Why does everyone think we all have smartphones?

I went to collect a printer from C*rrys. Message said show your QR code to the staff.
It was a bit cumbersome taking my laptop into the store.
I took my grandson swimming and was asked to see my e-tickets.
Printed off A4 paper copies and staff did not know what to do with them, as there was no QR code showing, only a receipt.

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I know just what you mean, David, and it makes me cross. Everyone seems to assume that the world and his dog either own or have access to - Smart 'phones, Computers, and cars!

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that also is my main complaint as well. I don’t have a smart phone or even a mobile one.

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Because, in this day and age, you need your bumps felt if you don’t have smart phone?

Obviously it is a trick question because the previous replies show that not everybody thinks you have a smart phone.

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I don’t think that smartphones are going to save the planet. Must be mountains of obsolete handsets being studiously ignored in this relentless pursuit of “progress”.

I’d like to know why you don’t have one David :upside_down_face:

But in all honesty sometimes I just want to throw mine out. Even though I love tech, I love nature too and so I often hate being glued to a screen all day - sometimes it’s because of work, sometimes it’s not, but most of the time, and if you’re not careful, all of your waking hours could be spent fixed on the damn things! :lol:

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still surviving without one in the bush - how you may ask - reading the land! and my son the next generation won’t have one but all his kids do

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Oh I love that “reading the land”…I bet you get more information by doing that, than you ever would reading about it on a phone screen!

When I first came to Australia you knew you were within 10km of a town because the bitumen would start (or the dirt would end), these days you know you are nearing a town because your phone suddenly beeps into life.

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Y’know Bruce…I think more people would benefit from learning how to function without a phone, to be honest. Even people in towns and cities, with all they have access to, feel desolate and depressed if their phone breaks or becomes disconnected for a while. :frowning:

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I just got a smart phone last year because of needing it for something like the OP describes. It really is getting harder to do things without one.

When it broke earlier this year, I mentioned it to people about the inconvenience, their reply made it seem like someone had died. To me, it was just a minor inconvenience, not a major tragedy.

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I think he means the sign that says “Welcome to the Prince of Wales Hotel”

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I tend to think that phones are rather like cars (or even landlines in the UK) when I was a child, very few people had them but these days most people do and probably think they are essential (though landlines are now on their way out).

While I prefer to use my computer for “talking” on this forum and I don’t use my phone as much as young people, none the less I wouldn’t go out without it. I am writing this siting on my back patio with my laptop listening to Captain Beefheart playing on Spotify from my phone via my Flip4 bluetooth speakers (don’t even need mains power). It is just such a useful device even when “dead” in the bush it is still a compass (though I do carry a magnetic compass), note taker, music machine, camera and more.

Carrying a smartphone doesn’t prevent me using my eyes and commonsense, it is not an either/or situation, a smartphone is just another aid but a bloody convenient and useful one. It’s the same as people who don’t have a car, they are perfectly able to function but having their own transport makes life so much easier.

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If I get a “Call Back” arranged by my local Surgery Doctor, it has to be to my mobile phone (they insisted).

That does mean that I can go out, whilst waiting, rather than sitting at home all day.

But I have had a couple of embarrassing discussions, one in the queue at Aldi, another at Tesco (where I was ushered into a quiet area of the store!)

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Ted I only have a mobile in case my car breaks down & I need to call for assistance, so I am not going to have a smartphone. I much prefer my desktop PC & I told my doctors that if they wont give me a face to face appointment, then they have no option other than call me on my landline.
It is appalling that we are expected to discuss health problems over the mobile & what if they want to see a pic of your health problem ? :open_mouth:
If they want to continue phoned appointments, they need to give specific times when they will call you & if an emergency occurs get another doctor to advise or a receptionist to arrange an alternative appointment.

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I do have a mobile phone, but it isn’t a smart phone & it’s a cast off from my Son & it’s old now. All I do with it is make phone calls & text, it’s on PAYG. I also rarely use it. I have very few people on it, just family & immediate friends. Though most of the latter ring me on my land line anyway. Anyone who wants me gets given my land line.

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@David_P I know what you mean David, it seems to be automatically assumed that everyone has a smart phone.
I have a basic mobile phone that cost a just a few pounds to buy and ÂŁ6 a month to run (when there is reception but it will do SOS ) for all my calls and texts, that suits my needs and spends most of its life on the hall table.
Why would I want to spend hundreds of pounds on a smart phone which wouldn’t work most of the time where I live , with a tiny screen that I can’t see to read without my glasses and which would rarely get used.
I hate talking to people on phones anyway.

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I can drive a car and ride a motorbike but cannot drive a smartphone

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I do not want to be tied to a given sum each month.
I currently pay as I go. I only spend about ÂŁ40 per year.
I imagine I will have to go monthly when the landlines are no longer with us.
I suppose this will mean my internet access with have to go fibre.

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One good thing I suppose.
I will not receive a ping asking me to check my Covid status.

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