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Smartphones can get f***ed

flylowgethigh

Non-growing Lurker
ICMag Donor
fuck smartphones. i mean they are a technical marvel but i hate them. leaving aside the huge privacy/surveillance concerns, their usage is just so cumbersome.
as someone who is a power user on desktop pc's, using a phone feels like someone tied a hand behind my back and cut off 3 of my fingers on the other one.

i bought a bunch of flip-phones years ago, they should last me for the forseeable future.

Maybe not, because with the 5G rollout, 3G is going away. I use a consumer cellular flip phone, but it needs replacing as the ringer has stopped making noise. They stopped selling the phones. Those are nice because you keep it in your pocket and they are indestructible unless you fall into a pond, wash it with the blue jeans, or something.

My biggest problem with smartphones is them spying on you all the time.
 

redlaser

Active member
Veteran
With the cell phone I found it lacked the comfort of connectivity that my corded home phone provided. My bag phone offers that corded comfort along with portability.
[iframe1]694TX2lQ7Uo[/iframe1]
 

D. B. Doober

Boston, MA
Veteran
I tried to get one of those 1st generation cellphones working with service...providers were unable to do it. I would really like one though. With the bulky bag and stuff. :dance:
 

flylowgethigh

Non-growing Lurker
ICMag Donor
I had one of the first ones still. No, not using it, and I guess I tossed it a while ago cause I went to take a pic and it's gone. There weren't many towers back in 1991, so service was spotty.
 

Bud Green

I dig dirt
Veteran
If smartphones were so friggin' smart, they'd know how to get a signal at my house in the woods.

Which they don't and they can't..

(By the way, there's a 2 year old ATT tower, more than 200 feet tall, on a farm less than 2 miles away from me.. with no mountains between us)

I have no use or need for them...even if they figure out how to get a signal here.

..
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
A mobile can cover almost any distance 'line of sight' so getting one up high to create a wifi hotspot is often an option. Think weather balloon. A laptop using a good external wifi card can easily make a 300 meter connection with minimal obstacles. So it's just a case of what you can see from above the tree tops. Plus a bit more for reflections and defractions.
 

BadTicket

ØG T®ipL3 ØG³
Moderator
Veteran
I love smartphones. But I'm of the younger generation, one of the rookies here on the forum. Maybe that's the difference.

Don't drop it though, it breaks fairly easily.



Dude, back in my day when stuff like Nokia 3310 was hot shit, you could use it as brass knuckles and beat a guy up. Then if you felt bad about it, you could still call an ambulance for the dude. Even if the screen was busted and the phone was soaked in blood.

Try that with a smart phone, and see what happens. Even if the phone survives, it's damn hard to use them touch screens with blood soaked fingers..

Or, if you wanted to use the 3310 as a vibrator you could do it with out lubrication, and you didn't need a surgeon to remove it if things went too far, or got outta hand, excuse the pun.. Try that with a smart phone and that's a trip to the emergency room and at least 3-4 different kinds of law suits.

On the charge of assault with battery, how do you plead?
Not guilty, your honour, the battery on the phone was removed.

Can you do that with a smart phone? No, you can't.

So next time people say a smart phone can do everything better than a dumb phone, remind em of the simple things that really matter. Fuck your instagrams and self help apps.

And speaking of vibrators and phone sex, that 3310 battery will last all week. Unlike a smart phone battery, which is good for one night of fun if you start with a full charge.

So yea, next time you call me and I don't answer right away, don't hang up 'cause I might be busy doing something else with my phone. Hang in there for a while or you might leave me hanging down, so to speak.. I'm trying to get to the phone but I can't come that fast 'cause the phone is out of reach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJZF-skCY-M

..I'll get me coat.. :tiphat:
 

redlaser

Active member
Veteran
A neighbor paid a tree climber to put a receiver or antenna about 140-160 ft up into a Ponderosa pine to get a faster internet connection. He’s in good shape unless the bark beetles decide to eat his tree, they kind of bounce around the neighborhood taking out 5-20 trees every year in a given area.
 

Gry

Well-known member
Veteran
Always enjoyed hearing what people did to improve signal quality.
When younger I used to fight the good fight for FM reception with
a custom cut unit mounted six inches lower than required for the flashing red light.
Can still recall how I felt when Pioneer came out with a supertuner that
that had an ability to pull in faint signals with clarity.
Could not help but smile at the add for the briefcase brick.
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
You need to root the phones to get the most out of them.posting from a Motorola and it's decent for $45. Had a note edge that was great but bricked on me.
 

Bud Green

I dig dirt
Veteran
^^

Thou needeth to posteth in the King's English, so us old fornicators can knoweth about that which thou speakith...

..
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
Lol you need to mod the phone and make a custom rom.sorry Bud.im sure someone else could explain it better than me lol when my Note edge Bricked it was frozen and I couldn't use it till I rooted or modded it
 

imiubu

Well-known member
Dude, back in my day when stuff like Nokia 3310 was hot shit, you could use it as brass knuckles and beat a guy up. Then if you felt bad about it, you could still call an ambulance for the dude. Even if the screen was busted and the phone was soaked in blood.

Try that with a smart phone, and see what happens. Even if the phone survives, it's damn hard to use them touch screens with blood soaked fingers..

Or, if you wanted to use the 3310 as a vibrator you could do it with out lubrication, and you didn't need a surgeon to remove it if things went too far, or got outta hand, excuse the pun.. Try that with a smart phone and that's a trip to the emergency room and at least 3-4 different kinds of law suits.

On the charge of assault with battery, how do you plead?
Not guilty, your honour, the battery on the phone was removed.

Can you do that with a smart phone? No, you can't.

So next time people say a smart phone can do everything better than a dumb phone, remind em of the simple things that really matter. Fuck your instagrams and self help apps.

And speaking of vibrators and phone sex, that 3310 battery will last all week. Unlike a smart phone battery, which is good for one night of fun if you start with a full charge.

So yea, next time you call me and I don't answer right away, don't hang up 'cause I might be busy doing something else with my phone. Hang in there for a while or you might leave me hanging down, so to speak.. I'm trying to get to the phone but I can't come that fast 'cause the phone is out of reach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJZF-skCY-M

..I'll get me coat.. :tiphat:

:biglaugh:

This got me thinking :thinking:
From here on, I'll definitely be hesitant the next time someone tries to hand me their phone in order to tap in my digits.
 

Mary57

Member
I can't stand smartphones. I want to say that I have never owned one, but that isn't exactly true.

I used to love the internet back in the days when Linux was a thing. I know too much about computers and the internet to want to carry a smartphone, but perhaps you might enjoy carrying a phone that can be flashed with replicant:

https://replicant.us/

or, if that is way too niche and techy-nerdy for your tastes, maybe something as simple as installing F-Droid would help:

https://f-droid.org/

Since, after all, it is a googlephone and Android is essentially a Linux distro underneath all of the surveillance capitalism. People can and do customize it a lot.

I haven't read all of the replies. Since your username is "homeless guy", you'll probably want to try some of my less invasive suggestions first, but if all else fails, this is my own "smartphone":

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xw4...ducted-on-an-anonymous-diy-cell-phone-network

You can follow the links. I just use a jabber client on my laptop and a few little white oversimplifications that aren't even really lies.

JMP probably won't work for most people, but depending on your finances, needs, and level of interest, there's probably something out there that will.

You can always ask someone more knowledgeable than my not-so-illustrious self on the replicant IRC channel:

https://freenode.net/

because you are not alone and you are not going crazy; smartphones suck.
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
I got a friend an Alcafail genie or something like that, as a stop-gap. It was only cheap but the cost of walking to the shop for it made it bad value. That's before paying for it.

Today I would buy the A31 dual sim. It's where the glossy screens start. £175. Great battery. Does phone stuff, fast.
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
35 years ago I was given a car phone. The bit you put to your ear was like any home phone. There was no dialing, you selected the channel for your region. The operator connected you. The box of tricks under the seat was such a masterpiece I have seen nothing like it to today. I wish I had pics. A clam shell with central chassis, CB radio sized. Both top&bottom was filled with RF canned modules, with dimensions like sleepers. Maybe 8 lined up, filling the set, top and bottom. Each removable from the chassis. So like 16 individual cans. It was exquisite. All beautifully machined, making any talk of CB or Ham gear a total insult. Think space station.
 

armedoldhippy

Well-known member
Veteran
fuck phones. don't own (or need) one now, won't in the future either. my wife wants me to have one. her- "but, what if i need to get in touch with you, ask you a question, or tell you something when you are out hunting or fishing?" me- "why the hell do you think i go hunting or fishing?" :good: her- "but what if you fall & are badly injured while up in the mountains?" me- "then i get to die in the prettiest place on earth instead of a fucking hospital bed while bankrupting the family..." :D
 
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