You know the world is moving fast when....

[Bob Chapman]

My computer sits safely on my desk at home. My phone is carried around with me (when I remember to put it in my pocket). The chances of losing or damaging my computer is negligible. There is also a very small (I hope!) risk of it being stolen. Not so for my phone though. It stands a much greater chance of loss, breakage or theft.
Quite apart from that, I HATE typing on my phone. Far too small to be useful.

 

[Lons]

I run my entire life off my phone: 100% of my finances, messaging and email, bus times, doctor appointments and prescriptions, social media, university work, calendar, order food and groceries, couple of clicks to get stuff from Amazon or Ebay, hold my phone up to the sky to check what the aircraft flying overhead is, get a G&T straight to my table, order a cab, monitor my weight/blood pressure/heart rate/blood alcohol level/blood oxygen level/hearing/toothbrushing, it holds my bus pass and my loyalty cards, stores my boarding passes and train tickets, accesses my entire music library, it can tell me what song is playing on the radio or in a bar, assists me with meditation, check the football scores, place a bet on a match, book a class at the gym, and even phone people. I never phone people though.

All that in something that fits in the palm of my hand. I do often wonder how people cope without them.

Good luck with that if you lose it or it suddenly breaks when you need urgent access Bill.
I know there are ways around it but I'm decidedly against keeping everything in one place. Not saying you're wrong just saying it's not for me.

 

[Rorschach]

Good luck with that if you lose it or it suddenly breaks when you need urgent access Bill.
I know there are ways around it but I'm decidedly against keeping everything in one place. Not saying you're wrong just saying it's not for me.

To be fair that applies to a lot of things, if you use a laptop for these things then you would be stuffed if something went wrong.

I changed my phone in 2018, it took me less than a hour to have everything sorted on the new phone, didn't need the old phone for that at all, it's all stored in my google account. The only difference if I had lost the phone would be I would need to mark it lost on my account and order 2 new sim cards from my 2 providers.

 

[Glitch]

The people who can't cope with smart phones are often (but not always) the same ones that don't upgrade their PC OS, security software and web browsers.
Products go out of support and stop getting security updates.

Too many combinations of OS and browser products and versions to maintain your banking software against.
Therefore far easier to provide services through phone/tablet apps which are so simple for the user to upgrade.

 

[Lons]

To be fair that applies to a lot of things, if you use a laptop for these things then you would be stuffed if something went wrong

No I wouldn't I'd very quickly plug a backup drive into the usb on my desktop or wife's lap top and be able to access anything I want instantly, if my 'phone breaks down, as my iphone did a few weeks ago unless you have a spare 'phone on hand to download from the cloud or wherever you''re stuffed for at least a while.

 

[billw]

Good luck with that if you lose it or it suddenly breaks when you need urgent access Bill.
I know there are ways around it but I'm decidedly against keeping everything in one place. Not saying you're wrong just saying it's not for me.

Backed up daily with spare handset.

I can access most things through other means at least, I still carry my wallet around. for example, but yes I do accept there's an inherent risk!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I would say my mother doesn't spend an awful lot more than that, certainly under a fiver a year. Smart phones only cost money if you make a call or send a text, just like a normal mobile phone. Using wifi you can do almost everything on there including making free calls through apps like whatsapp. She sends messages (free), checks the weather, does her banking, looks up information, books restaurants (when you can lol), takes photos and videos of the grandchildren to share with her friends, uses loyalty apps when shopping for money off etc and uses the GPS feature to navigate sometimes as well (also free).

I'm not saying they're not very useful, just that they're not for everyone. I loathe computers, I'm not remotely interested in them. I struggle with a normal keyboard not to hit two keys at the same time so smaller keys/touch controls are great fun - my wife bought me a Kindle for Xmas, I suspect it'll be thrown somewhere before it ever gets used. I don't drive, don't take photos (I have cameras), don't send messages, (email on the computer and a land line) ...
This is as yet the only phone I've ever owned (5?) that I haven't lost within two months of buying it - that's because it's usually home on the table, flat - and I only have this one from absolute necessity.

 

[Lons]

The people who can't cope with smart phones are often (but not always) the same ones that don't upgrade their PC OS, security software and web browsers.
Products go out of support and stop getting security updates.

Too many combinations of OS and browser products and versions to maintain your banking software against.
Therefore far easier to provide services through phone/tablet apps which are so simple for the user to upgrade.

I'm pleased you added (but not always) as not everyone who doesn't want their life on a 'phone is incapable of operating one!

The software on 'phones loses support as well and I have a case in point, my less than 2 year old Iphone running OS 14+ developed a sudden fault which prevented calls, texts and internet access, it took a week to get an appointment at a local Apple genius bar following the usual actions by me and then on line and telephone support, at the shop 5 minutes of diagnosis to be told it's a hardware fault and is rubber ducked, no offer of repair, trade in or discount on a new 'phone, you'll have to buy one in the shop sir, at full retail, my response was no way but even emails to the UK MD hasn't resolved it however that's another story my point is luckily I held on to an 4 year old iphone 6 which I'm using until I decide to change (to an android) and that 'phone is stuck at OS 12 with no further updates available. According to Apple there are many thousands of people using much older models than that on even older OS.
Support for windows lasts a lot longer than 3 to 4 years.

 

[Lons]

Backed up daily with spare handset.

I can access most things through other means at least, I still carry my wallet around. for example, but yes I do accept there's an inherent risk!

Sensible Bill and you're I would think is an exception as I don't know anyone who does that, not even me who make multiple backups of just about everything. I have my contacts list saved and the 'phone backed up to icloud but my comments still stand. If my wife lost her 'phone she would be in a hell of a state where I'd be inconvenienced much less.

 

[Spectric]

The so called "smart phone" has been more destructive to society than the Tv ever was and has become addictive for so many phone zombies who walk around just staring at the screen in another world totaly isolated from their surroundings and even their children. What is even worse is that a lot of the younger females cannot even accept their real image and have to digitaly alter it into something that resembles a cross between coco the clown and a being from outer space, not even in some cases allowing for space in which to fit their internal organs. It is a sad time when people start to want to ignore reality and live in a fantasy world that they find more appealing.

 

[billw]

It is a sad time when people start to want to ignore reality and live in a fantasy world that they find more appealing.

It's sad that reality's become so bad that people want to escape it.

 

[pe2dave]

That's a very odd choice to make though.

You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment?

 

[selectortone]

Probably like me he doesn't really need one and doesn't want to pay dearly for something he doesn't want or really need?

Pay dearly? I wouldn't call £11.00 a month that dear, especially with WhatsApp allowing me to video chat to my kids and grandkids during lockdown. Back in the 1960s I used to read science fiction stories about being able to do that.

I certainly don't walk around with my nose in the phone either (which would look a bit ridiculous at my age)

 

[pe2dave]

Pay dearly? I wouldn't call £11.00 a month that dear,

Each to their own budgets?

 

[artie]

I wouldn't call £11.00 a month that dear,

If you don't mind me asking, what do you get for £11 per month and which network?

 

[selectortone]

If you don't mind me asking, what do you get for £11 per month and which network?

Not at all: it's actually £11.27, SIM only. 4G, 2GB data (never get anywhere near that), unlimited calls and texts. Vodafone. 18mth contract.

 

[Deadeye]

Who actually believes Android is more secure than other OS's. Remember Android is open source and ruled by Google so how far can you really trust it.

I don't think this is the security point the companies are aiming for.
The extra security comes from requiring both somehting you know (a password) and something you own - the phone.

 

[Gerry]

42" that's a portable. I use a 65" LG uhd tv Brilliant for games, multiple windows and applications.

Gerry

 

[Rorschach]

No I wouldn't I'd very quickly plug a backup drive into the usb on my desktop or wife's lap top and be able to access anything I want instantly, if my 'phone breaks down, as my iphone did a few weeks ago unless you have a spare 'phone on hand to download from the cloud or wherever you''re stuffed for at least a while.

If I am at home, I have access to everything I need from my phone on my laptop right away as it's all backed up automatically on my google account. Within an hour I can have another phone up and running. And I do have a spare phone at home of course. In an absolute emergency if I was away from home, I can add my account to my partners phone as a second user and within minutes have access to my data.

 

[Rorschach]

I'm not saying they're not very useful, just that they're not for everyone. I loathe computers, I'm not remotely interested in them. I struggle with a normal keyboard not to hit two keys at the same time so smaller keys/touch controls are great fun - my wife bought me a Kindle for Xmas, I suspect it'll be thrown somewhere before it ever gets used. I don't drive, don't take photos (I have cameras), don't send messages, (email on the computer and a land line) ...
This is as yet the only phone I've ever owned (5?) that I haven't lost within two months of buying it - that's because it's usually home on the table, flat - and I only have this one from absolute necessity.

Well you are a very unusual case then, but I am sure you already knew that