I run a SV startup but refuse to own a cellphone

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/11/steve-hilton-silicon-valley-no-cellphone-technology-apps-uber

by crikli • 11 years ago

55 89 11 years ago

Very tempting to not to own a cellphone but I would really miss Google Maps and Uber.

I think the same, but if your usage is more limited to such apps, maybe a smart watch can get the job done. Using it less instead of getting rid of it sounds good as well.

adrianN• 11 years ago

Aren't current smart watches mostly tiny displays for the phone in your pocket though?

JS3WUMP• 11 years ago

Even a smartphone in airplane mode can give you a lot of functionality, especially offline apps like Kiwix and Maps.Me.

JustSomeNobody• 11 years ago

HERE Maps is amazing. Has great offline map support; you simply download the maps you wish to use. Routing works offline as well.

myztic• 11 years ago

I understand where he is coming from, but I think that there always is a healthy balance. Either you use something or you completely avoid it, that's not a reasonable choice.

For me that actually is a symptom of having some sort of problem. He actually somewhat admits that.

If someone says: "I hadn't had a drink for months and I feel great, I will never drink again." Good for you, honestly, but you know the opposite of total abstinence does not have to be to get drunk until you blackout two times a week. What's wrong with having one beer at a party, a glass of wine to dinner? If you have to drink 10 beers because you can't control yourself, then it seems like you have a problem, though whatever works for you. If the only solution is abstinence, then by all means, do it.

He has a problem in finding a reasonable balance. I am also glad he readily admits that a phone is a symbol of his own stressful life he once had, so he rejects it for that reason mostly.

Now I won't deny that I am in a somewhat different position, since my schedule is not nearly as busy as his, and the metaphor does only work to a certain extent, but I for one tend to not use my mobile phone that often. People know they can reach me if something happens, at least in theory, since they know I don't check it that often.

It's on mute most of the time, and if I don't want to take a call, guess what, I don't. And I mostly communicate with E-Mail too, but I can do that from my phone.

I call people back when I have the time, I also always have it with me, I can enjoy the comfort of any application I want to, but it certainly does not control my life. And with a modern phone you actually can streamline your experience a lot (give your contacts various priorities, some can reach you, some can only during a given time frame and lots of other things you can do). I guess on an old Nokia, you can't do a lot in that area.

You don't need to take a phone call when you don't want to. You will have to deal with people saying "Did you not have your phone with you?" and if the answer is "Well actually, I did" they might get a little bit angry at first, but being available is not something you have to be at all times. People in my circle all know how I stand on this, and I read Telegram Messages and sometimes reply days later, if it's not crucially important. They are used to it, and it's not an issue these days.

So while I sympathize, it's not "being enslaved" versus "being free", there is a healthy middle ground we should aim for. It takes work, adjustment, is not maybe as easy as just throwing your phone away, but it's worth it.

PS: I don't like touch either, my mobile phone has a physical keyboard and I am happy with it.

manibatra2• 11 years ago

Exactly. "If you devote your whole life to completely avoiding something you like, then that thing still controls your life and, ‘n you’ve never learned any discipline at all." - Stan Marsh, South Park

holdenc• 11 years ago

I don't own a phone is the new I don't own a tv

jordigh2• 11 years ago

It's a bit more than that. TVs are or were at least one per household, but every individual over a certain age is expected to carry a "phone" at all times.

I too don't own a pocket computer, mobile phone, nor even a landline, and I get the weirdest looks from people. It's like saying I refuse to wear shoes. Carrying a tracking device on us has become as socially expected as wearing undergarments. It's a truly unique thing in history.

toomanybeersies• 11 years ago

I think it's more just that people want a real-time way of communicating with you.

And Skype doesn't count because not everybody can skype on their phones. What happens if someone needs to contact you to tell you that they're running late?

jaynos• 11 years ago

It's more like saying "I don't own a TV" while streaming Netflix or Hulu to your computer.

vixen99• 11 years ago

Possibly but the advantages (for those for whom it is practicable) accruing for either states, still stand.

tonyedgecombe• 11 years ago

No, I don't own a phone is the new I don't own a car.

theklub• 11 years ago

Funny that this is interesting to people. I have a cellphone but I refuse to ever answer it. Leave a msg and maybe I'll call you back. It's the "I'm not home right now" affect. Just for emergencies alone though I feel it's stupid not to at least have one in your car or something.

eng_monkey• 11 years ago

The handsets kept breaking and the whole thing cost a fortune.

You can buy basic mobile phones for $10. How many of those you have to break to cost you a fortune?

eric_h• 11 years ago

with a pay-as-you-go plan from a UK provider

not sure why you would use a PAYG plan from a UK provider in the US, but I'm sure it would be quite a bit more expensive than a PAYG plan from a US provider

meirelles• 11 years ago

I share the same feeling about smartphones. I still own a very old one (nokia e71), mostly to use as banking token or during travels. 99% of time is off on the shelf.

I think some heavy smartphones users tend a develop some kind of dependency/anxiety (I was one of them).

dmalvarado• 11 years ago

I like to keep in touch with my wife during the day. Everyone else could wait till the evening, but that alone is reason enough for me.

moron4hire3• 11 years ago

Exactly. Life is objectively better with this technology. It only hurts us if we let it.

jpindar2• 11 years ago

His wife wants him to have a phone - in fact he says "this argument gets quite heated in our household". So whatever he's trying to prove is apparently more important than her.

Estragon• 11 years ago

The narcissism and attention whoring in this article are reminiscent of an Onion editorial.

kelvin0• 11 years ago

I still don't get how HN works, I'm pretty sure if I would have written that purely vitriolic comment I would have been downvoted to oblivion. Genuinely curious about it ... obviously this interrogation of mine WILL be downvoted.

Infinitesimus• 11 years ago

If the content is in line with the prevailing opinion of the crowd, it will be more likely to get a pass. It's just how us humans work in social situations.

tootie2• 11 years ago

I reached adulthood at the start of the cell phone age and was a relatively late adopter of smart phones, so I know you obviously can live without them, but why would you want to? I don't need a dishwasher if I can wash by hand, but why? I can use the stairs instead of the elevator, but why? I can go live in a Mennonite community instead of Brooklyn, but why?

ant6n• 11 years ago

I'm not sure I get your point. All your rhetorical questions could be asked the other way round.

BillinghamJ• 11 years ago

The point is "why go with the harder option rather than the convenient option". It wouldn't really make sense to ask the other way around...

"Why not hand wash clothes instead of using a washing machine? Because it's takes a long time and is physically demanding."

noxToken• 11 years ago

I read it as, "You have the ability to make certain aspects of your life easier or more convenient. Is there a reason to decline (whether personal, ethical, etc.) or are you just being obstinate?" The emphasis is on the trailing question.

Do I need a smart phone? Not really, but the accessibility is nice. For others, the answer could be that certain aspects become more convenient, however, they find themselves glued to the phone for 75% of their waking hours. The trade off would be to get a dumb phone (or dataless smart phone) to maintain contact while cutting the screen time.

Do I need a dish washer? No. I can do the dishes by hand. The dish washer will likely use less water and better sanitize my dishes. It's not a necessity, but it helps.

Anecdote: I have an acquaintance who believes that the golden age of gaming started around the NES version of Mario and ended around DOOM. He keeps abreast of current game trends, but he refuses to buy anything modern if it is not a Mario title. He is certainly entitled to his opinion of what constitutes a "golden age", but I, as well as many others, believes that he is missing out on many titles that he would enjoy.

Is he wrong? Absolutely not; he can play or not play whatever he chooses. Does it make sense? I don't think it does. He has firmly rooted himself into a niche of a hobby such that he lets everything else fly by without consideration. He's not wrong. He's just obstinate. For what gain?

rangibaby• 11 years ago

They're expensive. I swapped my iPhone for an iPod touch because my cell company (SoftBank in Japan) kept finding ways to raise my bill with one hand while making my plan worse with the other.

That, and I got tired of people calling my personal phone with their computer problems all the time. Not the fact that they called me, but the panic and urgency at their end. It was exhausting.

The same deal with Facebook etc. At least without a phone you have a reason for not paying attention every waking moment.

noir_lord• 11 years ago

I pay £7.50 a month for my sim-only in the UK, that's 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 500Mb of data.

Since I don't talk to people on the phone, only use internet on it rarely and either at home or the office (everywhere else I go has wifi) and use texts occasionally it's a perfect fit.

Phone is a Nexus 4 from just after they released which was a couple of hundred quid iirc.

gk14• 11 years ago

"Odysseus was curious as to what the Sirens sang to him, and so, on the advice of Circe, he had all of his sailors plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast. He ordered his men to leave him tied tightly to the mast, no matter how much he would beg."

The author explains why: Because it doesn't allow him to check emails, the news, and social media every available moment, and instead lets him enjoy his surroundings and just think about things.

tootie2• 11 years ago

I can do that whenever I want by leaving it in my pocket.

jdmichal• 11 years ago

The answer to every single one of your questions is, because they want to. I can't imagine being without my cell phone, but I do wash my dishes by hand every day. My dishwasher is a glorified drying rack. Why? Because I want to. I want to know my dishes are clean, and I don't trust the dishwasher to do it. And as long as I'm cool with spending my time that way... Why not?

jpindar2• 11 years ago

So that you can brag about it, of course.

Q: How do you know when someone doesn't have a cell phone?

A: They'll tell you.

VLM3• 11 years ago

You probably won't find out unless there's a crisis and then if you press them you'll hear "it broke and I haven't replaced it yet" and then if you press more you'll find out it broke six months ago or 5 years ago or whatever.

I've been on both sides of the table of "I'm not giving my employer my cell phone number because I don't want to get called outside working hours, this isn't that kind of job" and if pressed, at least sometimes they don't have a phone, or say they don't. If you want me to carry an iphone like an electronic leash you'll pay for it, or if not, you won't.

Its also pretty common if your former employer paid for your electronic-leash and you get a new job... no phone, you turned it in to the former employer when you left. And I'm busy learning the new job not waiting in line at a phone store, maybe I had to move, etc. And I'm not getting a paycheck for a month and I'd rather pay the rent at the new place and eat than have a phone. And next month, well, nothing bad happened although I do have an extra $100 in my pocket to spend, so maybe I'll buy one next month, and being a new place I'd rather have a kitchen table than a phone, so... And next thing you know, you've been working there 3 years and still don't have a phone.

746F74752• 11 years ago

"Only needs phone ~5 times a moth" that is still 60 times in a year. For me the whole "argument" (or whatever) fell apart there. I can accept the "one ruined meeting in three years", but if you need something weekly (or more than once a week) you are not "living without it".

He could easily achieve the same exact result by not installing social apps, disabled browser and just having Uber and actual calling functionality and you could still call forward every incoming call to landline so the mobile wouldn't even ring.

bigtunacan• 11 years ago

Agreed. And considering often people are paying for X number of minutes packages; he is in fact free riding while other people pay since his solution is to borrow someone else's cell phone.

dikdik• 11 years ago

I had the same reaction, but then thought....there may be a small, but growing niche of people that want a 24/7 connected device allowing some of the 21st century apps without all the overbearing communication.

ggchappell• 11 years ago

That's kinda what an iPod Touch is, right? (The question mark is not rhetorical.)

746F74752• 11 years ago

Well, one easy way to achieve this is to turn off notifications from all the apps. I'm constantly surprised how many people around me have their phone ring/vibrate from every little thing. Even worse are the people with Apple Watches with all notification from everywhere flooding into their wrists, it's like they are constantly checking the time and making tiny adjustments.

But then again I don't quite understand social media. I just have small circle of friends I'm in touch on daily bases and we are little old hat and just use IRC like we've always done.

ck2• 11 years ago

You can most certainly still buy (indestructible) Nokia phone-only handsets.

This article reminds me of people who espouse "minimalism" and talk about few things they own, yet they ignore their massive consumerism caused by that lifestyle, spending a fortune on eat-out food instead of cooking at home, etc.

MichaelBurge• 11 years ago

I spend $12/month on two phones(Skype and a cell phone).

I had a landline during college that came with the internet connection. I think I paid $10 for the phone.

When I got out of college, I needed a phone to schedule interviews for a job. So I bought a Skype phone number and used that. I think it costs $6/month, and I've had it for 5 years.

I bought a cell phone last year when I needed to work during the day, but also wanted to be accessible in case a tenant on a rental property needed some emergency repairs or something. I think I paid $50 for a cheaper Android and paid $20 every 3 months to keep it on and for 200 minutes/megabytes/texts. It was kind of nice to not have to worry about getting lost.

I might cancel the subscription on that cell phone soon, since I rarely use it. I don't know though: I can see wanting to develop a mobile app soon, and when I meet up with someone once or twice a year it'd be nice to have the flexibility to call to reschedule. Last year I met up with a real estate agent, and they were annoyed when they were 20 minutes late("stuck in traffic") and I was already gone after assuming they wouldn't show; the good news is they weren't late on any subsequent meetups.

It's not really about the money so much as being another thing to keep track of. It's a bad idea to lose track of the number of $x/month payments you're making, even if $x is small.

codegeek3• 11 years ago

"What do you imagine your parents did? And parents for all of human history before the last 20 years?”"

Many things were different 20 years ago. Today being a parent of 2 toddlers, I cannot even imagine not having a phone with me when my kids are away at school/daycare. No I am not paranoid. I trust the school/daycare. But that one instance of time when my kids need me asap and the school could not get to me quick enough, I will never forgive myself for that. Just for that kind of emergency, I will have my cellphone.

When it comes to kids of your own, it changes a lot of things. I will never take a chance with my kids.

johnpowell• 11 years ago

Just curious. What kind of emergency would that be? Are we talking the broken bone I got falling off a slide during recess in 1983?

codegeek3• 11 years ago

I am also curious. When you broke that bone, did the school take you to hospital right away or did they wait for your parents/guardian to arrive because they are not allowed to take kids to hospital. I am asking because if something like this happens today, they will most likely wait for at least one parent/guardian to arrive.

dazzawazza• 11 years ago

I hate to break it to you but you sound paranoid.

BatFastard• 11 years ago

What's different is the school EXPECTS you to have a cell phone, and come running if they call. After raising two kids this immediacy is really not necessary. I lot of it goes back to the craziness in the healthcare system. No school wants to be sued, so they don't have a nurse. They can't take the kid to the hospital themselves, since the hospital won't even see the kid unless the have insurance info. And since it takes two working parents to be able to afford to live in this country, one parent is no longer home. The madness ends when we make other choices in our lives. Go Bernie!

codegeek3• 11 years ago

Good point. Sometimes I get calls from daycare that my kid fell on the ground while playing and they just wanted to let me know as FYI. Of course kids fall down when they are playing. I don't need to know that everytime it happens unless a serious injury occurs. The fear of being sued and the culture of lawsuits in this country is something that is creating this type of practice.

ghaff• 11 years ago

I have a tech friend who didn't have a cellphone. A few years ago, he and his wife adopted a kid. I gather his wife was actually OK with him continuing to not have a cellphone but a part-time nanny (or something along those lines) that they hired absolutely insisted that he get one--as in wouldn't take the job if he didn't.

gk14• 11 years ago

Is the risk of something happening at daycare greater now than it was 20 years ago?

taytus2• 11 years ago

"No I am not paranoid." Yes, yes you are.

bluedino• 11 years ago

> I trust the school/daycare. But that one instance of time when my kids need me asap

Today it's more likely for the kid to use their own cell phone to contact the parent. "The teacher hates me", "I don't feel good come pick me up" ...

rckrd• 11 years ago

This guy seems more focused on his lack of a cellphone rather than his startup. Its amazing how successful people sometimes correlate their success with some odd habit they have.

gk14• 11 years ago

Where in the article does the author correlate his success with not having a phone? And how do you know he is not focused on his startup?

gonehome• 11 years ago

Doing a lengthy article in the guardian exclusively on that topic may be an indication. Though mostly this just strikes me as a lame attempt to get attention (maybe he's trying to get press?).

jonknee• 11 years ago

Well, you're reading an article about his lack of cellphone, not an article about his startup.

pdkl952• 11 years ago

Programs like COTRAVELER should be common knowledge here on HN. Therefor, every HN who chooses to carry their tracking device must believe that such a program (and the surveillance state in general) is not a credible risk.

Is this certainty due to the current state of privilege enjoyed by the average Silicon Valley tech employee? Is this a consequence of the notoriously bad human capability for risk assessment?

I suspect that the risks of allowing both business and government to generate realtime location maps and infer relationship information are overlooked because it is easy to be distracted by shiny baubles and clever gadgets while ignoring the tracking device those baubles and gadgets are tied to.

So go ahead, be happy with all of the cool toys you get to use with your phone. I hope you're also happy with the surveillance state you're helping to create. If you're lucky, nobody will use those records of your associations in the future for some ugly purpose.

avoutthere• 11 years ago

Do you drive a car? License plate readers and associated location tracking software are becoming increasingly commonplace. Are you also "helping to create" "the surveillance state"?

pdkl952• 11 years ago

Yes, I have a car[1]. There is little comparison between license plates and cell phones. If you think they are remotely comparable, you don't understand how COTRAVELER works. Maybe I should revise my assumption that it was common knowledge on HN.

License plates do not give away your location every few minutes. License plates only show a car's location, which may map to one or more people. License plates do not follow you into buildings, across different cars or other forms of transportation.

More importantly, it is difficult to participate in modern society without a form of transportation, which is usually a car. The cell phone is absolutely not a requirement, even though a lot of addicted people like to claim otherwise. A landline has none of these tracking issues, and suffices perfectly well for most needs (which are different from wants aka luxuries).

So yes, unlike with a car, if you choose to carry a cell phone, you are absolutely contributing to the surveillance state, and pretending otherwise doesn't make your culpability in it go away.

[1] It doesn't see much use these days due to an unfortunate medical situation, but I would be driving that car if it was safe.

strictnein• 11 years ago

Always excited to hear about people and CEOs with assistants and underlings not having cell phones.

His lack of a phone most likely results in someone fielding calls for him.

bcg1• 11 years ago

I haven't had a cell phone since 2004... I was deployed to Afghanistan that year and we weren't allowed to bring phones with us, so I just shut it off and left it at home. While there I noticed that people could be killed just based on LLVI "intelligence" which I found somewhat scary, so I didn't turn my phone back on when I returned.

I've missed basically the entire camera-phone age and certainly the entire smartphone age, and I have to concur with the author that it is pretty wonderful. Also he's correct in that when people find out you have no cell phone, they tend to look at you like you have 3 heads.

I suspect that one day we will reach a point when some serious things are impossible without owning a cell phone (like voting, transacting over the Internet, etc) which in my view will be a serious loss of freedom for me... in the meantime I'm very happy with my lifestyle and I plan to hold out as long as I can.

trymas3• 11 years ago

When I read this type of articles: with lengthy argumentation why someone does something rather unusual or impractical. I always imagine, that these people are just looking for acceptance and attention of what they are doing, nothing more. Because it's just impractical.

Yeah, you can probably more relaxed, but I imagine his colleagues, wife, relatives are going nuts, when they cannot reach him, when he is needed. So he free rides on others' pocket when he needs a phone, and rides on others stress, when he is needed for some situation.

gk14• 11 years ago

To me, what's nuts is somegoing going nuts if they can't reach someone else within a few hours.*

*The author said he's on his computer every day so he's accessible by email. When he's not at work, he's presumably by phone and therefore accessible by landline. I'd guess there are just a few hours each day when he's neither at work nor at home--commuting, playing with kids outside, at a bar, etc.

trymas3• 11 years ago

It's still inconvenience for your closest people. Is he accessible by land phone? Which one? Maybe call his wife and ask if he's nearby? Write an email and expect he will see it and will have time to respond to it?

It's just rather irrational, he uses most of the new technology and even social networks[0]! But not use a cell phone. He just produced more inconveniences for himself and his people around him, than solved. If there would be a solid argument against using a cell phone, there would not be a reason to write a 2000 word article about it.

[0] >You can reach me on Twitter @stevehiltonx

mentos• 11 years ago

Does this guy still print out 12-13 pages of MapQuest directions before driving somewhere too?

arca_vorago• 11 years ago

It's called having paper maps for the states and cities you are in... I grew up in the forest where no cellphone works and GPS topo data was sparse, but the local forest service topo maps were second to none.

Some people need gps directions to go to the corner store, some people just need a paper map to traverse the world. I'd rather be the latter and use the former when needed/wanted than the former with the inability to to the latter.

As for the article, I generally agree with the author, as I have done the same thing (ditched a cell phone for about a year and a half). It was wonderful, but my current job description requires me to be on call, so I have made a temporary compromise, but I fully intend to return to no cell phone eventually.

One thing in particular I learned from my time without one is that I was much more observant and interactive with my surroundings. I would have conversations or see things I would have never if my eyes were glued to a screen. It also strengthened my conversation skills as a result.

nathan_f772• 11 years ago

Offline maps are way better than paper maps, though. I go hiking and use maps.me. I just download and import hiking trails as KMZ files. And you can also download the offline mapping and routing data for any country in the world, just like a TomTom GPS.

Paper maps are fine, and I can still read those. But they really pale in comparison to a map with GPS and automatic routing. Also a built-in compass. And a camera. And everything else that a modern smart-phone can do.

taytus2• 11 years ago

Why would anyone click in a link with such title? I'm like "Who cares?!" I'm seeing stuff like this showing up more often here on HN. Am I alone on this?

thomnottom• 11 years ago

If people are so stressed by a cellphone, maybe they should look at how they prioritize their lives. I'm not saying people HAVE to have cellphones, just that it's very easy to have something like that and not make it the center of your world. I tend to check my phone a lot - when I'm not busy. When busy, it often gets left at my desk or in my bedroom while other things are accomplished.

I'm all for getting rid of unnecessary things that clutter up your life, but it kind of sounds like he actually does need one. And he'd be better off learning that he can use it better.

manibatra2• 11 years ago

If a person has to write an article about "not owning a cellphone" isn't that person still a slave to the cellphone?

Spooky23• 11 years ago

In certain situations it's to your advantage to be hard to reach.

When I had an admin, very few calls made it through because 95% were either un-necessary escalations or things that should have been IMs/emails. The admin either answered the question or directed the caller or the person actually doing whatever they asked for. Some people saw that as "what a dick", but my goal is to get my job done in as close to 8 hours as possible. Yacking on the phone, mostly for bullshit reasons, for 3 hours a day means I don't get to eat dinner with my family or I'm up until midnight and don't work out in the morning. That's my priority.

The problem with the smartphone is that it's too easy to let it transition your life to an interruption based nightmare.

iraldir• 11 years ago

I've done it for 3 month in the uk and it just prove impractical. I mean, not being able to be called or get messages from friends is one thing, and not a real problem. From coworkers as well. But services, it's a hell. You can't order a pizza on the internet cause you don't have a phone number, or packages delivery in general won't like you, appointment with the dentist and stuff will also be a pain, cause they won't like/allow you not to have a phone. Quite a mess.

moron4hire3• 11 years ago

Mindfulness is a choice completely separate from owning a cellphone. Most people first journeying into mindfulness conflate the two choices. But really, if you can't manage the distractions of a cellphone, there are bigger problems in your life than just cellphones.

Managing distractions is the same regardless of whether it's cellphones or desktop emails or cars on the road. You have to learn how to differentiate between the signal and the noise at a glance, and waste no time on the noise.

hollerith• 11 years ago

It is not clear to me exactly what you mean by "managing distractions".

I disabled Notification Center on my Mac because I couldn't find a less drastic way to stop Apple from popping up notifications irrelevant to me (e.g., a new version of iTunes is ready to be installed).

Does that qualify in your eyes as "managing distractions" correctly or not?

Would it in your opinion have been better for me to learn not to be bothered or distracted by notifications -- to change myself instead of changing the Mac, in other words?

ADDED. Even though I never use iTunes, I have not been able to figure out a way to stop my Mac from trying to upgrade iTunes.

moron4hire3• 11 years ago

iTunes update notifications? Dude...

Even if you couldn't make the mental leap to just stop worrying about the updates and to rationally understand they aren't literally constant, there are other media players or other operating systems that are far, far less annoying. OS X, iOS, Windows, and Android are literally designed to be annoying, to keep reminding you thry exist, to keep them in your mind, so you expect them to be an ever present part of your experience. Because they are all in service to something other than your needs for an operating system. This is exactly the sort of thing for which the Free Software Foundation exists.

But ultimately, the problem is not the notification, or the media player, or the operating system. They are 100% incapable of causing you any harm on their own. You have to choose to allow it to harm you.

By manage distractions, I mean do whatever it takes to stop harming yourself. To me, the lowest friction way of doing that is letting iTunes update so it will be quiet for another month, and then forgetting about it.

unknownzero• 11 years ago

I can't decipher from this article why he doesn't just have a phone and not check it all the time. I carry a shiny new iPhone all the time and I rarely pull it out of my pocket. Maybe once or twice a day to check new messages (which he's already doing with the damn laptop) and then occasionally for the stuff he borrows other people's phones for, Uber, quick messages, calls.

Perhaps he should be lamenting his own lack of self control instead of cell phones. If everyone walked around needing one but not carrying one there'd be nobody to borrow from and we'd be back to pay phones. Nonsense.

jkot• 11 years ago

I had a few friends like that. Their friends were their phone replacement: Could I make a quick call? Do you know where X is? Would you mind to tell him...

It is like to be proud not to have a car, but to constantly ask others to drive you around.

nathan_f772• 11 years ago

I had recent experience of life without a cellphone. My wife and I were on a vacation in Cambodia, and before we went up to the rooftop restaurant I suggested that we should leave our phones in the room, since they can be distracting.

* I missed out on taking a photo of the amazing view

* We were talking about the different standards of living around the world, and I mentioned that Norway was the best country in the world, and also that they have a ton of money. That's all I could remember about the money, without access to Google and Wikipedia.

* I counted at least 2 other times where I instinctively went to pull out my phone to Google something or reference an article that I had read.

* I wanted to know what song was playing on the speakers so I could listen to the album later. No Soundhound or Shazam.

* My wife missed 3 Skype calls from her family, who ended up sending very worried messages hoping that she was ok

bpchaps2• 11 years ago

* I missed out on taking a photo of the amazing view

-Bring a camera.

-Enjoy where you're at and your company. If you spend five minutes looking for this sort of thing, you're diverting your attention elsewhere.

* I counted at least 2 other times where I instinctively went to pull out my phone to Google something or reference an article that I had read.

-That's a bad thing? It's fine to be ignorant on something. You're at a restaurant on a roof in Cambodia, ffs! Enjoy yourself in the moment!!

* I wanted to know what song was playing on the speakers so I could listen to the album later. No Soundhound or Shazam.

-Holy sheesh....

* My wife missed 3 Skype calls from her family, who ended up sending very worried messages hoping that she was ok

-Why didn't you call them beforehand? What kind of situation did you put yourself in that required that sort of worry? So many questions...

qihqi• 11 years ago

You can own a phone and not check all the time-wasting stuff too. Just don't install those apps.

You need to look at fb occationally use the browser. Fb has a decent mobile optimized site.

cjbprime• 11 years ago

This is where my wife, if she were co-author of this piece, would chime in: “You see, he’s a hypocrite! He doesn’t have a phone but he relies on other people having a phone. And this whole ‘not having a phone thing’ isn’t some cool rejection of tech addiction. It’s the ultimate selfishness. It means the whole world has to revolve around him. If you make a plan to meet, you can’t change it because you can’t let him know. It drives me completely mad …” etc, etc.

Nailed it.

crorella• 11 years ago

welcome to the club, Steve.

aaroninsf• 11 years ago

Absolutely astonishing.

It takes a unique background and rare talent to see deep and clearly and act decisively against all consensus wisdom.

To do so in the prime of life, against the murmured criticism of one's peers, requires absolute faith in self which could only be a huge advantage in nearly _all_ endeavors, personal as well as public.

Call it revolutionary, call it visionary, the ripples rebound and echo far beyond the action in both space and time.

My hat is truly off.

Sigh but enough about David Bowie! :./

I run a SV startup but refuse to own a cellphone

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