who Needs a Phone

[jonovid]

some of us do not use or own a cell phone , mobile phone , cyber beer coaster , pocket cyclops.
just as the Amish people do not use or own a car 
so Who is to say you must have one or use one in 2022.
google and other other log in's are now requesting mobile phone numbers as ID 

[Ed.Kloonk]

some of us do not use or own a cell phone , mobile phone , cyber beer coaster , pocket cyclops.
just as the Amish people do not use or own a car 
so Who is to say you must have one or use one in 2022.
google and other other log in's are now requesting mobile phone numbers as ID 

I'm with you.

Kill it all with fire.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Worth getting a smart phone just to try this?

[PlainName]

google and other other log in's are now requesting mobile phone numbers as ID

Buy one of those security dongles with the 6" touch screen.

Resist the temptation to use it to call anyone, or load it up with apps. Neglect to insert a SIM. Bosh.

[SmallCog]

Not sure which state the OP is in but with the Covid Check in's I'd much rather scan a QR code as I walk into a shop than stop and fill in all my personal details on a piece of paper.


I must admit I don't give my number out to anyone and everyone, most people who know me don't have my number to call/text me

[MrMobodies]

some of us do not use or own a cell phone , mobile phone , cyber beer coaster , pocket cyclops.

I have a few given free to me, one for emergencies just to make calls but I am hoping not to always having to depend on it or be constantly bothered by calls.

I knew someone many years ago who had an Iphone and it was literally stuck to their ear all day long even outside of work hours every day and holding calls at-times just so he could answer other calls on the landlines. On holidays he was on the phone most of the time to the office he was trying to have a break from.

[SiliconWizard]

google and other other log in's are now requesting mobile phone numbers as ID 

Increasingly, any kind of services, actually. Even the most basic ones, soon.

[DiTBho]

Without a phone you can no more obtain a ATM card.
There are some hospital services that require payment by ATM and don't accept cash.
Therefore a phone is mandatory.

[MK14]

This seems relevant.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60067032

The people deciding to ditch their smartphones

[SomeGuy]

I'm not attached to my phone like some people but it's kind of a necessity to have these days. Even just for 2 factor authentication, if not for spotify or looking things up.

[Kim Christensen]

Not sure which state the OP is in but with the Covid Check in's I'd much rather scan a QR code as I walk into a shop than stop and fill in all my personal details on a piece of paper.

But you can just have a card with the QR code on it....

[ebastler]

google and other other log in's are now requesting mobile phone numbers as ID

Buy one of those security dongles with the 6" touch screen.
[...] Neglect to insert a SIM. Bosh.

How would a phone without a SIM provide you with a mobile phone number and the ability to perform 2FA via SMS?

[Karel]

google and other other log in's are now requesting mobile phone numbers as ID

Buy one of those security dongles with the 6" touch screen.
[...] Neglect to insert a SIM. Bosh.

How would a phone without a SIM provide you with a mobile phone number and the ability to perform 2FA via SMS?

I would like to know that as well 

[PlainName]

This seems relevant.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60067032

The people deciding to ditch their smartphones

Indeed it does, but not in the way everyone seems to be worrying about. What they are highlighting there is not phone use per se but social media use. The lady in the article says she dumped her phone and told all her friends and family they would now have to, ah, phone her since she'd reverted to some old thing that only did calls and texts.

The problem is not phones. It is people being glued to the likes of Facebook via their phones.

[PlainName]

google and other other log in's are now requesting mobile phone numbers as ID

Buy one of those security dongles with the 6" touch screen.
[...] Neglect to insert a SIM. Bosh.

How would a phone without a SIM provide you with a mobile phone number and the ability to perform 2FA via SMS?

Google can use the authenticator without a SIM. But if you need one, just don't make or receive calls.

And... https://tinyurl.com/bddz93td

[msuffidy]

I used to not want a cell phone. My parents upgraded and gave me 2 older ijphones. My land line, which was mostly unused, was approaching $50 Canadian/month. For the second time it went dead and they botched the repair appointment, so I just cancelled it and got an 'unlimited' cell phone plan with no overages and 20GB of high speed for $75 Canadian/month. This means that I saved $4 per month on my 10mbit DSL and land line formerly. So when it goes slow it goes to 512kbit/s connection, and I use wget and yt-dlp to get stuff slowly. I can live with it, and it is probably the cheapest world connection solution. It does a NAT forward through usb connection to my SmartRG400ac router that is running openwrt.

[TimFox]

Not sure which state the OP is in but with the Covid Check in's I'd much rather scan a QR code as I walk into a shop than stop and fill in all my personal details on a piece of paper.

But you can just have a card with the QR code on it....

In Chicago, proof of vaccination is now required for bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues (not grocery stores, etc., but the State mask mandate applies indoors).
There are smart-phone based apps available that are accepted (must include photo ID to verify that you are, in fact, the Fred Flintstone on the vaccination record).
However, my experience starting in October when concerts, operas, and theaters united to require this is that the digital thingies are much slower at ID check than my simple procedure:
We keep our original CDC Covid records safely at home in the file cabinet, and use 1x photocopies (which are acceptable) that we carry.  Folding this over once is the right size to go over a driver's license, and that fits nicely into a shirt or jacket pocket.  It is much faster to pull out the paper copy, unfold it, and hold the license to show everything important to the checker than what I see in front of me with people pulling out there phone and finding the appropriate bit.

[BrokenYugo]

I'm not attached to my phone like some people but it's kind of a necessity to have these days. Even just for 2 factor authentication, if not for spotify or looking things up.

Yeah, I converted about 2 years ago and honestly it was getting to be a pain in the ass carrying only a dumb phone for a couple years before that. That stupid rectangle has replaced like half a laptop (well enough I only own a desktop PC now) and my GPS, it will even SSH into my home network stuff for quick checks and whatnot, connects to my print server (print a datasheet from anywhere in the house!), has an internet connection when the house doesn't, acts as an OBD2 code reader in my car, etc.

It's only a box of endless distraction if you let it be one, my app list is short, no Facebook, minimal notifications, if it can be done in browser it mostly is.

Also, if you want to actually keep a low profile, actively avoiding the one thing everybody now does is probably not a good strategy.

[Halcyon]

Almost every person in Australia has a mobile phone yet landline phones are dying off pretty quickly. The old analog POTS network is just about non-existent these days so everyone is relying on VoIP in one form or another.

How useful your phone is depends on how much crap you install on it. For example, I don't use social media at all, so the constant garbage most people get bombarded with doesn't exist on my device (I couldn't give a flying fuck what someone posts on "Insta"). I use mine for calls, messages (SMS and Signal), personal email, 2FA and some finance/banking applications. That's it.

I purposely keep work-related email on my work PC only so I'm not disturbed by 95% of the crap that isn't intended for me.

I'd say, you're making your life much more difficult without one.