The proud dumb phone owners thread

[Drago]

Here's a place for sane people to post pictures of their phones. Smart phone zombies strictly prohibited!

Prehistoric and proud. Phone, basic text messaging, torch, and I can also use it to beat off assailants. Being the ruffty tuffty sort I chose a waterproof and shockproof model. It's survived a few incidents that would have obliterated a smart phone, yet it survived looking almost like new.

So show us yours.

 

[Markymark]

What about the majority of us who don’t have mobile phones but mobile computers that have a phone function built in?

 

[Drago]

What about the majority of us who don’t have mobile phones but mobile computers that have a phone function built in?

A smartphone zombie! Resist their siren call!

I'm a bit of a cheat. I've a 4g tablet and in the rare even I think I'll need web access, emails on the fly, tw@t nav, etc, I take that. But 99 days out of a hundred the CAT phone gets shoved in my jeans pocket and forgotten about.

 

[Markymark]

A smartphone zombie! Resist their siren call!

I'm a bit of a cheat. I've a 4g tablet and in the rare even I think I'll need web access, emails on the fly, tw@t nav, etc, I take that. But 99 days out of a hundred the CAT phone gets shoved in ,y pocket and forgotten about.

Ah, you have two things. I have one that does both. Far more economical.

PS if yuu needed web access, emails, tw@t nav etc on a regular basis, would you take both out more often or would you combine the two, perhaps one that is small enough to carry easily?

 

[Drago]

But when I use the tablet its mainly for SAR, a smart phone is way too slow and unreliable, the screen too small.

 

[Markymark]

But when I use the tablet its mainly for SAR, a smart phone is way too slow and unreliable, the screen too small.

What size screen do you need? There are plenty of mobile computers of all different shapes. In fact your tablet is simply a larger screen version of what people traditionally call a smart phone. You can even use tablets to make calls.

And in what aspect does your tablet perform faster than,say, an iPhone?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I have a dumb phone for when on bike and tour. I have a smart phone that does not do much.

 

[Drago]

Min 8" really. My close eyesight isn't the best now, and I sometimes need 2 or 3 apps on the screen simultaneously - viewranger, Sarman and a spreadsheet. My current one is 10.1", a fair compromise size wise.

Smartphones process relatively slowly, are more likely to have apps freeze, stall or crash, the battery life is too limited, their weak signal reception isn't as good, and the screen isn't big enough for running multiple apps. I generally use a laptop for SAR work, but the tablet is a perfectly workable backup if a callout comes and I'm geographically not best placed to return home at the time. No search manager I've ever worked with uses a smartphone for the task, and seeing as I don't need a smartphone for any other purpose...

 

[MikeG]

Below are photos of all the mobile devices I own, use, or have access to:


















Impressed, hey?

 

[Markymark]

Min 8" really. My close eyesight isn't the best now, and I sometimes need 2 or 3 apps on the screen simultaneously - viewranger, Sarman and a spreadsheet. My current one is 10.1" Annie a fair compromise size wise.

Then it seems a large screen mobile computer is suited fir your needs. Most people are happy with a smaller screen mobile computer. The best part is it also includes a phone function for the rare occasions that’s what it is used for.

Very efficient don’t you think?

 

[Drago]

Efficient, possinly. Necessary, no. Walk about and watch the smartphone zombies. It's insidious, intellectually wasteful, and rather sad.

I'm a grown up and don't do Facebook, can go more than 3 minutes without reading emails, and don't need poor quality internet access in my pocket. That being the case, there's no reason for me to spend money on a smart phone, and to do so is financially inefricient. Having owned one and binned it I found the experience of regaining conscious control of my intellect and attention very liberating.

If you want one, all power to you, but there's plenty out there who don't for various reasons.

 

[Smudge]

I have a cheap basic smartphone, but i never use the internet with it. So it is really dumb phone.
Only got it because i changed to 3 payg and their sims only work in 3 & 4G phones.

 

[Markymark]

I don’t do Facebook, can also go 3 minutes without checking my email but do need quality internet at my disposal.

Which I think if you forgo the outdated stereotypes, is probably true for most smart phone owners.

I guess if you’re retired it is less important. But probably worth remembering that large numbers of workers now often aren’t purely desk based and it’s on online world hence the need for internet at our disposal.

 

[Slioch]

Nokia 1650
Does calls and text (no emoji's, thank god ).
Has a torch.
A fairly addictive snake game.
Lasts for a week on standby.
Mrs S can't track my whereabouts.

 

[Slioch]

By the way, welcome back @Markymark. I've missed your London-centric ramblings, which I invariably find very amusing.

Funny how your reappearance has coincided with the end of Brexit negotiations though. Are you the Cycle Chat alter-ego of Dominic Raab?