Re: [dev] Suckless Smartphone?

On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 12:45 PM, Guilherme Lino <guih.lino_AT_gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 7:25 PM, David Tweed <david.tweed_AT_gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 5:20 PM, Guilherme Lino <guih.lino_AT_gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > i would recomend a cheap phone, that make calls and sends smSs..
>> >
>> > whene you dont have your pc, read a book.. i think thats the most
>> > suckless
>> > way
>>
>> A "smart phone" makes sense in certain circumstances. I have an old
>> mobile phone which just does voice/SMS, and normally the things I do
>> in my life fit with this, However, I'm currently looking to move to a
>> new area, which means I'm stuck with informal rentals websites that
>> insist on hiding people's details behind their web-based message
>> interfaces, wanting to look up an awful lot of stuff (maps, bus
>> routes, local taxis, train times, etc). It would make my life a lot
>> easier if I could rent a smartphone for just the one month I need it,
>> transferring my existing number temporarily. Unfortunately that's not
>> a supported business model in mobile phones.
>>
>> I can imagine there are other people with lifestyles where a
>> smartphone makes sense constantly, eg, those people who genuinely
>> enjoy facebook and doing all that networking stuff while on the move.
>> (In general, I'm always a bit surprised how it seems to be perceived
>> to be suckless to proscribe the user-level tasks that are allowed. How
>> those are implemented yes, but saying that classes of activity are not
>> acceptable?) On the other hand, I'd certainly agree that many people
>> seem to have gone for smartphones because it's the cool new thing
>> rather than because their usage is best fitted by a smartphone.
>>
>>
>> --
>> cheers, dave tweed__________________________
>> computer vision reasearcher: david.tweed_AT_gmail.com
>> "while having code so boring anyone can maintain it, use Python." --
>> attempted insult seen on slashdot
>>
>
> you could try a cheap phone and a cheap tablet
> and personally a person that spends more than a hour a on facebook doing
> "stuff"(talk to friends doesn't count) must have some kind of problem

The point is that a cheap phone and cheap tablet DOESN'T fit what I
need to do at the moment. I don't need a big screen at the moment just
a temporary 3G data plan (so taht that I can access info and services
in the middle of nowhere) with a phone sized display, which
unfortunately doesn't exist. Even if I could get a temporary 3G tablet
it would be less useful when I'm trying to run out of the office and
look at a place during my lunch hour. (I'm sure there are situations
where a tablet makes sense, but they seem to be "couch based" rather
than mobile.)

I'm not saying you should have a smartphone, just that I don't see how
the logic "I don't have a use for a smartphone, therefore no-one at
all should have one" works.

-- 
cheers, dave tweed__________________________
computer vision reasearcher: david.tweed_AT_gmail.com
"while having code so boring anyone can maintain it, use Python." --
attempted insult seen on slashdot