I am 33 years old, I am a programmer from St. Petersburg and I do not have and never had a smartphone. It’s not that I don’t need it - I really need it: I work in the IT field, all members of my family have them (the child is already the third), I had to manage mobile development, I have my own website ( 100% mobile friendly), and I even emigrated to Europe for work. Those. I'm not some kind of hermit, but quite a modern person. I use an ordinary push-button telephone and have always used only such.
I periodically come across articles like “successful people do not use smartphones” - this is complete nonsense! Smartphones are used by everyone: successful and not very successful, rich and poor. I have not yet seen a modern person without a smartphone - it's like not wearing shoes on principle, or not using a car - you can, of course, but why?
It all started as a protest against mass smartphoneization, and has been going on as a challenge for about 10 years - I was wondering how much I could resist modern trends, and is it even possible. Looking ahead, I’ll say: it’s possible, but it doesn’t make sense.
I admit that many people are thinking about giving up using a smartphone. I want to tell here about my experience so that those who intend to conduct such an experiment can evaluate the advantages and disadvantages on someone else's experience.
In this story, of course, there are pluses and minuses, and they are quite obvious.
So, here are the pros that I can name in order of priority:
- I don't have to worry about charging. I charge my phone about once every two weeks. The last time I went on vacation, I didn’t even take a charger with me, because I was sure that the phone would not be discharged during this time - and it happened;
- I don't scatter my attention on constant notifications and viewing updates in any given free minute. This is especially true for work - you are less distracted - it means you are more focused on work;
- I don't spend money on new phones, I don't follow updates, and I don't feel uncomfortable when one of my friends has a better phone than mine, or when my phone is better than my friends;
- I don’t annoy my friends by constantly sticking to the phone (at a party, for example, or just at a meeting). But this is more about upbringing and politeness;
- I don’t need to buy mobile Internet - so-so plus, given that the prices are quite low;
- I can surprise people by saying that I don’t use a smartphone and never used it - and the further, the more they are surprised. I must say that I myself would be surprised if I met such a person - so far the only one I know in the same position is my grandmother, who is 92 years old.
The main plus is that I do not depend on the availability of outlets nearby. It is sad to watch how people first of all "stick" to the sockets, wherever they are, or tend to take places closer to them. I really don't want to be addicted, and it's one of the main items on my "resistance list." When there is one “stick” of charging left on my phone, it means that I have a couple more days before it sits down.
About the dispersion of attention is also quite an important point. It really takes a lot of energy. It may be appropriate to allocate several time slots per day to check all notifications and reply to messages. But, perhaps, it is easy for me to speak as a person from the outside.
And here are the cons, also in priority order:
- not having a camera handy is a pain. I have already missed a thousand moments that should be captured as a keepsake or to share with loved ones. When you need to take a picture of a document or, on the contrary, get a photograph, the situation is also not uncommon;
- I can get lost even in my hometown. This is rather a feature of memory, and is easily solved by the presence of a navigator. When I need to go by car to a new place, I use a paper map or remember the route at home on a laptop;
- there is no way to “distribute” the Internet to a laptop - you have to constantly look for open Wi-Fi, or ask friends;
- I miss a translator in my pocket if I'm abroad, or Wikipedia when I feel like learning something new;
- I get bored in lines, on the road, and in any other places where all normal people are flipping through tapes, listening to music, playing games or watching videos;
- some people look at me with sympathy or as unhealthy when they find out that I don't have a smartphone. I don’t want to explain the reasons to everyone - I’m already tired;
- I find it hard to keep in touch with friends who communicate on Whatsapp, for example. I, as befits a programmer, am a bit of an introvert, and I don’t like when they call me and I don’t really like to call myself. Communication via messages is a great way to keep in touch;
- Recently, services have begun to appear that are simply impossible to use without a smartphone - two-factor authentication through push notifications, for example, all kinds of car sharing, etc. In Russia, as I understand it, they are still trying to maintain the old ways, but in Europe they no longer bother.
The main three things that I miss are: a camera, a navigator and the Internet at hand (at least as an access point). Of course, you can live without all this, and I almost do not feel defective. In everyday life, there is almost always a person with a smartphone nearby, and this saves me in most cases - I use other people's phones in emergency situations.
If you wanted to try - try, of course, but I think that there is no need to artificially limit yourself. It is better to learn how to filter or dose useless information and activity.
I decided to write this note because I am going to stop the challenge, and soon I will become a full-fledged modern person with a smartphone, instagram and a constant need for charging.
Source: habr.com
