The other day I asked some friends if they had a fixed phone. None of them did. It's something of a pity. The phone we had thirty years ago was a noble beast, but the one we carry today comes with an odd feeling.
The pocket-destroying cellphone I have from my company (which I must carry at all times, because of on-call) comes with spyware, it also comes with a two-factor authentication app that flashes an angry error message because I don't allow notifications. I'm of course exaggerating a little and speaking subjectively, but that phone feels more like a slave collar than something I really want to have around, and the feeling hasn't subsided one bit in the five years I've carried it.
Even with my personal phone (an iphone), things are not much better. It sends who-knows-what-of-my-data to god-knows-where, and of course keeping the radios active for all that chitchat costs battery time. It doesn't allow me to run any custom-made app I may need without paying Apple a hefty developer subscription and getting a Mac. And, ultimately, it's Apple's device, with security functions to protect Apple and to guarantee other companies with apps running in the phone that the device won't really let me if I try to, say, break their DRM.
The pocket-destroying cellphone I have from my company (which I must carry at all times, because of on-call) comes with spyware, it also comes with a two-factor authentication app that flashes an angry error message because I don't allow notifications. I'm of course exaggerating a little and speaking subjectively, but that phone feels more like a slave collar than something I really want to have around, and the feeling hasn't subsided one bit in the five years I've carried it.
Even with my personal phone (an iphone), things are not much better. It sends who-knows-what-of-my-data to god-knows-where, and of course keeping the radios active for all that chitchat costs battery time. It doesn't allow me to run any custom-made app I may need without paying Apple a hefty developer subscription and getting a Mac. And, ultimately, it's Apple's device, with security functions to protect Apple and to guarantee other companies with apps running in the phone that the device won't really let me if I try to, say, break their DRM.