Why I'm glad my iPhone broke

Why I'm glad my iPhone broke(sirupsen.com)

91 points by stkhlm 13 years ago | 103 comments

ssharp 13 years ago |

I can't believe that any majority of smartphone users' lives are being debilitated by owning a smartphone. Just like there is a large area between not drinking and being a full-blown alcoholic, there is a large area between not owning a smartphone and being addicted to a smartphone.

If you cannot control yourself enough to stop constantly taking pictures and posting them to Facebook and you don't like this behavior, then tossing the phone in the trash might be your best play. But for those of us who own a smartphone and rarely touch the camera and Facebook app, the phone isn't affecting my life in a negative manner. Yes, I'd rather have access to 16GB of local music and access Spotify than not have it. If it's there, I can choose to use it or not.

The issue here isn't the smartphone, it's making bad choices that lead to negative outcomes for you.

LarrySDonald 13 years ago | |

These were kind of my thoughts. I love having a smartphone and even before they existed I tried to get the dumb ones to do the maximum possible via sms. I really like being able to not worry about finding my way someplace or being able to think "Hmm, I want to go to a museum/eat at 5 guys/walk around a park/swim. Where's the closest one?" and be told. I like being able to check my email or take a picture of something I find amusing. But it's not ruling my life, it's a tiny fraction of it. If people want to know so badly what I'm thinking, eating or doing, well, call or text I guess - I don't have time to document it. I've found very little disturbance to anything, the only possible time I might miss something is if I'm somewhere deathly boring and I choose to ignore it in favor of browsing and even that isn't common.

brador 13 years ago |

Try this - Leave home with nothing and go take a walk around. No bags, no phone, no keys, nothing. Just clothes and maybe $20 in your pocket for emergencies. Leave early and with no commitments later in the day. Eat on the road. Return when you feel like it. Walk at whatever pace you like. Go wherever your legs take you.

It's an awesome feeling like nothing else. Helps if you live with someone so they can let you in when you return.

ljf 13 years ago | |

I'd add to that; try a day/weekend/week without any kind of watch or clock. If I plan on waking at a time, and I KNOW there is no clock to wake me, I nearly always wake on time.

Holidays feel awesome when you just do what your body tells you - eat when you are hungry, go places when you feel like it, sleep when you are ready.

I spent a few weeks in Thailand like this and I felt amazing - I'd wake naturally (feeling great) around dawn, and the days felt huge with plans not tied to times.

Similarly I would have nothing in my pocket except a little paper money. My shack had a combination lock on the door. I'd buy some water when I wanted it, and eat anywhere, leaving the change as a tip. Going down the beach and knowing I had nothing to be stolen, to forget or to go back for (was so hot that I swan in a t-shirt to avoid sunburn) you could just swim off and come to land much further down the beach. Man those were good times!

smspence 13 years ago | | |

"If I plan on waking at a time, and I KNOW there is no clock to wake me, I nearly always wake on time."

This makes no sense.

Yes, around the holidays if you don't have to go to work, it's fine to just wake up whenever your body decides to wake up in the morning. But if I consciously think "ok, body, you need to wake up at 7:30 am tomorrow" it's probably not going to happen without an alarm clock.

cleis 13 years ago | |

Or you could, you know, take keys... I fail to understand the distraction of having keys. It's not like I walk past every door I see and think 'man, must try and unlock that with my handy keys'. I suppose they do jangle. Bloody jangling keys.

archangel_one 13 years ago | | |

I do think it'd be quite useful to have them, despite the jangling, in order to let myself back into my flat once I got back from my walk.

koide 13 years ago | | |

You could take only the one or two keys needed to get in, tied up with a tiny bit of wire. Leave the keychain and rest of junk keys you might have.

meaty 13 years ago | |

I used to do that with a TravelCard in London in the late 90s. £4 used to get you round the entire city and you can eat well for £4 on top of that. It's probably doubled now.

Some out of date Kodak 35mm film (free) and an old Praktica camera (free) and the city was mine. That, clothes and a rain coat and I was happy :)

I don't advocate it, but trespassing has certain interesting side as well and is free (if you don't get caught).

c0nsumer 13 years ago | | |

This sounds like most of the time I've spent in London when on holiday/vacation recently. Just go there, wander, eat when hungry, wander more... Go back to the hotel after dark and wake up whenever. There are lots of neat things to be seen.

ljf 13 years ago | | |

Some stunning tips on 'Urban Exploration' here: http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/

carlob 13 years ago | | |

Well, in Rome the day ticket is €6 and you can eat for about €4. You can leave your raincoat at home :)

yitchelle 13 years ago | |

Do it with your SO and your kids in their pre-teen years, and you will start to believe that this is about as good as it gets.

For me, every time I do this, I get a feeling of contentment. I also feel inspired.

whichdan 13 years ago | |

If the idea of walking around aimlessly appeals to you but you'd rather keep your phone with you, I would highly recommend a pair of bluetooth headphones. During the summer I'll usually walk around Boston for ten or so miles just listening to music. It's very relaxing, and lunch tastes a lot better when you're exhausted.

If you like the idea but lack the self control, the new iPod Touches have bluetooth, or you can always turn off certain wireless services on your iPhone/Android/etc.

netcan 13 years ago | |

and take a towel

Florin_Andrei 13 years ago | |

> no keys

Yeah, every time I did this, I had to break into my own house through the window. :(

Never again.

hnriot 13 years ago | |

Someone has a Kerouac fetish... Romanticizing this way of life is fine, but it's just that. Real life creeps back in and you remember why you needed those keys, and that you left your sunglasses in your bag, and wandering aimlessly makes you look a little strange!

Peroni 13 years ago |

It’s handy to have all these things in one device, but for now, the pros outweigh the cons for me.

The pro's listed: You call people more & you don't worry about damaging your phone anymore. Personally, those pro's don't even come close to outweighing the inconvenience of not having instant access to maps, music, camera and email for me.

sheri 13 years ago |

Here are my observations:

- No one reads (books) on buses/trains anymore. Its very rare to see someone reading a book in SF in public transport. - No one looks around anymore. I seem like the only person who is looking out the window, or observing fellow passengers. I would say around 80% of the people have their headphones on, and are engrossed in their smartphone.

One funny incident stands out. I waked into Chipotle (restaurant), and everyone in line was staring into their smartphone. As soon as I walked in, everyone looked up, and in unison went back to their smartphone. It was synchronized enough to be like something from a parody.

I wouldn't say this is necessarily bad, just different than how it used to be. I have a smartphone, but not a data plan, so I don't use it outside of home. However, the maps and transit (to me) is a killer feature.

hmbg 13 years ago | |

I spend most of my public transport time reading books - on my smartphone. That is one of the features I'd miss most if my phone broke.

People are engrossed in their smartphones, but whether they're looking at cat pics or reading Nietzsche, you won't know until you ask.

snogglethorpe 13 years ago | |

> No one reads (books) on buses/trains anymore.

They do here (Tokyo area).

What's interesting is that a few years ago, far fewer people seemed to be reading; everybody was staring at their phone. Lately (within the last couple of years), however, this seems to be changing, and I see many more people reading actual books [this is helped by the fact that Japanese paperbacks [文庫] are almost perfectly suited for train reading, being small, thin, light, and flexible].

My guess is that the bloom has passed to some degree, and highly capable phones have become so normal that people are less fascinated by them, and more likely to see the tradeoffs compared to things like books/newspapers/etc. [and indeed, I seem to see more people reading actual broadsheets on trains lately as well]

That doesn't mean people don't look at their phones, of course; many do. But books are back, baby... :]

[This is all merely my personal observation of course; YMMV...]

xedarius 13 years ago |

More often than not on hacker news there's a story about someone whose accidentally gone 'bohemian'. I think it's something we all need to do from time to time. Personally I like to rent a cottage in one of England's many fine forests.

The end of the article did make me chuckle, as after his great story of 'disconnect' he ends the article with 'you should follow me on twitter'.

rcush 13 years ago |

I have read several posts about ditching smartphones in recent months, and the writer invariably states that they were not addicted. However, if their behaviour pattern cannot be changed while still owning a smartphone, then they are addicted. It's a question of will power, and it seems many people don't have it.

I went through a stage of dependency on my iPhone, always filling in small gaps in my day with games, Twitter, email or Facebook. I realised I was spending too much time on it, and so for the past couple of years I've significantly restricted my time with the phone. Certainly it is never used in company. In my opinion, I've found a happy balance. I still get all the myriad pros that a smartphone offers, but don't reach for it every time I'm not busy.

georgemcbay 13 years ago |

There is an in-between solution here:

Buy a cheap Android phone.

For example the HTC One V regularly sells for $150 (with no contract) and has had a few sales days over the past few months where it was selling for only $50. A $50-150 phone gives you that same "I don't really have to worry about my phone" situation while still allowing you to have the smartphone experience -- web, email, apps, GPS with turn-by-turn directions using the excellent Google Navigation, etc.

I owned an iPhone 3G then went to a Motorola Droid (the original one) and then realized that while I could afford "expensive" phones and data plans, I was mostly throwing money away so I switched to cheap Android phones on no-contract plans (Virgin Mobile in my case though T-Mobile also has some nice options).

pgsandstrom 13 years ago |

People seem to always enjoy experimenting with the way they live. I don't think the lack of a smart phone that created a good experience, I think it is trying out a new pace.

SageRaven 13 years ago | |

I think that "pace" is something very much disrupted with various doodads vying for one's attention.

I spent several years with my family in a rather primitive house. We tried to minimize use of power when possible to save money and not be dependent on it. As a result, our refrigeration needs were minimal.

For several months, we started shutting off the main power circuit into the house for one day a week, usually Saturday or Sunday (and banning the use of battery-powered gadgets). It was awesome. No phone calls, no humming of the refrigerator, no ability to distract oneself easily with the PC or a movie or the radio. We would eat basic meals, go on walks, or just sit around the house/property on our own and reflect. I'd read more. The evenings were often spent playing cards together, often by the wood stove, with candles, talking more, drinking wine.

I miss those days, and someday hope to return to such a situation. This isn't some kind of snobbery. Such silence and freedom -- such idle time -- is good for the mind, body, and soul (at least that's what I personally believe). I encourage people to experience such peace when they can.

ygra 13 years ago |

Of course, having a smartphone doesn't really force you to check it obsessively every two minutes or be literally glued to its screen. To me at least it's nice that I can check e-mail, Twitter and the web while not at home or ask a service for directions.

But I don't feel in any way forced that my life needs to revolve around this little computer in my pocket. I can still enjoy my surroundings and talk to actual people. Heck, I sometimes even miss calls because my ringtone defaults to “no one else should be annoyed by it” but that's ok – just because I carry a cellphone doesn't mean I must use that connectedness at all times.

kaolinite 13 years ago |

A little while ago my smartphone's screen smashed and it took 2-3 weeks for it to be fixed. During that time, I came to the conclusion that I didn't need a smartphone. Eventually my phone was returned and I loved it again and can't imagine leaving the house without it. Simon is probably right - leaving it at home for a month would probably be a good thing - but unless forced, I just can't bring myself to be without it.

ericcholis 13 years ago | |

Similar situation, although my phone wasn't broken. My wife and I spent about 3 weeks in New Zealand and Fiji for our honeymoon. I toyed with the idea of getting a SIM card, but realized that I wouldn't have time or need to use it.

I found that I didn't miss my phone at all. I had Google Voice at the time, and could text the family from the hotel while winding down. The occasional phone call would have been nice, but I could have used Skype if I really needed to.

Also, my internet browsing habits have changed completely. I only frequent about four websites regularly. Most of my internet free time is spent reading HN Posts and other similar technical articles/blogs that I happen across.

Side note: While I didn't get a SIM, I wish I had purchased some sort of mobile hotspot. Hotel internet access was ridiculously priced, upwards of $20 per day.

neya 13 years ago |

Here's my experience. It's not exactly the same, but it's worth a read.

Currently I have a very basic Nokia model. There is a process called 'handing over' or 'hand shake' that happens when you move from one cell (a small region of an entire area) to another or when one cellphone tower 'hands over' the signal to another tower. This process is handled exceptionally well on most smartphones, but not so well on the basic phones such as lower-end Nokias.

So, if you were in the middle of a call and this handshake happens (mostly when you are traveling) and if it isn't done on time, or if it isn't done right, the call is dropped.

Previously I had a HTC Desire S, which I dropped from the top of a building by mistake and hence I ended up with this Nokia. Now, this Nokia had frequent call drops and it won't even notify me when it happens. It got irritating after a point, because I would still keep talking assuming the other person is still listening (while on a call) only to realize that I would have to repeat whatever I just said.

One day, I got so angry, because it was an important call, I just thrashed the phone on to the ground on purpose. Luckily, only the display broke, but the phone would still function normally.

Here's my experience with this phone:

1) Previously, on my HTC, all my 2000+ contact would be synced from my google account automatically. There was zero effort needed on my part, so, basically I had everyone's number on my phone synced automagically - My family, Friends on Facebook, Friends on whtasapp, etc.

With this nokia phone, I would have to manually save each number to the phone (which has only a max. of 500 contacts) also it's a tedious process, because I'd need to type them manually. Since the display is gone now, I need to memorize the numbers of important people. And I could feel in a week's time, my ability to memorize (which was previously rusty) has actually improved. With a smartphone, I didn't have to memorize anything - While convenient, it's dangerous, sometimes. For example, I once needed to recall someone's number to deliver my movie tickets at a particular place and I had actually forgotten their number. It was a nightmare.

And it's not just numbers, I actually have the workflow memorized too - To access phonebook, press right right select. To access recent calls - down down left. Stuff liek that. It's ugly, but it gets the job done.

2) Productivity. I'm a heavy Facebook user. Or I was, rather. I realized, my smartphone alone was responsible for over 80% of the status updates and photos uploaded to my account. It was a content producer by itself. Now that it is no more, I feel the urge to use the platform has considerably decreased, because I don't have a camera phone now and I haven't uploaded anything much since my phone broke.

3) Savings. I saved a LOT. No data plans meant cheaper monthly rates and no phone book meant memorizing only important people's numbers and calling fewer people. I do have a back up of my contacts on my google account though.

4) Safety. I don't walk on the streets typing some random shit on my Android qwerty keyboard nor do I talk to someone over the bluetooth headset while driving. This is subjective, though - Not everyone does all this with their smartphones.

5) No screening. Since my phone doesn't have a display, I wouldn't be able to see who's calling me. If I miss them, I will never get to know who had called me either. So, sometimes, if the phone rings, I just answer and say 'hello' and talk to whoever it is, instead of ignoring people by their name (sometimes to avoid them on purpose, because I would be busy with something). I realized how much I missed out by categorizing certain people as boring. Again, this is a subjective thing.

6) Battery. This phone lasts for almost 2 weeks. My HTC would last only a little less than a day. It's a huge difference. No charging or low battery woes.

All in all, I'm a productive person, comparatively and a more real-world friendly guy - instead of taking pictures of pancakes and uploading them to instagram, I just fucking eat them.

elrzn 13 years ago |

Smartphones are useful. They're an invaluable resource that might even save your life someday.

What you really need is to lay off the twitters and the instagrams.

hudell 13 years ago |

I can live without my smartphone, but I don't need to. Life is better with it. And I can't see why people consider "I’ve started calling people more" a pro instead of a con.

Why do people think that a person immersed in a gadget is a bad thing? I wouldn't be doing anything better without it. I would be bored to hell, as it used to be before I got my first gadget.

RyanZAG 13 years ago |

I’ve started calling people more. ... It’s funny how little I called people on my iPhone, and how surprised parts of my generation is when they receive a call. ... improved arrangements and generally had more fun communicating.

Did you ever think to ask the people you were phoning if they were busy with anything? Sure, it might have been great for you to break someones concentration with some basic question that could have had a quick yes/no answer in a text message, but was it great for the recipient? I would also be very surprised if someone called me for something they could have just sent a text for - and if they did it a couple more times, I'd set my phone to automatically redirect calls from them to voice-mail.

cm-t 13 years ago |

I am using on dailylife a smartphone, but i got the same issu:

No camera; I don't take pics from my smartphone.

No music; Not enought choice of music in the format required and anyway the player leak too much battery and it is lagging.

No maps; 10 minutes to get a fix...

I’ve started calling people more; taking 10 minutes for a fix on the agps built-in is too long

I don’t care for my phone; it is so heavy that I got asked at airport

My concerns were mostly right, but I can live without these things; but someone told me QtMoko was usable, I will give it a try also.

Let me the time to compile this thing ( Not going back.. for now )

Message sent from my OpenMoko Freerunner GTA02

duskwuff 13 years ago | |

Not to be a detractor, but you really ought to try getting a smartphone that's halfway modern. The GTA02 is four and a half years old -- that's practically ancient history as far as smartphones are concerned -- and it doesn't help that it was always a pretty funky device.

cm-t 13 years ago | | |

I have a modern one, I was just making fun about my situation 3 years ago. Everyone with a neo had the same issues if they was using it as a dailyphone. I thought derision would not be same as detractor, sorry if you or others fell it like this.

Aardwolf 13 years ago |

Is everyone really this "connected" when having a smartphone? When I have a smartphone I'm not really "more connected", after all peple could call me on a dumbphone too.

However, what it brings is "Internet everywhere yay!", which I then use to read forums, wikipedia, articles, etc... whenever not near a computer. Plus of course it can play PC games like Freeciv, nethack and Minecraft.

So basically, I'm about exactly as social on a smartphone as on a desktop computer, and now have an environment that used to exist only at a desk, on trains and on the toilet :)

edparry 13 years ago |

Insightful.

I don't think I'm brave enough to try this. I'd feel like I have to constantly jump between computers in case I missed an important email or some relevant news broke. And no maps? I'd never get home...

smspence 13 years ago | |

"I'd feel like I have to constantly jump between computers in case I missed an important email or some relevant news broke."

Sounds like you really need to try this then. Seriously, don't let your "fear of missing out" cripple you.

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/04/14/fomo-addict...

edparry 13 years ago | | |

Wow, thanks for pointing me to that. I fear it describes me a little too closely...

gz5 13 years ago |

I was a little bit everywhere, all the time. But not truly anywhere. Without the temptation available from my pocket, I feel like I am more present being wherever I am.

Nice summary. I can't quite ditch my Droid but am decreasing the frequency of switching back and forth between the two worlds. Finding that focused single-tasking (when not at work) is underrated and not easy (at least not for me).

segmond 13 years ago |

learn some self control. i have a smartphone, i don't want it to break. i run it, it doesn't run my life, i'm more efficient and better for it. my last smart phone, i bought used for $90 and i used it for a year and the only reason i'm not using it now is because i got the nexus 4. no one has to spend $1000 on a smart phone.

bluekite2000 13 years ago |

You can have the best of both worlds. I have an unlocked iphone 4. I pay as I go. I have no data plan. Before I go out I download what I need so I can read it offline (books,videos,articles,podcasts,etc) Google maps works offline so I dont fear of getting lost. I take pictures for myself

meaty 13 years ago |

I recently got a Nokia C2-01. Very basic thing that is used for calls and texts and doesn't need charging every half a day.

It's also on Giffgaff in the UK so it costs me £20 top up a month for what I was paying around £80 a month for before.

It is a weight lifted from my shoulders in many ways.

koyote 13 years ago | |

£20 on giffgaff? You must make a lot of calls to non-giffgaff users on the go. And how were you paying £80 before?

The advantage of having a smartphone is that you can get by easily on something like their £10-12 plan simply by using data to make free skype/gtalk/SIP calls and everything else is unlimited anyway.

Battery and general reliability wise, nothing beats a good old Nokia though!

meaty 13 years ago | | |

Yeah 800 inclusive minutes on that deal. I make a lot of calls (650-700 mins a month).

£80 before: handset included and crap contract.

moubarak 13 years ago |

same happened to me. my nexus one broke several months ago and had to use a nokia brick that was lying there but i hate it.

I do not call people more often, i use my laptop for communicating with people now. I'm still stuck with that nokia though because i think we live in a time of ugly phones.

i was about to get a 4s until they introduced that elongated screen, not to mention the huge screens on the androids. Seems like if i want to get a thin cool smart phone these days i have to put up with excess everything. i wish there was a minimalist phone out there that was still cool.

kunai 13 years ago | |

>i wish there was a minimalist phone out there that was still cool.

Well, you could always get a BlackBerry, you know. Or if you REALLY want minimalism, then buy a refurbished Razr V3 off of eBay. And this quote is a bit puzzling:

>i was about to get a 4s until they introduced that elongated screen

You can still buy the 4S -- Apple is still selling it.

moubarak 13 years ago | | |

i don't know, my experience with nexus one is that once a new model comes out, the older one soon becomes unsupported.

I still use snow leopard for instance and i can't get many new features because of that.

So yes i can buy a 4s, but i was hoping for one that won't go unsupported soon. Plus you're right about the blackberry, i am considering one.

alexyoung 13 years ago |

I wonder why his first instinct was to just lay out $1000 instead of seeing if he could get his current one repaired or replaced on insurance?

smspence 13 years ago | |

I was wondering the same thing.... I was also wondering how he could NOT just get another iPhone for less than $1000? Seriously, if my iPhone died tomorrow, and I had no insurance, I could still easily buy one on ebay for like $300 or $400.

jasonm23 13 years ago |

"You should follow me on twitter here" ... Groan.

khet 13 years ago | |

Please explain why that line bothers you and refrain from insults. This is not reddit.

jasonm23 13 years ago | | |

I'll amend it, sorry, but it aggravates me slightly when someone is writing several paragraphs, describing in detail how much they are free from digital distractions, and so on and so forth, and at the very foot they say... Follow me on twitter.

... it speaks volumes to me, none of it good.

emeidi 13 years ago |

Now I'm waiting to hear how deliberating it feels when the computer breaks ... wait, how is one going to blog then?

assemble 13 years ago | |

When I was out of the country on vacation recently, I didn't turn on my phone and I didn't bring my computer. I didn't have internet (because I refuse to pay for internet at hotels) either.

Writing (by hand) in a journal and just experiencing the place you are in can be amazing. I found that some of the most amazing parts of my trip were when I (a) was not trying to takes pictures or something and just took it all in or (b) when I was writing in my journal about what had happened during the day.

Every time I've gone without a computer/phone for several days has been wonderful. I really should do it more often, but I have a job where I have to use both all day...

pqs 13 years ago | |

With a paper, a pencil and a photocopier! ;-)

peeze 13 years ago |

You should check out iCracked. They'll either fix your iPhone or buy it from you!

af3 13 years ago |

I live without a phone for 3.5 years. I use Messages (on OS X) to text friends that have iphones, and Google Voice for those that use something else. So far it works pretty well for me.

pretoriusB 13 years ago |

Let me guess: for some BS superficial reason, like:

1) Getting the chance to switch to Android which is, like, soooooo much better (and "open")?

2) Getting the chance to live life without constant connectivity, and appreciating the small things?