Will there ever come the day when we can't operate without Smart Phones?

MissAdventure

I think all service providers should provide their service in whatever way is comfortable for their customers.

Really? Even when the refusal of a few to accept the most cost-effective way of paying is costing money to the rest, and might make the service uncompetitive/unviable?

If some customers wanted to pay by carrier pigeon, should service providers make this possible?

Sometimes budget providers can offer services to more people more cheaply because they operate with limited options. I don't see what's wrong with that, and I certainly don't think that people who refuse to move with the times should hold everyone else to ransom. These days, you need a bank account to get paid, to pay most bills - do you think that everyone should also operate a cash alternative (with all the security issues that this represents) in case some people don't like the thought of opening a bank account?

Again, I am not saying that my 97 year old MIL, or my friend's profoundly disabled daughter should have to use technology with which they are uncomfortable - there needs to be an alternative for those who are genuinely unable to engage with it - but in most cases people in this position have others to do their admin anyway.

I think it is the speed of change that is the problem. We all got used to having landline phones in almost every home, but to start with they were not universal. Nor were bank accounts. However, we had time to adjust to the fact that firms expected us to do business this way. Smart phones have become the norm so quickly that older peoples are often left confused and wary. I think we need some alternatives until we can all catch up.

I was a reluctant smart phone user at first, but now I can't imagine life without it. I love being in touch with almost all my family on WhatsApp almost very day, and friends in Canada , Germany, Australia regularly, and all the games I can play, cards or scrabble etc, and check my bank account, and take instant photos, and find any bit of music that I feel like listening to. etc...
There are some things I don't like. My car insurance is due soon and I don't like doing things like this on my phone, although, having said that, it is handy to quickly check out comprison sites to see if can find a cheaper deal.
Will the day ever come when we can't operate without smart phones? - yes I think it will, or at least life will become very difficult for those without one.

How much does it cost to run these smart phones?
Being on a limited income I am unable to shell out a set amount per month on a contract just in case I need proof of vaccination sometime in the future
My pay as you go costs me nothing if I don't use it, and at the moment all I use it for is to ring my husband once a month fpr his to collect me from hospital appts.
Can I go online from a pay as you go phone?

A friend of a friend once missed a flight because her details were on her phone and it went duff at the crucial moment.

I got a special deal because I'm old and feeble. I pay £10 per month. A bargain, imho.

Smartphone are becoming essential for much everyday life, there are still alternatives but shrinking fast, I havn’t written a cheque for months and I don’t bother with a landline either.

In future we will likely be fitted with a “communication device” at birth everything will be loaded onto that, so no smartphone needed.

I can't really imagine how anyone gets by without one these days, mapping, whatsapp, car parking, banking, shopping, travel, reminders etc, landline redundant apart from broadband connection.

Thanks so much everyone for all of your replies and thoughts. A really interesting cross section there.

For myself, my own personal preference is to operate the way that I do now without a smart phone.

I've got a laptop and a tablet and do all of my personal 'admin' on line, including shopping, paying bills, tax returns etc. My pay as you go mobile costs me around £20 per year as I make very few calls on it and send very few texts. I keep in touch with the people in my life regularly by email and long chats on the landline, and am very much looking forward to the time when it becomes possible to see them all personally.

This personal choice suits me very well.

I do recognise though that there is likely to come a day when it will be very difficult, if not impossible to operate without a smart phone. Maybe the vaccination passport arrangements, whatever they turn out to be, will be the catalyst for this. I guess I'll deal with that situation then, though am not happy with the thought of being 'coerced' into having a smart phone.

Thanks again everyone.

well each to his own, but i don't do many of the things most people on here do, so see no need for a smart phone.
nor do i wish for one.
i see no problem using a bank card to pay for things, and get out cash.
i don't travel beyond where i know and if i did i would use an atlas or printed road map.
i pay bills by ringing the automated payment system, with bank debit card. i have no wish for facebook or similar.
having the internet is useful for reading news, researching subjects, but i can do that on this old hand-me-down laptop.
i just live a simpler life. it suits me.

Land-line numbers count for nothing online now. When ordering from Asda I had to enter D's mobile number or the delivery wouldn't have gone through. I'd never use a mobile so I see no point in paying for nothing.

Back in the day when some people said they wouldn’t have that “new fangled gas” installed in their homes ???

Basically it just means everything you do on your laptop you can do on a small pocket sized devise that you can take everywhere with you instead of waiting to go on your lap top every day. You will love it at least try it. My 82 fil is a wizz on his iPhone he teaches me tricks and tips it’s the way forward to stay connected.

Each to his own, but l love my I phone, and my PS4 where l am currently exploring Ancient Greece in a computer game! ??. But what l don’t understand about people as we get older is why some people and I have friends who do this, seem to take pride in not being computer literate. Why do they want to get left behind and out of touch? I t separates you from younger generations and experiences they identify with. I for one would have been so much worse of without being able to chat, play games and even do virtual baking with my grandkids on our phones/ tablets. Also recorded stories to send them so they can hear me reading them a story at night. My iPhone is such a rich addition to life.

I love my smartphone. I have had one for years. You will have to learn to live with them 'cos things ain't going to change....hahaha

I have a cheap Android phone,it's been enough for me .But it can't handle these apps that we're getting to need more often.I never managed to download the NHS one.A lot of us are going to be struggling if we need an app to prove that we've had the vaccine.

Mine is android, too.
As I've said, it gets overwhelmed if asked to do too much and the last one froze, and lost lots of things that were very important to me, personally.

No you dont need a smart phone if you dont want one, just make a telephone call when you need somethng, remember when we did in the olden days??
I tell people I dont have a phone, I do really, but it puts others in a position they have to use their brain in order to oblige you. Well done. xx

MerylStreep

I'd love to be around when the human race is chipped. Everything will be done by fingerprint or retina scanning.
Then the technophobes will be screaming why can't we keep our smartphones ?

Absolutely MerylStreep. I wonder if back in the day people moaned about washing machines etc which made their lives easier!

It really annoys me that everything has to be done by app or mobile or online..why can't we talk to someone on the phone?

The answer to that is that we can, if we insist.
It's getting harder though.

MissAdventure
What's an app ? Seriously what is it ?

It's a "thing".
A thing that you download onto your phone so that you don't need to use a full website.

I have a bus app, for example, which has my bus ticket on it.
I open the app to find my ticket, to save me having to use the full website. (I think!)

welbeck
Live the simple life ?You and me both.

Spidergran3 summed up exactly what worries me about smartphones when she says - " my life is on it".
It would worry me all the time if I was dependent on an easily breakable, loseable, stealable, droppable down the toilet ( yes - my daughter did that with hers, and yes I know I've used some words that are not real ) device which, amongst other things had all my financial details on it.

I do have a smartphone and it does have its uses, such as taking a picture of the electricity meter when I need to take a reading , without having to get on my knees and peer into the cupboard under the stairs, whilst holding a torch..

But all things really confidential are on my desktop, and, whilst it's still vulnerable, it comforts me to know that burglars might think twice before attempting to carry that out of the house.

Finally,I have a landline, so I quite enjoy the ongoing battle with my bank, which is desperate to have my mobile number, and under no circumstances will I let them have it!

My sister still has her little Nokia phone, has no internet whatsoever and gives off stink cos everything is driven by it. I have no internet through my house phone, got rid of it all, just use my smartphone. I can't do an awful lot really with it, but I can order online, get my electric, do lottery, banking ,etc on it and have found it great through lockdown, very handy indeed. Constant bleeping at times does irritate me though....