How do you deal with not having a smartphone in your daily life?
Very well, thank you.
I'm really interested to hear your (and others) real-life experience, and
cases where you miss having one
You do not miss what you have never owned.
That said, the moment where I recognize a cell phone would be convenient is
when I get lost (I am terrible at orientation) and when I am late (to warn
whoever waits for me). The two situations often usually are combined.
Also, some people are mad at me, because they want to warn me that they are
going to be late or because they want to change plans at the last minute, but
cannot contact me.
Emergency contacts with friends and family?
Everybody asks me that. In 33 years, I have never had to make an emergency
call. Maybe I am lucky. But I spend most of my time at home (with a land
line) and at the university (with a land line too). If in the street, there
would usually be people around. With cell phones.
And public phones still work (I must be the last one to use them, rarely
though).
So, I do not see many situations where I could save a life with a cell
phone...
Agenda reminders? Taking notes?
All in my laptop. I work on my laptop.
Playing chess?
I do not play chess.
Alarm clock?
Rockbox (the free operating system for my music player) has an alarm clock. I
connect the player to a speaker I put on my bedside table and wakes up every
morning with a playlist that I specially made for this purpose.
What if you don't sleep at home but you need to wake up?
I have my laptop with me, let it on, and install a crontab (here to wake up
at 8am):
DISPLAY=:0
0 8 * * * rhythmbox-client --play
Various timers? For sport, cooking...
There is a clock in the kitchen. And sports, well, I do not do any. I
should...
Music player? You answered that one, but the downside is having to use one
more item instead of just one.
Again, I only carry the Sansa Clip Zip: it is tiny and can be clipped on your
pocket. Very convenient. And Rockbox simply is great: http://rockbox.org
Web? E-mail?
The laptop. My wife complains that I spend too much time on that forum
already!
Calculator?
There is a Rockbox application for that. But the Sansa Clip Zip is not made
to be used as a calculator (arrows to move from a key to another). Anyway, I
do not really need a calculator unless I am working on my computer, where I
sometimes use enhanced "calculators" such as Scilab or Maxima!
Well, in pubs and restaurants, there always is the famous division to make
but since everybody (but me) has a smartphone, I do not take care of those
calculations. Anyway, since, usually, I am as well the only one paying cash,
I just pay "the rest" at the end (in Brazil, tips are included in the check).
