have an attorney who handles any legal contacts (my "registered agent"). Accountant handles tax BS.

My bank is adjacent to my neighborhood (since I cannot do online banking without text/email/2FA), so I just walk over for account transactions.

When a service "absolutely requires" an email (e.g. online gaming) I'll use a temporary email burner – with a corresponding online purchase (for any future account recovery needs, called-in).

In my city, most street parking is pay-by-phone. I can usually find a "free" spot, but this often takes a few extra minutes – my US city isn't huge so most stores have parking.

I do own a one-way pager; but it's been off for years. My family is essentially one other person, and is within visitable driving range.

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Mostly I just don't like being interrupted/bothered (as much as I love socializing). Am honestly thinking about getting a landline... just to be able to "reach out" by voice, with a small whitelist.

[dgellow]

Email is the most free, decentralized communication channel we have. It’s fully async, so you consume it at the pace you want. What makes you against emails? Just curious

[ProllyInfamous]

My primary thoughts on exiting email came after reading Paul Graham's excellent essay on email being nothing more than a to-do list that ANYBODY can add on to [†].

SPAM-rant: I personally feel that a system needs to exist/replace email... which uses some sort of low-tx-fee crypto to "cost money" for each and every email sent. The recipients could then "refund" such fees, optionally & consentually, when they've determined that sender worthy of free-contact.

Everybody else should have to pay to call/text [Ω]. Since no such system publicly exists: I opt-out.

[†] personal anxiety is my biggest reason for hating inbox-opening

[Ω] e.g: similar to postal mailings

[dgellow]

Oh yes, that's a good point. Email as a todo list is pretty horrible. I myself have high anxiety and just accepted I will never be able to effectively use emails in the todo list way.

I've been noodling with concepts for what I see as my ideal email client and orienting it towards "conversations" instead of "todo list" is a key aspect I want

[ProllyInfamous]

>orienting it towards "conversations" instead of "todo list" is a key aspect I want

We probably both grew up on AOLim... which to me was a fantastic, globally-accessible solution.

Several employers over the past decades have had IRC groupchats, but it's internal-only, and not quite AIM's glorydays.

Although I imagine if instant messengers were more popular, today..: they'd be just as scammy as everything else-s become.

[ProllyInfamous]

I got a pager and a landline [¬]. Bots haven't figured out how to interface with numeric paging systems, yet; nor have most meatsicle operators/salesmen (but it's easy to teach your friends&family). #no-apps #no-location-services #no-text

Should anybody in my contact list need to "email something," we do so while on a phonecall via a temp-burner receiving address (auto-deletes after 10 minutes).

== no email to-do list

If later somesuchbody says "did you get my email, I sent it yesterday?" I can legitimately and verifiably respond "nope."

[¬] the latter, recently; service isn't "on" yet but soon... will not have a ringer, page-only

[bigbuppo]

"everybody wins"