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Cellphones Social Networks Software The Internet Technology

Could You Live Without a Smartphone For a Year? (techtimes.com) 179

Posted by BeauHD from the not-ideal-for-millennials dept.
shanen writes about Vitaminwater's latest "publicity stunt," where they will pay $100,000 to one select contestant who can live without their smartphone for a year: All you have to do is come up with the most amusing entry [about how you will spend 365 days without the device] and have sufficient willpower to give up your smartphone for a year. They obviously have to pick a power user to make it interesting, but that's not the reason I'm disqualified. I would just read more books, which is boring from their perspective. So maybe you want to share your idea here? If it's really good, you don't have to worry about someone stealing it. After all, you'd have the evidence that it was your idea first, but you might be able to refine your entry while amusing the mob. The company will reportedly give you a 1996 cellphone to use in times of emergencies. Also, they will reward you with $10,000 if you are able to get through 6 months. According to Tech Times, contestants can use computers or desktops, "but not smartphones or tablets, even those owned by other people, or anything which the candidate can scroll or swipe on." Always-listening smart speakers, like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, are permitted.

To make sure the candidate doesn't cheat, Vitaminwater will subject them to a lie-detector test at the end of the year.
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Could You Live Without a Smartphone For a Year? More

Could You Live Without a Smartphone For a Year?

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  • No way (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    A human can only go 7 days without water, 30 days without food, and 90 days without a smart phone. This is common knowledge.

  • Easy-peasy (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15, 2018 @08:06AM (#57807810)

    That's easy-peasy for me as I don't own a smart phone.
    And I'm not a senior citizen to boot!

    CAP === 'objector'

    • Re: Easy-peasy (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 15, 2018 @08:13AM (#57807824)

      Same here!

      Sent from my iPhone.

    • The qualifications require that you own a smartphone, so you're disqualified.

      My problem is that I don't have or want a Twitter or Instagram account, so I can't enter.

      On a side note, there seem to be a lot of 4 and 5 digit UIDs here bragging that they don't have smartphones...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I haven't had a cell phone for 15 years and I don't miss it.

      When I tell people I don't have one, they usually tell me I am lucky.

    • Yes, I've never had one, too. I had a mobile phone forced on me several years ago (no internet, pay as you go, almost pointless camera, tiny screen - about 1 inch), but I only use it for incoming calls. I get maybe 1 a month. I have a phone at home and work, and the same with the Internet. If I'm not at either of those it means I'm doing something.

  • I don't have a smartphone now.... I've got a candy bar phone with no camera, and no internet. I text about once per week, and make about 5 calls per day, mostly related to coordinating with a friend I give rides home to. I get that people find those things useful, the only really compelling need for me is I wish I had google maps at times... but yes, you can live without it.

    • Re:I don't have one now... easy peasy (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Saturday December 15, 2018 @08:38AM (#57807906)

      I don't have a cell phone. Well, I have one (a gift) in a drawer, but no subscription.
      At jobs I have been issued smartphones, which I have kept laying unused in a corner after the necessary updates.

      I use a wrist watch, a couple of tablets (WiFi), DSLR and proper computers with large screens and good keyboards.
      Those serve my use cases better, and I won't get run over by a train or trip into the water ...
      I have a good sense of direction (which gets practiced by not relying on GPS).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by epine ( 68316 )

        Personally, I'd give up my smartphone before I'd give up my third 23" desktop monitor (two in portrait mode).

        I use SMS to organize the use of shared transportation resources with my wife, and to intermingle social errands into my monthly shopping day. I could probably get by quite comfortably on 100 mobile SMS messages a month, no mobile voice service at all, and some kind of VoIP thing at home.

        My third desktop monitor is in active use at least 70 hours per week, and heavy use about half of that time (where

      • .
        I have a good sense of direction (which gets practiced by not relying on GPS).

        I actually think my sense of direction has been honed and even improved by training against my smartphone. I've become better at retaining orientation in stairwell reversals and in "feeling" what maps actually mean on the ground without relying on distinctive landmarks as much as I used to.

        These days I've become increasingly able to study the map in advance and negotiate complicated routes without needing the smartphone--but it's also reassuring to have it available if I need it.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      LG flip-phone here. Never text. Rarely even turn it on (road emergencies and the like). Never feel like I am missing anything.

  • So nothing with a multi-line display? Bring on the knobs, switches, and lights! Batch processing FTW!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by arth1 ( 260657 )

      So nothing with a multi-line display?

      Good thing vi works just fine for single line editing.

      That said, no scrolling doesn't really preclude multi-line displays. I remember consoles that operated in page mode, blanking and starting at the top when a page was full.

  • That one's easy. I'm a poweruser but giving up a smartphone for 12 months for 100 000$ sounds like a very good deal to me. No sweat. I'll check if I can apply as a non-USian.

  • I spend most my time on desktops anyway, always one at hand except when I am going out.
    The string attached is the ban on using other people's smartphones. Friend shows you a funny cat video on his smartphone, you're fucked.

  • I can live with a 1996 cellphone... (Score:5, Informative)

    by drolli ( 522659 ) on Saturday December 15, 2018 @08:34AM (#57807894) Journal

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    Full keyboard, wide display, email, probably enough to run ssh to my server and a VNC client......

  • I don't even HAVE a smart phone! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Where do I get my money?

  • My entry (Score:5, Funny)

    by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Saturday December 15, 2018 @08:37AM (#57807904) Homepage
    "I will spend 12 months practicing defeating lie detectors." Thank you.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      I'd give you a funny mod for that one (if I ever got a mod point).

      So far there haven't been many suggestions that seem related to the actual "contest", but maybe that's because everyone else is as confused as I am by the entire idea. I think the underlying motivation is that it's some sort of social commentary on people being too dependent on their smartphones, but I, too, am not getting the joke.

      (As the "propagator" of the so-called story I feel obliged to look over all the comments... However now I'm wres

  • I've been living without a smart phone/cell phone for over a year and it's been SO nice.

  • Nope. Google calendar, Waze, E-Mail (Score:4, Interesting)

    by talexb ( 223672 ) on Saturday December 15, 2018 @09:12AM (#57808016) Homepage Journal

    I keep myself busy with professional, family and social events, and everything goes into Google Calendar. Usually I add things from my Linux workstation, and those entries are all synced to my Google Pixel 2 phone. As something gets close, my phone will remind me, and Waze can also tell me it's time to start driving.

    I had the Twitter and Facebook apps on my previous phone (a Nexus 5) and consciously didn't install them on the Pixel 2 -- I spend enough time on social media as it is, I don't need to be crouched over a phone when I'm out -- that's when I should be chatting with friends, family, and people in my network. I even use my smartphone as a .. phone. I'm self-employed, so my clients can call me with questions. I have a stand-up meeting with my main client every day or two. Sure, I could use a land-line for that, but if he calls me and I'm travelling .. pfft.

    The smartphone's also my alarm clock and my camera. Giving up all (most) of the functionality of a smart phone isn't going to happen.

  • Theoretically we can.. of course we can!!! I've lived through decades without it. There was a time the Samsung sliding open phone capable of a color screen was the shit! Nowadays smartphones bring much more than just lifestyle. It brings basic necessity to the World such as news, text, emails, information, etc... Yeah sure we can live without it but why even bother asking the question? Does it bring any value?
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • I can live without Vitaminwater for a year.

  • Lie-Detector? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Saturday December 15, 2018 @09:21AM (#57808044)

    And we have detected a bullshit-campaign. Lie-Detectors do not exist. The only thing that exists is elaborate pseudo-science scams that scare people into thinking their lies could be detected.

    Probably some people calculated how much getting this amount of attention would cost them conventionally and found that 100k plus, say, another 100k of work was actually very cheap.

    • Hey, now. Lie detectors are every bit as real as "vitamin" water.

  • I "went without a smartphone" for 35 years of my life, I think I could cope for a year for $100k.

  • The US is primarily 3G/4G. 1G/2G and AMPS networks have been mostly turned off. Would a 1996-era cell phone even work today? Flip phones, sure, but not from 1996!
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • It may work, but there wont be coverage. My 2004 era motorola i had to finally give up because of all the deadspots and declining coverage areas. They are not maintaining the old networks anymore it seems.

      in 1996 most people didnt have cell phones, they had pagers.

  • Easy as cake.

  • Yes (Score:2)

    by MpVpRb ( 1423381 )

    My smart[hone sits unused on my desk most of the time
    I use my desktop computer for all computing and my wired telephone for voice
    I only use the smartphone when on road trips
    I rarely take road trips

  • Already Doing It (Score:3)

    by DERoss ( 1919496 ) on Saturday December 15, 2018 @11:26AM (#57808438)

    I have never owned any kind of mobile phone. My wife has a dumb phone, which we used while we were evacuated from southern California's Woolsey Fire.

    Our land-line phone at home (copper line, POTS) is self-powered by AT&T. When Southern California Edison (SoCalEd) goes down -- which happens several times a year -- VoIP (voice over Internet phone) dies as do those cell-phone antennas whose backup power systems have not been recently serviced. AT&T, however, remains available for me to call SoCalEd to report their outage.

    Our land-line phone gave us assurance that our house was still standing during the Woolsey Fire. We were able to call our house. The answering machine on the second floor answered, which meant that our house was okay and we even still had electricity. We know that Internet service (including VoIP) through Spectrum and some cell antennas were lost during the fire. In our community, however, the copper phone lines are all underground.

    No, I am not a Luddite. My entire career was in computer software. I just like to get away from the phone when I leave my house.

  • I'd be a prime target for such a test since I make very heavy use of my smartphone.

    But the thing is, a smartphone is simply a tiny, limited computer. It can be trivially substituted by any other computer in any circumstance where size is not a complete deal breaker.

    For instance I have my lunch in a bar, where I watch videos on youtube. Doing the same with a laptop might be a bit quirky, but there's no reason why I couldn't do that.

    Reading in the underground without a tablet would be inconvenient, as one nee

  • I lived without a cellphone for at least 50 years, and I didn't have a palmtop, laptop, fliptop or any of that. I did have a "home phone" but it was a definitely a "dumb phone". I used a home phone as a data link, acoustically coupled @ 300 baud, but that didn't actually make it smart, even if capable of downloading porn at several minutes per still picture. 50 years, don't know how I managed. Sitting here in 2018 I wonder how I was able to find anything without GPS, but for 100K I bet I could remember.

  • I work a professional job in a major city. I have a spouse and two kids, and fully participate in our household and parenting. I travel for work, and commute by mass transit, bike, or foot. We have a "home" phone. Up until December 2017, I didn't own a cell phone at all. It ain't hard folks. You just get used to planning a bit more ahead of time.
  • That people actually think it is a severe hardship to go without the smartphone. Some people, the ad dept of this company, really think that everyone requires their smartphone, 24/7/365.

    I'd do it for 1% of that 'prize'.

  • Hah! (Score:3)

    by yusing ( 216625 ) on Saturday December 15, 2018 @03:01PM (#57809358) Journal

    I've managed to live quite well without a mobile phone, let alone a 'smart' one. When I see the ridiculous expense, and all the absurdly insecure apps, and all of the problems people have with them ... including tensions and dependency ... I don't see how the word 'smart' applies.

    It's a fucking telephone. It's also a computer with no keyboard and a 'monitor' like a game-boy. REtarded.

    It's like high-sugar cereal. And then people bitch when their teeth fall out.

  • Giving it up for daily texting / talking would be easy ( am an introvert and don't talk to anyone anyway ), not so much on the utility side of things though.

    For example:

    I use mine mostly as a music player. ( Both my active and inactive Smartphones have headphone jacks still :D )
    I can't log into many websites without a " code " they feel they need to send to my phone as pseudo-2fa.
    Some games ( think Steam and Blizzard ) both utilize 2fa via a Smartphone app. ( assuming anyone games anymore )
    My phone receiv

  • I've already been living without one for a little over 53 years. Didn't get my first mobile phone until a couple years ago, and it's a cheap $15 flip Tracfone. Mainly bought it in case something comes up when away from the house. Rarely use it. Since the minutes roll over, I have over 1200 minutes accumulated so far.

  • I haven't had a smartphone in a decade.

    Where's my million dollars?

  • My job requires me to have a smart phone. I make significantly more than $100K per year. I'll keep my job and let somebody else have the prize, thank you!

  • Yes I'm live without mobile for one year. Name-Pavan kumar Mobile No. +919616288996 From-(UP) INDIA

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