Have you ever wished you could go back to using a dumbphone?

[chris722]

Smartphones are not expensive. I get my smartphones for $1. As far as total cost of ownership, that is a personal preference when services like email are free. Total cost of ownership may go up using services like WiFi calling, video streaming, music streaming, etc but you cannot place that blame on the technology. Some people need a lot of data, some people need to make in app purchases, some people need to pay for the cloud. But no one is forced to do these things. If you want to use your smartphone to make calls and do nothing else, you are free to do so.

 

[pppro]

I still maintain a dumbish, fauxberry on Virgin...

I'd love a smart qwerty flip phone. Clamshell precludes need for a cover & screen unobstructed by virtual or physical kb.

I see some Asian T9 variants, but I'm more data than voice centric & would love something like a larger Blackberry Style.

 

[fatclue_98]

I still maintain a dumbish, fauxberry on Virgin...

I'd love a smart qwerty flip phone. Clamshell precludes need for a cover & screen unobstructed by virtual or physical kb.

I see some Asian T9 variants, but I'm more data than voice centric & would love something like a larger Blackberry Style.

I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the Style. Perfect form factor stuck on the worst network (Sprint). A few months ago ZTE released an Android clamshell that I would have been all over but it too was locked to a prepaid CDMA network. Tracfone I believe.

 

[anon(6038817)]

Okay, I replied to someone else about this, but I will go ahead and give you the same info. You can do group texting over SMS only with a dumb phone. GroupMe supports it. You do not need an app or anything. Everything is done through SMS commands. Look up GroupMe over SMS.

OK, so I did some digging and found out that GroupMe actually does have a group SMS service that anyone can use and it doesn't require anyone to already have a GroupMe account or use the app.

I created a new thread with the details:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/ge...-clarification-groupme-sms-functionality.html

This makes me want to test it out on a dumbphone!

 

[Bittah Pupil]

Thanks for the responses everyone. So instead of jumping off the roof, I decided to start at a lower level. I pulled my 920 out of the drawer and stripped it of Twitter and all the other annoying things I do not need. Just the basics. Let's see how this goes.

How is this going so far?

I realized that I've done a similar method with my 640. I don't have any social media on it. I rarely browse the web on it. I have the ESPN app but I don't really need it. The most used apps are 6tag and Perfect Music. I have data enabled just for MMS; internet access is through WiFi. So basically my 640 is almost like a dumb phone: I call and text, listen to my mp3 collection, and take pics. The bonus feature is downloading maps and using it as GPS.

 

[HM84]

How is this going so far?

I realized that I've done a similar method with my 640. I don't have any social media on it. I rarely browse the web on it. I have the ESPN app but I don't really need it. The most used apps are 6tag and Perfect Music. I have data enabled just for MMS; internet access is through WiFi. So basically my 640 is almost like a dumb phone: I call and text, listen to my mp3 collection, and take pics. The bonus feature is downloading maps and using it as GPS.

Your point about the GPS made me wonder whether there were feature phones which had maps, so I tried a little search then got distracted by an article I think you may find interesting:


Explaining Japan's feature phone fetish - Endgadget
<https://www.engadget.com/2015/03/13/japan-loves-feature-phones/>


A quote from the article says it all. Behold, our spirit animal:
<<
"It's light," he says. "It's small; it's easy to type on, easy to talk into." He then flips one open, adding, "It's cool." He flips it shut.
>>

And another statement that goes both ways: <<Do you need these features? Maybe not. But that's not to say else someone doesn't.>>

 

[Gew]

Yea, and I just did!
Namely, I went from the smartphone madness to a simple Nokia dumbphone.
I can't see myself going back to the modern life any time soon.
This is life, as it should be.