Yes, in a heartbeat. There are, of course, many strong advantages to smartphones. But, it turns out, many strong costs developed to match. The cost/benefit ratio is no longer favorable for me.

Yes. 100%. We lost far more significant things than we gained.

I’d go back to a time before cellphones became common. Human socialization and communication did not evolve in a space where people were instantly reachable. Text messaging is the worst. The amount of friction it has created…

You appreciate people more and value their time when communication has to be planned. Society lost order to this terminally online madness.

How much extra work do employers milk from us, knowing we can be reached at any time? The work/life balance is shit now. One of the reasons people aren’t having kids is lack of time.

Music has suffered. It’s now a cheap all-you-can-eat buffet where nothing sounds all that appealing. I hate the sea of phones in the air at every concert these days. Everyone watching the show through a screen instead of what’s right in front of them.

Photography used to be something special. You had maybe a dozen photos of a vacation. Now it’s a sea of files you don’t want to sift though.

Maps and GPS have made people lazy and ignorant. No more learning about your surroundings. Just blindly follow the directions.

I could go on. I feel bad for younger generations where this is all they know. I’m Gen X, I had it good.

No. But if I had to, then I want to go a bit further back to pre-commercial constant tracking. As long as I get to take a modern LCD monitor with me.

In 2006/07, before smart phones, life expectancy was 68 years against today’s 73.5.

Extreme poverty was 27% vs 10% today.

Literacy has gone up from 82% to 87%.

I hate smartphones. The problem is they become integrated into life and it's hard to live without one, even if you want to. Banks often require them. Taxis are harder to find because of Uber in many places.

They're costly too, and not updated very often (not as often as computers). I don't see it plausible that much money is saved on average from the convenience.

I think the world is too fast. And it would be much better if it were slowed down.

Every day I wish the smartphone were never invented.

[dead]