Hulloo!

[betwixt]

Hi all,

Arbor here. Thanks for creating this forum! Great alternative to discord. I've been using my LP2 for about three years, and am so stoked for my LP3, probably arriving in May! I see it lasting me many years. Honestly, in my ideal world, I wouldn't use a mobile phone at all, but as a millennial who's had one since age 13 (and only adopted a smartphone in like 2020, and only briefly), I'm not ready for that yet. The E-Ink and small size are what sold me on the Light Phone 2, and the touch screen is my least favorite part of all the Light Phones--the only real detractor for me. The metal body, removable back, and various improvements sold me on the 3.

I live simply with my sweet little Chili dog on Guemes Island in Northwestern Washington, USA. I get by on odd jobs and am preparing to apply for grad school in counseling (planning to become a somatic therapist). I'm a long-time amateur fiddle player and am finally starting to get into old time music. I'm handy, crafty, low-tech, and a total people person! I love reading, playing social and table-top games, flying kites, swimming, and biking, among other things. I'm passionate about alternative healthcare, personal growth, and alternative economics.

Happy to be here!

[seth]

Welcome Arbor!

I feel the same about not using a mobile phone in an ideal world. All I need is a camera really lol, but there's just no way to actually accomplish that 24/7 unless you're extremely over or under privileged. Your life sounds great though. I am curious, what's alternative economics?

Hope your wait for the LPIII isn't too long! Secretly hoping production will increase and get it faster to those with further away shipping windows.

[betwixt]

Thanks Seth!

By alternative economics, I just mean various out-of-the-capitalist-box ways of relating to money, value, and each other, including various cooperative business and home-ownership models, income sharing, direct peer-to-peer investments and loans over use of the banking system, local/regional currencies, barter/trade, and so on.

Really interesting what you said about extreme under- or over-privilege regarding life without a mobile phone. Will you say more? As of now, I just figure it's another choice, like "going light," albeit a much more difficult and extreme one. I can almost see myself eventually getting to a point where I just have a landline phone and ethernet at home. But we'll see if I ever take the plunge.

[ShinRyusei]

Welcome to the forum! Your life sounds so lovely and simple, I'm kinda jelly.

Really interesting what you said about extreme under- or over-privilege regarding life without a mobile phone. Will you say more? As of now, I just figure it's another choice, like "going light," albeit a much more difficult and extreme one. I can almost see myself eventually getting to a point where I just have a landline phone and ethernet at home. But we'll see if I ever take the plunge.

This may be region dependent, but it's really hard to live without a smartphone in the States. You're viewed as weird if you go without one, and as a luddite if you get a dumb/minimal phone. Infrastructure is slowly becoming more smart and further usage of apps is required. This is obvious for jobs with things like company apps and VPNs, but even things like band tickets and similar events are being locked behind apps. My local card shop told me I could not join a tournament without a phone due to the app they use to keep track of scores. It's just hard to get by, and you are pressured by society from all angles to use a smartphone.

[betwixt]

Oh for sure! I was finishing college in Southern Illinois in 2012, just before smartphones became ubiquitous in the US, and since then I've lived in Western Mass, Rockland County, NY, rural Ontario, Seattle, and now rural Skagit county, WA, all without a smartphone for the most part. I've had small issues here and there as a result, but I've almost always been able to find a way around it. It helps that I have no interest in working for a company that would have it's own apps, and I generally keep things simple. But for shows and travel, I buy will-call or print tickets ahead of time, and for depositing checks, I go in person. Of course, more and more things are getting enmeshed with smartphones, and I understand people's reasons for sticking with them, but I believe strongly that requiring one is discriminatory, and I choose not to participate. I know I'm unusual (if not so much in this community of ours, thank goodness), but I actually appreciate the inconvenience--I think it forces me to be more intentional with my time and choices. And I certainly don't care if I'm viewed as weird--that would be correct! And it's helped connect me to kindred spirits.

There's actually a big hullabaloo going on right now, because my county just started using a new electronic ticketing system for the little ferry that goes to the island I live on (which has very few amenities, so we really depend on the ferry. And it's causing a lot of issues for a lot of people! Most of the island's residents are above the age of 60 and many of them also don't have smartphones. The previous system allowed for physical multi-ride punch cards, and one of the ferry workers would walk the line of cars and the pedestrian waiting area with a card reader for people paying that way. We couldn't use cash except at the county train station which isn't nearby, but otherwise, it was so simple and made so much sense! They say, "come on, it's 2025," but I barely see any good reason for the change.

[seth]

Thanks Seth!

By alternative economics, I just mean various out-of-the-capitalist-box ways of relating to money, value, and each other, including various cooperative business and home-ownership models, income sharing, direct peer-to-peer investments and loans over use of the banking system, local/regional currencies, barter/trade, and so on.

Really interesting what you said about extreme under- or over-privilege regarding life without a mobile phone. Will you say more? As of now, I just figure it's another choice, like "going light," albeit a much more difficult and extreme one. I can almost see myself eventually getting to a point where I just have a landline phone and ethernet at home. But we'll see if I ever take the plunge.

That actually sounds really cool, I've heard of some of that stuff before but didn't realize it goes so deep.

"Going light," is definitely a choice, but not a choice everyone can make. Ryusei put it pretty well, with most of the issue being in that places often require smartphones and that the number of those places seems to be rising. Generally speaking, participating in work or social activities is more frequently requiring smartphones and being less accomodating to those without them. I think that moving to Philadelphia has exaggerated this problem in my life, but more rural contexts are still facing this (but are being more accomodating). I think in the context of large cities, like Philly, it is harder to not have a smartphone, but in rural areas it's likely more difficult to go without a mobile phone. I believe that, in both contexts, the over- and under-privileged have an easier go without these things due to two different reasons: over-privileged people can often find workarounds (special one-function devices, constantly printing things out, paying extra fees, delegation, etc.) since they have the resources to continuously do so, and those that are under-privileged oft don't participate in more than bare necessities due to limited social mobility, therefore coming into far less contact with these restrictions. I think for the average person, it merely requires a few sacrifices and life will otherwise go on - with a few annoyances here and there. Now that I write it down, I'm not sure it makes that much sense. This kind of stuff is definitely location-dependent, not even just whether a place is rural or urban, but obviously the country is also important. I don't think any of this would apply exactly to anywhere else, really. Just something I've been observing here as I've ditched the smartphone.

[ShinRyusei]

Oh for sure! I was finishing college in Southern Illinois in 2012, just before smartphones became ubiquitous in the US, and since then I've lived in Western Mass, Rockland County, NY, rural Ontario, Seattle, and now rural Skagit county, WA, all without a smartphone for the most part. I've had small issues here and there as a result, but I've almost always been able to find a way around it. It helps that I have no interest in working for a company that would have it's own apps, and I generally keep things simple. But for shows and travel, I buy will-call or print tickets ahead of time, and for depositing checks, I go in person. Of course, more and more things are getting enmeshed with smartphones, and I understand people's reasons for sticking with them, but I believe strongly that requiring one is discriminatory, and I choose not to participate. I know I'm unusual (if not so much in this community of ours, thank goodness), but I actually appreciate the inconvenience--I think it forces me to be more intentional with my time and choices. And I certainly don't care if I'm viewed as weird--that would be correct! And it's helped connect me to kindred spirits.

I don't think you quite get it. In a lot of these places it isn't "oh you don't have a smartphone, here's what else you can do", it's "oh you don't have a smartphone, you are not allowed to participate." It differs fron area to area, but I know a friend who goes to a lot of local performances, and they will straight up bar you from entering if you don't have a smartphone with their special app. The same applies to my card game tournaments. Rural areas like yours are probably more lenient in this regard, which is why it hasn't hit you quite the same yet. Still, it's becoming more and more frequent, and it's quite uncomfortable how little control we have over certain aspects our lives.

There's actually a big hullabaloo going on right now, because my county just started using a new electronic ticketing system for the little ferry that goes to the island I live on (which has very few amenities, so we really depend on the ferry. And it's causing a lot of issues for a lot of people! Most of the island's residents are above the age of 60 and many of them also don't have smartphones. The previous system allowed for physical multi-ride punch cards, and one of the ferry workers would walk the line of cars and the pedestrian waiting area with a card reader for people paying that way. We couldn't use cash except at the county train station which isn't nearby, but otherwise, it was so simple and made so much sense! They say, "come on, it's 2025," but I barely see any good reason for the change.

This is the stuff I'm talking about. It sucks, but often the change is moreso to give the higher ups in power more control, without much benefit to the people. A lot of things don't need to be digital, but evolve into that anyway because of some perceived notion of "advancement", or for personal gain.