Interesting idea, but from where I sit, I can get a regular smart phone and control the notifications and choose what software to put on it. I don't need specialized hardware to help me with that....
Interesting idea, but from where I sit, I can get a regular smart phone and control the notifications and choose what software to put on it. I don't need specialized hardware to help me with that. But maybe some others do?
I find the design very interesting. The UI is very reminiscent of the original iPod with its black and white UI. I kind of like it but also find it kind of cheesy. (So I guess I like cheesy things!) With edge-to-edge glass being so popular now, the iPhone 4-esque design of the hardware looks so dated, though.
But it's an interesting idea. If they've already sold out of 1 batch, then I guess it's at least got a niche. If anyone here buys one, let us know how you like it!
I like the idea, but there are certain features that require a more fully feature smartphone t hat I find indispensable. The big ones being GPS/maps, and a web browser. I feel like the screen time...
I like the idea, but there are certain features that require a more fully feature smartphone t hat I find indispensable. The big ones being GPS/maps, and a web browser.
I feel like the screen time features in iOS are meant to address the same problems as the Light Phone without physically limiting the hardware.
It has been pointed out to me that you do not know the identities of the people who answered the census, so you can not be sharing private information. I apologise for saying you were cavalier...
It has been pointed out to me that you do not know the identities of the people who answered the census, so you can not be sharing private information.
I apologise for saying you were cavalier with other people's data.
Ahem. I thought responses to the census were private? (And you wonder why I didn't want to give my exact age...) EDIT: https://tildes.net/~tech/km7/the_light_phone#comment-4e5n
Ahem. I thought responses to the census were private?
(And you wonder why I didn't want to give my exact age...)
I appreciate that you're back, and the insightful discussions you often bring, but I don't appreciate the unchill sentiment you bring to many threads. For the sake of many others here, chill.
I appreciate that you're back, and the insightful discussions you often bring, but I don't appreciate the unchill sentiment you bring to many threads. For the sake of many others here, chill.
It really sounds like it solves a problem of our time... For some people. When I look closely at what I use on my phone, a lot of them are "tools" already. Listening to music, podcasts, checking...
It really sounds like it solves a problem of our time... For some people.
When I look closely at what I use on my phone, a lot of them are "tools" already. Listening to music, podcasts, checking the weather, navigating, 2FA, online banking, taking notes, making photos, using my calendar. Those things aren't externally pushed to me in "feeds" (with maybe the exception of new podcasts). I control them.
I also use my phone for Netflix, YouTube, browsing, social networks, reading.
The Light Phone would actually sacrifice a lot of the "tools" functionality to get me to stop using "feeds". I agree with @babypuncher that your smartphone could handle these things for you. But for some (or many) that might not cut it.
I also doubt the use of an e-ink screen. I enjoy reading on e-ink, but using it for quick input the experience is quite poor.
Last point: $350 is quite a lot when you actually sacrifice a lot of functionality compared tot other devices. Yes, even when considering its niche, research cost, etc.
It actually seems like the problem is just social media. Do people really have a problem with chronically checking the weather, or spending all their time checking their bank account? The only...
It actually seems like the problem is just social media. Do people really have a problem with chronically checking the weather, or spending all their time checking their bank account? The only thing I ever see people do on their phones for long periods of time are check social media and play games. I don't have any social media accounts besides a facebook account that my job requires me to have and I never check, and don't have the app installed, and I don't have games on my phone, so I never have an issue with either of these.
Intentionally buying a phone that can't do the other ten thousand useful, non distracting things a smartphone can do seems like moving into a shack in the middle of an abandoned lot so you don't have to deal with looking at a lamp you don't like in your house.
Just get rid of the lamp.
Poor people do this all the time. I'm in the middle of a financial shortage at the moment and I can tell you for sure that I have been checking my bank account a minimum of once a day since the...
Do people really have a problem with [...] spending all their time checking their bank account?
Poor people do this all the time. I'm in the middle of a financial shortage at the moment and I can tell you for sure that I have been checking my bank account a minimum of once a day since the start of it.
But, yeah, I get it. I find it amazing that people would rather spend hundreds of dollars on artificial barriers rather than spending a few hours trying to fix their addictive personality problems.
Pretty much my thoughts are the consensus here, this is an interesting idea, but far too boutique for my needs, especially since could can get a Mobile Pi setup, an eInk screen, and a Cell Modem...
Pretty much my thoughts are the consensus here, this is an interesting idea, but far too boutique for my needs, especially since could can get a Mobile Pi setup, an eInk screen, and a Cell Modem for probably half the cost. (Hey, wouldn't you know it!)
What I am curious about is the Alcatel Go Flip 3, a phone that was just released that hits a lot of my buttons for easy to use what I want, and harder to use what I don't. I could bang out a Tildes post on a T9 if I HAD to, but it's not as desirable to, and there's less chance to fall down a Reddit hole if the internet browsing interface is harder to work. But I can still pull up a YouTube video, map and navigate, ask Google a question, make calls and text and use some web services, but more on my own terms, at least, that's the romantic ideal.
I don't know if the reason people are on their phones too much is because they're too enticing like the ad implies. The video was full of attractive people in beautiful places doing interesting...
I don't know if the reason people are on their phones too much is because they're too enticing like the ad implies. The video was full of attractive people in beautiful places doing interesting things, but i think that usually excessive phone use (Or almost any other addiction) is caused by lack of ability to do interesting things, whether from poverty, living in a rural area, mental or physical disabilities, just being too mentally drained from your job, etc, and that getting a less useful phone probably won't change your life.
Oh dear, that design looks terrible. Why does the front have so much wasted space? Why is it so thick? why are the up and down buttons smaller than the menu buttons (especially when I'm assuming...
Oh dear, that design looks terrible. Why does the front have so much wasted space? Why is it so thick? why are the up and down buttons smaller than the menu buttons (especially when I'm assuming you'll need to push them more frequently)? Why is it using Micro USB when everyone's already moved on to USB-C?
Granted, most of my problems are aesthetic and some people may like this, but honestly I don't see how this is an improvement over your average 'non-smart' phone.
I think most consumers have probably gotten very used to polished phones from companies that can afford and justify nice features via economies of scale and huge R&D budgets. Hell, even the...
I think most consumers have probably gotten very used to polished phones from companies that can afford and justify nice features via economies of scale and huge R&D budgets. Hell, even the LibrePhone looks pretty awful too, and they've acknowledged it has a super high price point and won't have a high quality fit and finish initial runs.
Building a phone is hard. They probably don't have the scale to justify anything more than off-the-shelf components with very little options for integration. Not saying it's an excuse, I agree doesn't look great, but that's probably why.
I think it would be a lot more appealing if you could sideload some specific apps. There are quite a few things that I actually do want to have on my phone, even if I want to disconnect: mobile...
I think it would be a lot more appealing if you could sideload some specific apps. There are quite a few things that I actually do want to have on my phone, even if I want to disconnect:
mobile banking
Authy or another authenticator solution
PayPal/Venmo/other cash xfer app, far preferred to carrying cash to me, at least.
And of course the proprietary nonsense like Okta Verify (perfect for something you'd truly sideload)
The use cases are small enough that simply having some kind of API where you navigate somewhere on a computer and it downloads on your phone via your Light account would be reasonable, rather than a centralized marketplace.
Interesting idea, but from where I sit, I can get a regular smart phone and control the notifications and choose what software to put on it. I don't need specialized hardware to help me with that. But maybe some others do?
I find the design very interesting. The UI is very reminiscent of the original iPod with its black and white UI. I kind of like it but also find it kind of cheesy. (So I guess I like cheesy things!) With edge-to-edge glass being so popular now, the iPhone 4-esque design of the hardware looks so dated, though.
But it's an interesting idea. If they've already sold out of 1 batch, then I guess it's at least got a niche. If anyone here buys one, let us know how you like it!
I like the idea, but there are certain features that require a more fully feature smartphone t hat I find indispensable. The big ones being GPS/maps, and a web browser.
I feel like the screen time features in iOS are meant to address the same problems as the Light Phone without physically limiting the hardware.
I actually limited a bunch of apps on iPhone and made my roommate change the password and hide it from me. It was very effective.
Ah, so you were the single person with the Blackberry phone in the census. ;)
It has been pointed out to me that you do not know the identities of the people who answered the census, so you can not be sharing private information.
I apologise for saying you were cavalier with other people's data.
cc: @Keegan @emdash @vivaria
Hold up, I thought cavalier is meant to be a good thing :( I am very confused.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cavalier
Ahem. I thought responses to the census were private?
(And you wonder why I didn't want to give my exact age...)
EDIT: https://tildes.net/~tech/km7/the_light_phone#comment-4e5n
Algernon seems a liitle confused, if anything please be assured that I did not mean to offend. I was making a light hearted joke. :(
EDIT: https://tildes.net/~tech/km7/the_light_phone#comment-4e5n
EDIT: https://tildes.net/~tech/km7/the_light_phone#comment-4e5n
I appreciate that you're back, and the insightful discussions you often bring, but I don't appreciate the unchill sentiment you bring to many threads. For the sake of many others here, chill.
EDIT: https://tildes.net/~tech/km7/the_light_phone#comment-4e5n
EDIT: https://tildes.net/~tech/km7/the_light_phone#comment-4e5n
Guys, I think he(?)'s trying to apologize.
It really sounds like it solves a problem of our time... For some people.
When I look closely at what I use on my phone, a lot of them are "tools" already. Listening to music, podcasts, checking the weather, navigating, 2FA, online banking, taking notes, making photos, using my calendar. Those things aren't externally pushed to me in "feeds" (with maybe the exception of new podcasts). I control them.
I also use my phone for Netflix, YouTube, browsing, social networks, reading.
The Light Phone would actually sacrifice a lot of the "tools" functionality to get me to stop using "feeds". I agree with @babypuncher that your smartphone could handle these things for you. But for some (or many) that might not cut it.
I also doubt the use of an e-ink screen. I enjoy reading on e-ink, but using it for quick input the experience is quite poor.
Last point: $350 is quite a lot when you actually sacrifice a lot of functionality compared tot other devices. Yes, even when considering its niche, research cost, etc.
It actually seems like the problem is just social media. Do people really have a problem with chronically checking the weather, or spending all their time checking their bank account? The only thing I ever see people do on their phones for long periods of time are check social media and play games. I don't have any social media accounts besides a facebook account that my job requires me to have and I never check, and don't have the app installed, and I don't have games on my phone, so I never have an issue with either of these.
Intentionally buying a phone that can't do the other ten thousand useful, non distracting things a smartphone can do seems like moving into a shack in the middle of an abandoned lot so you don't have to deal with looking at a lamp you don't like in your house.
Just get rid of the lamp.
Poor people do this all the time. I'm in the middle of a financial shortage at the moment and I can tell you for sure that I have been checking my bank account a minimum of once a day since the start of it.
But, yeah, I get it. I find it amazing that people would rather spend hundreds of dollars on artificial barriers rather than spending a few hours trying to fix their addictive personality problems.
Yeah. For most people, I think enabling Screen Time on their iPhone and setting app limits for social media should be enough.
Pretty much my thoughts are the consensus here, this is an interesting idea, but far too boutique for my needs, especially since could can get a Mobile Pi setup, an eInk screen, and a Cell Modem for probably half the cost. (Hey, wouldn't you know it!)
What I am curious about is the Alcatel Go Flip 3, a phone that was just released that hits a lot of my buttons for easy to use what I want, and harder to use what I don't. I could bang out a Tildes post on a T9 if I HAD to, but it's not as desirable to, and there's less chance to fall down a Reddit hole if the internet browsing interface is harder to work. But I can still pull up a YouTube video, map and navigate, ask Google a question, make calls and text and use some web services, but more on my own terms, at least, that's the romantic ideal.
I don't know if the reason people are on their phones too much is because they're too enticing like the ad implies. The video was full of attractive people in beautiful places doing interesting things, but i think that usually excessive phone use (Or almost any other addiction) is caused by lack of ability to do interesting things, whether from poverty, living in a rural area, mental or physical disabilities, just being too mentally drained from your job, etc, and that getting a less useful phone probably won't change your life.
So that would be a e-ink feature-phone?
Technically it does run Android. Just not any Play Store apps.
But can it run android applications? I don't see what would be the gain of running android if it didn't run it's applications..
Android SDK handles all the building blocks of OS so they don’t have to.
Oh dear, that design looks terrible. Why does the front have so much wasted space? Why is it so thick? why are the up and down buttons smaller than the menu buttons (especially when I'm assuming you'll need to push them more frequently)? Why is it using Micro USB when everyone's already moved on to USB-C?
Granted, most of my problems are aesthetic and some people may like this, but honestly I don't see how this is an improvement over your average 'non-smart' phone.
I think most consumers have probably gotten very used to polished phones from companies that can afford and justify nice features via economies of scale and huge R&D budgets. Hell, even the LibrePhone looks pretty awful too, and they've acknowledged it has a super high price point and won't have a high quality fit and finish initial runs.
Building a phone is hard. They probably don't have the scale to justify anything more than off-the-shelf components with very little options for integration. Not saying it's an excuse, I agree doesn't look great, but that's probably why.
I could quite happily use one of these.
Damn, that's some onion level marketing right there.
If you want my serious opinion, go to this thread.
I think it would be a lot more appealing if you could sideload some specific apps. There are quite a few things that I actually do want to have on my phone, even if I want to disconnect:
The use cases are small enough that simply having some kind of API where you navigate somewhere on a computer and it downloads on your phone via your Light account would be reasonable, rather than a centralized marketplace.
If it is an Android device, it can probably be rooted or adb'd into.
This the ugliest thing I ever saw. and useless also 🙄