Philosophical Vegan Forum

When I was 10 years old, I vowed to myself that I would never get a Smart phone. Mainly because I didn't want to be like the rest of the world, and I would rather be social in well, social situations rather than look at a screen. I have since then broke my vow, but I do my best to keep my phone usage to a minimum when I'm out of the house. Now thinking about it, there's no real need for smart phones, at least for most kids and teenagers anyway. Unless you're a super duper important business man that needs access to the internet at all times, ok you win.

But, now this is just from personal experience so take it with a grain of salt, have never seen minors use their phones productively. They just browse the facebooks are play Candy Crush, and whenever I see them in the back of the bus, (and they're all from my school) they're just staring into their phones. I mean, I can't really explain this but Satan does a pretty good job:
https://youtu.be/wAEfeNLKwd0?t=41

I guess I never saw the use of having a smartphone unless it's essential for school or work. I mean a flip phone from the 90s is perfect: it's small, it's portable, does everything a cell phone can do (phone calls, texts). It also has a camera that's about 14 megapixels. But it works for what I need it for. Which is really nothing.

I value my smartphone very highly. It allows me to do the following things:
- Listen to podcasts and audiobooks (which I prefer over reading)
- Receive and reply to important e-mails wherever I am
- Keep in touch with my friends easily
- Look up things without needing a computer (e.g. the time my train leaves, a dictionary)
- Navigate so I do not need to spend any time planning my route
- Have a calendar on the go, and getting reminders so I don't forget my dentist appointment
- Make notes

I do minimize the apps on it to avoid it reducing my productivity. For example, there are no games on it and no social media aside from WhatsApp and Reddit, which I find less interesting than a podcast.

Basically, it gives me one place to access everything I might need outside of home aside from my keys, water bottle and wallet.