Now in the second deade of the twentieth century, rather than getting flying cars, the elimination of poverty, and anonymous global crypto-currencies, we got smartphones ¹.

Smartphones suck. They suck your time and attention. They suck your bank account(s) dry, especially if you have set up "convenient" payment systems and find yourself near vending machines stocked with tasty energy drinks.

As a society, I think it is in our best interest to talk about smartphones like how we talk about drugs and alcohol. They can be fun/useful for some things, but definitely not for everyone and something to be approached with caution. Many wisely choose to abstain completely.

"Personal Surveillance Devices"

Smartphones are personalized advertisement aggregating surveillance devices. You pay money to get tracked. "Security" isn't about you, it's about your digital persona, a marketable product that you do not own.

With limited privileges you could grow a big business, become famous, etc.; likewise, by owning a typewriter you could write a best-selling novel. Most people don't do this though; most people lose bigly with most minutes spent on smartphones.

When you use a smartphone, you are given limited access to a little node on a big graph. The companies that own these graphs are firstly Google and Apple, who control Android and iOS an their stores, respectively ². The tracking doesn't stop there, however. All big "social" apps, including multiplayer games and other "fun" diversions, have similar tracking features. Your phone (and by extension Apple and Google) also knows how much time you spend on each app.

For many people, this is OK because "I don't mind being tracked because I'm not doing anything wrong". That might be a fine view to have now, but what will you do if the political fashionistas decide that some view you have is a Nazi view? Do not support "the purge" because you expect to get out okay!

Physical and Social Issues

Some people use their smartphones kinda like personal trainers. Their phones pump media into their brains while ordering them to do pushups and stuff (see the "7 Minute Workout", for a representative example) ³. Most people, however, don't use their smartphones in this way. Their smartphones, rather than functioning as motivational coaches, work as myopia inducing, posture destroying, distraction vectors that literally get thousands (more?) of people killed every year. You might develop Repetitive Strain Injury from swiping your thumbs over a glass plate all day.

Smart phones force you into corporate mediated communication because all of the chatting and stuff you do through a smartphone passes through the filters of someone else's servers. Sneaky advertisements influence your thoughts. You may think you are ignoring them, the the dark arts of advertisement penetrate deep and NONE ARE IMMUNE.

Socially, this means that people are increasingly optimized as particular types of consumers. Smartphones put you on an advertisement to purchase pipeline. Even if you don't choose to buy, your data will be sold.

Alternatives

I think that most people should opt out smartphone use to the best of their ability. When non-smartphone options are available, these options should be favored.

For instance, many people use their phones to check the time. Seems benign enough, right?

What often ends up happening, however, is that the NOTIFICATION SCREEN pushes all sorts of info into your attention. This is one way in which the smartphone is a vector of corporate mind viruses; it attacks you when you are just waiting for a bus or twiddling your thumbs distracted from homework or something.

Sometimes you can tweak the settings on your phone to try to suppress things like the aforementioned notifications. But even still, you are having faith that our tech overlords (Apple, Google) are doing what the smartphone UI wants you to believe you are doing. Behind the scenes, our tech overlords may instead be creating a profile of you as a "privacy/security concerned user" and trying to optimize the marketing of some new product to sell to you—"APPLE VPN" or something!

"Privacy" or "productivity" features shouldn't be trusted. The operating systems themselves are spyware which you have no control over. Using a smartphone is entering The Matrix, as is using things like Google Chrome (and probably MacOS, Windows). Sometimes we have to enter The Matrix to get things done, but it is not the world we are native to.

For tasks where no smart phone is required, not using a smart phone is preferable:

• Telling time: look at a clock/watch; analyze shadows cast on the ground
• Alarm clocks, timers, etc.: alarm clocks, timers, etc.
• Workout: stopwatch, friends/coaches/etc.; book/guides/lists on routines
• Calculator: learn some mental arithmetic; this is literally elementary school level math
• Dictionary: paper is fine; dedicated electronic dictionary; PC application
• Maps: A sense of direction, paper maps
• Finding foods: just walk into a restaurant and try it
• Weather: Use this as an opportunity to talk with someone (like the British do) ⁴

The goal is to give your smartphone as little viewing time as possible. When it is time to smartphone, then dive in and smartphone all the way. But do not kinda smartphone throughout the whole day. That is a road to misery.

A good investment?

As much as I dislike smartphones, I must admit one place in which they are extremely efficient economically. This is as a "content creation" tool for those involved in social media business. Many people buy lots of stuff they do not really use, but typically, when people purchase smart phones they use them a whole lot. For those that specialize in bending other people's minds through smartphones, the smartphone is of course an indispensible tool to use and understand.

There are also people that specialize in selling cigarettes and convincing people to join malicious organizations.

Not your device

Smartphones can be tools, but they are tools that are very often far outside our control. Think John Deere tractors (more generally the "right to repair"), but worse because smartphones are so widespread and are less domain specific.

Smartphones are about constraining users to a certain (small) sets of actions. Automation is not practically possible for smartphone use because it is the phone that is supposed to be smart, not you. Your job is to populate other people/companies' servers with useful for data for their ends.

When you opt to use your smartphone less and consciously do actions you plan when you do decide to use your smartphone, you take control of your attention and by extension... your LIFE. Shove your smartphone into a Faraday bag when you are not using it and laugh as the battery drains. Today is YOUR DAY to seize.

Additional Notes

Further Reading

• Many of the ideas presented here are in agreement with ideas put forth by RMS, creator of the Free Software Foundation.

Footnotes