Never Buy a Phone Again

http://www.wired.com/?p=1663621&preview_id=1663621%2F

by regnum • 11 years ago

23 8 11 years ago

Title of this post sucks but I agree with the sentiment of the article.

What I've been looking to do lately is get rid of my phone and cash it in for a USB modem for my laptop. My phone distracts me from the real world. I only really use it to read reddit and hackernews on the bus or before class, and it's unreasonable how much money is spent just for that.

Edit: As I'm typing this up I have AFK by Pinback in the background. Here are the lyrics that were playing as I typed this comment:

"No one uses the phone anymore. The tracks are wrecked and the odometers ticking. The edge is pushed and the lines are melting. Too scared to look at what I hear outside. Release me."

Kinda eerie.

red0point• 11 years ago

The title of this pist is a typical view grabber. Apart from that, the author doesn't take into account that when you leave an area without LTE coverage, your call will be disrupted. I did this only Skype experiment myself, to try and minimize my phone costs. It resulted in big hassles, the connection dropped, slow initialization and good luck while travelling by train.

Dylan16807• 11 years ago

A 3-GB data plan from T-Mobile for your iPad mini is $30 per month. Yet if instead of an iPad mini it’s an iPhone 6 Plus, which requires a voice plan too, your phone bill is $60 per month.

This is just not true. T-Mobile has a phone plan that's 5GB of fast data, unlimited slow data, a handful of minutes you can ignore.

I have a cheap plan that has unlimited minutes and unlimited slow data, which I think hints at the real end-game. Don't toss out the old infrastructure, just stop price gouging it now that data can truly compete.

blisse• 11 years ago

I for one love the title. It's eye-catching and controversial enough that it stands out, but it's also very relevant to the article, and the article itself is refreshing and something that I've never gave too much notice to. It's also nice to note that phones and tablets are transient items as our technology advances. Desktops are our workstations, but phones and tablets (and watches) will come and go as we discover and design even better interfaces.

paulornothing• 11 years ago

I have been thinking for a while about how it's kind of silly to have a phone. How often do I make phone calls or receive them? Not very often. Also I generally never need it on the go, mostly make calls at home or work. There is something that keeps me from switching to an iPad or some other tablet to just use to make calls and for regular surfing. Is it just nostalgia? Who knows.

wodenokoto• 11 years ago

3mb for one minute? My MP3's are about 1mb per minute, so let's say there are 2 sound streams and then we are at 2mb per minute (but we are not. We pretty much only send data when someone is talking).

Why is the LTE voice data so bulky? It needs lower fidelity than my music, and it ought to be compressed in a more efficient format than MP3. What gives?

ozten• 11 years ago

I've tried to do this several times since 2010. The deal breaker each time is lacking a reliable real-time "ringer" that one gets with SMS and Voice calls.

Perhaps Android / iOS background services have improved enough, to make this possible.

sythical• 11 years ago

Being able to call emergency services (999, etc.) is a big benefit of carrying a mobile phone.

Never Buy a Phone Again

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