SmartPhones: A Double Edged Sword

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Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
I have love/hate for my smartphone. I refused to get one for the longest time. AT&T offered one to me for 99 cents, so I caved. Sure it's a self inflicted NSA monitoring device but it has its uses. I'm on it constantly at work so you can say I'm payed to litter the forum with daily comments. Surfing/posting on the forum is a bit of a challenge on the phone. The small screen, the lovely spell check that automatically changes words, etc. I'm not sure where I'm going with this topic. Our smartphones are commonplace nowadays but if you think about it, the device you play candy crush on has more computing power than what we used to send men to the moon. If anyone is old enough to have watched the original Star Trek, remember how fantastical the wrist communicator was? A double edged sword. This may sound a little tin foil hattish, but does anyone think it's strange that they handout such powerful devices to the Proles for less than what a bottle of Pepsi costs? Something to think about.
Ramble of the day brought to you by Zbignew Brzenski, John P Holdren, Bertrand Russell, George Orwell

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,569
15,218
SE PA USA
It is, as others have already noted, an electronic bondage device. That said, it is for me what makes being self-employed possible. Eating my own seed corn, so to speak.

 

jeepnewbie

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 12, 2013
952
156
Byron
www.facebook.com
I understand too. I use mine daily for email and banking sometimes, along with sending pictures to my friends along with loading some pics I take to photo bucket. I enjoy all of those things but the phone I feel is more than I need. I pulled my sim card out and put it in my wives old dumb phone, and had a few text come in that were a pain in the bum to reply to. I ended back at my smart phone.

 

johnnyreb

Lifer
Aug 21, 2014
1,961
612
Be sure and carry your smart phone in an enclosed aluminum case and cover your smart TV with a sheet when not watching it.
n2DqdFd.jpg

Sorry but it's Happy Hour here!

 

pipebaum81

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 23, 2014
669
235
This may sound a little tin foil hattish, but does anyone think it's strange that they handout such powerful devices to the Proles for less than what a bottle of Pepsi costs?
Truly, I will be contemplating this well into the wee morning hours. It reminds me of something my 28 year old brother said the other day. "Isn't it odd that we squeeze the toothpaste tube tirelessly to get our money's worth but scrape our dinner plates into the trash."
Value is truly defined by perception but when something of known worth is treated in the opposite manner something strange is at play.
Not all things made of tin foil are silly

aluminum-foil-pipe-i2.jpg


 

puffy

Lifer
Dec 24, 2010
2,511
98
North Carolina
I don't do all that much with mine,but I've come to really like it.I can tell it what I want it to text It types it out and sends it.Saves me the trouble of fumbling around with the letters..I call it my smarter than me phone.

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,993
26,607
New York
For starters the tin foil pipe is excellent. In terms of personal communication devices I really miss my Motorola 3500X House Brick phone circa 1989. I have an IPhone which I detest and I much prefer my 2007 Black Berry thingy with the rotary dial made entirely of bakelite as that is about my speed in technology!

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,602
14,666
One good thing about tin foil hats...they make it very difficult and painful to hide your head where the sun don't shine.

 

vfefrenzy

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 4, 2014
113
0
they handout such powerful devices to the Proles for less than what a bottle of Pepsi costs?
Except the Pepsi doesn't come with a two-year contract for thousands of dollars with massive early termination fees. It does, however, come with diabetes for free.

 
Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
Damn! I have the tin foil hat but now I have to get the pipe too. TPAD. I've been with AT&T since the days of the beeper. They gave it to me for a buck free and clear. I was due for an update. My trusty lil flip phone lasted for idk, 6 years. I still kinda miss it. Tough lil buggers. I dropped tons of times, submerged it in water while boating. It just wouldn't die.

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,569
15,218
SE PA USA
Tinfoil smartphones are great for smoking potentiometers, Back in the 80's, we used to get hash in by the brick phone, 1 kilometer at a clip. No matter how much foil I used, I still couldn't wrap my mind around it. Which reminds me of a story: A man walks into a bar with a beautiful girl on his arm.....

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,602
14,666
Wouldn't be without mine but, I really love that "Do Not Disturb" switch.
I couldn't agree more...that's another good thing about them.
Wait...are you referring to the phone or to the tin foil hat?

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,206
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
It is tacitly understood, that when I am wearing hat, that I am not to be disturbed. Or maybe they understand that I am indeed disturbed and therefore am not to be disturbed. At least not in a disturbing manner anyway. Either way, folks leave me alone.

 
May 3, 2010
6,423
1,461
Las Vegas, NV
I agree it's a double edged sword.
It's great to conveniently be able to check your email and respond if you're work involves a lot of emailing. It doesn't tie you down to a personal computer or a lap top which isn't doesn't fit in your pocket. Being able to search for businesses and get directions etc. anywhere at any time is very nice. I also like the camera on the phone. To me it just makes snapping a nice quick photo easier.
Also, it can completely consume a person. Always texting people or playing games can really get on a lot of people's nerve when you're out with other people.

 

saint007

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 22, 2013
630
0
One of the first things I'll do later this year when I retire in throw my smartphone in the bay and going back to a flip phone!

 
I had read a few years ago that there were counties in North Georgia that were going to offset having to pay more police officers to patrol the roads by using cellphones to track speeders. If your cell phone GPS was tracked by your carrier as going over the speed limit, they were going to mail you a ticket, like they do on those red light cameras some cities have. I think the snag was that you could have a passenger in a car getting the ticket also. But, knowing that all of the cell phone providers were so willing to work with law enforcement was disconcerting.

 
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