I have not owned a smartphone in 6 years. Here is what I learned

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▲	I have not owned a smartphone in 6 years. Here is what I learned (gemini.example)
	467 points by dumbphone_sage 9 hours ago \| hide \| 6 comments

aspiring_monk 8 hours ago | 51 points | parent | prev | next

Inspiring. The smartphone is a slot machine in your pocket. How do you handle 2FA, parking apps, restaurant QR menus, boarding passes, etc?

dumbphone_sage 8 hours ago | 46 points | parent | prev | next

I simply don't do any of those things. I don't fly (surveillance funnels). I don't park (I bike, lron frame, no GPS). I ask the waiter for a paper menu, and when they say it's QR-only, I deliver a short lecture and leave. I haven't eaten at a restaurant since 2021. I've never felt more free or more hungry.

aspiring_monk 7 hours ago | 177 points | parent | prev | next

this sounds less like freedom and more like you've just removed yourself from society

dumbphone_sage 7 hours ago | 156 points | parent | prev | next

Society is the surveillance apparatus. I haven't removed myself from anything, I've removed the apparatus from me. The fact that my friends, restaurants, employer, and immediate family were inside the apparatus is regrettable collateral.

carries_two_phones 6 hours ago | 102 points | parent | prev | next

I carry a dumbphone AND a smartphone, the dumbphone for principle and the smartphone for everything that requires being alive in 2026. Best of both worlds.

dumbphone_sage 6 hours ago | 65 points | parent | prev | next

So you carry a smartphone. You have a smartphone. The dumbphone is a costume for the smartphone. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed in a stranger.

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