The problem isn't smartphones, it's capitalism.
All of those things would have happened anyway in a different form factor because capitalism is just a race to the bottom.
Except maybe UI design. That has been special in its enshittification.
this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2024
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I don't see how we would have smartphones without capitalism. We'd still all be farmers.
Without capitalism, we'd all have the ability to swap out parts and create a phone for the purposes that we need. Some people want the best while others want the minimum, and most want something in between. Every part would be replaceable.
With capitalism, we have planned obsolescence without the ability to repair or replace parts and every conceivable thing to reap more money off us and force us to continually consume.
I'm saying without the greed of capitalism we wouldn't have phones to swap out parts. We would have very limited technology because the incentive to innovate is much less when you do it because you want to rather than earning extra resources to raise standards of living(greed). Not as many people will volunteering their entire lives to come up with new technology while living the same standard of living as a farmer.
I get what you're saying but, respectfully, I think you're incorrect. The field of science is not about capitalism but the goal of understanding everything around you. Aqueducts were not the result of capitalism. Russia won the space race. Innovations happen regardless. Capitalism drives innovation in specific directions.
Also id argue that the creation of the smartphone is the result of market forces, which arent unique to and predate Capitalism by millenia. The bronze age collapse happened largely due to the collapse of the grand trade networks and markets that birthed the bronze age, most bronze age societies predate currency as we understand it outright.
The person who wrote this wasn't alive before smartphones and are doing the whole "I was born in the wrong decade" thing.
There’s (mostly) nothing wrong with the technology. It’s the enshittification and profit motive behind nearly everything that’s the real problem.
How do you separate the two? To me smartphones seem like the sort of thing that was always headed in a bad direction. It's inherently a tracking device. Touchscreens are easy to use and intuitive but really slow and inefficient for most things that go beyond browsing/viewing content. It pushes you to get all your software from a centralized walled garden. If it weren't for smartphones, the people who mostly only use smartphones probably wouldn't be spending a lot of time on the internet, and that would be for the best.
How do you separate the two?
you end capitalism
Ruined photography?
Professionals or hobbyists can still use a proper camera but the old maxim "sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you" often applies and cellphones do fairly well in that regard
I think is more about how the smartphone and apps like instagram uses a bunch of filters and things like that.
That part I can agree with. Plus the "AI editing" bullshit.
The auto editing bullshit that you don't even know that is active
I hate that people have taken to filming/taking pictures vertically
We were so close to everyone knowing not to do that
I like having maps and gps with me
The smartphone didn't ruin those things. Capitalism did.
Amateur photography has gotten pretty darned good.
This is actually the best point for a "smart"phone. Having a camera with you all the times in case you'd have/want to capture a moment or even a video. And they've gotten pretty darn decent at it. Would've killed for such a device in the 80s+
smartphone manufacturers have almost no common standards, they are made to be bought and then disposed of instead of upgrading the specs
it's impossible to do stuff like upgrading ram which would be very easy on a computer, and every smartphone has a different cpu
companies are doing their best to keep the open source guys out of the game, which in my opinion would solve a lot of the issues if this weren't the case
I want a smartphone without ios or android but just plain linux, which should be upgradable and durable, possibly with open source firmware and that kind of stuff
You want a Framework laptop
That shit is not going to fit in your pocket
I'd argue Fairphones are pretty close although I'd probably go with a custom FOSS rom
I mean I use a fairphone with /e/OS from Murena. This solves the issue of open source and upgradability/replacability mostly for me. I like the idea of bare linux phones but the hardware and software is just not there yet. I used an iPhone before that and while I miss some aspects of apple hardware I am really happy to be able to just replace parts without this tremendous glue they put in their phone and like 20 different screws and steps to replace one part. Besides some minor inconveniences the switch was definitely the right move!
I hate how /e/OS's 'BlissLauncher' doesn't let you leave an empty space between icons on the homescreen. I don't know whether switching to a different launcher will break /e/OS's widgets etc, and it bugs me just little enough to ignore it. The worst thing is that because you can't leave gaps (unless you leave the bottom row partially blank, which is dumb because that's the most important row), moving any app requires swapping it with another, which requires a minimum of three app-drags. In practice four, because draggin one app onto another will turn the icon into a folder with the two apps in them, so you'll have to open the folder and drag em both out.
I hate it so much. Why can't they just make a normal homescreen?
I switched to a different launcher a while ago. The one I use is Kvaesitso. It also has a widget integration and relies more on search although I can still pin Apps I want. I believe most alternate Launchers have their own Widget integration in a way so I'd recommend you try that
Maps/gps navigation and being able to talk to someone across the world for free (provided you have an internet connection). Genz and younger millennials don’t know how expensive long-distance calls were back then.
People either have forgotten or didn't live in the time before smart phones, but the world was fucking boring as, you HAD to talk to someone because you were so fucking bored, that's why we discovered shit, we were bored and had to do something, then turtle neck man gave us smartphones.
It's really sad to me that people think that smartphones are the source of all entertainment now. Even today I use my phone very little on a daily basis. You're limiting your perspective to that little screen in your hand instead of exploring the real world.
Smartphones are what is fucking boring to me. I don't want to sit around and look at that shit.
I can watch porn on the go?
Like... On a bus?
> ruined masturbating to complete strangers on a bus
does a smartphone force you to only masturbate to people you know?
Yeah, of course. Is yours broken?
You don't hate smartphones; you hate capitalism.
a lot of the issues listed are related to the impact of technology on our lives. not on the system that controls the means of the technology's production. unless you're trying to say that smartphones are only possible under a capitalist society?? but im assuming you're not saying something that ridiculous. or are you one of those freaks that thinks communism will solve all existential woes, even aging and mortality lol i hope not. because life is gonna have shit in it no matter what and being pampered to death is absolutely a thing. that's essentially the smart phone problem. thousands of potential dating partners a swipe away, hundreds of memes and videos constantly being uploaded to the brain, yeah it's going to impact you. this is bigger than economics.
I don't think capitalism/communism is a binary thing. I think (hope at least) there are more options.
I also think that the problem with smartphones is that they are designed to get you "hooked". The companies doing that are hoping to influence your behaviour so you will buy more of your stuff. And because we live in a society where capitalism is seen as holy and just, we let them.
I think we don't really have a free choice anymore. Companies know how to always win, they are too good at influencing through advertisement and design choices. And without actual free choice capitalism does not work. Anyone telling you that we have a free choice to not buy a product or to not use a smartphone, lies. A choice is not free if companies can and do spend millions of dollars to influence my choice.
Also, capitalism requires a free market to function. But a true free market will always end in a monopoly, because the biggest company can always buy the other smaller companies, again breaking the free market. So there is a catch-22 problem in the system.
TL;DR - Capitalism is slavery, except if you are the CEO.
I'm prepared for the downvotes knowing where I'm posting.
If you hate it that much, why are you using it? It's a tool. It's useful. It also allows you to overindulge, but that says more about you than the tool.
A lot of those are problems caused by phones regardless of whether one uses one themselves.
But for the personal ones, there are self aware addicts of all kinds. Smokers know cigarettes are killing them, complain about them, sometimes even hate them but can't stop.
Edit: pair o words
Yet, you engage with society. Curious.
I don't create posts claiming smart phones ruined every aspect of society dude
they are implying you are the orange shirt guy
knowing where I’m posting.
a place where people call each other out for saying stupid shit?
Wow
I would say that it is also a fault of the device if it encourages this brain-dead overindulgence that is clearly of the interest of many big advertisement companies. You can choose a device and OS tho and install apps that lessen the effect, but an simpler phone might not have all the bells and whistles but can get you quite far without offering such a possibility to lose hours off your brain just turned off.
GPS, music, and I disagree about the camera. I’d love a dumb phone that could do GPS music and a camera and nothing else besides text and calls.
Ehh... I hate anal-locked phones. They are turing machines. They are mathematically proven to be as capable as any other turing machines.
anal-locked
new kind of biometrics?
And authenticators, password managers.