Back To Brick (downgrading/cutting out tech)

[shagatha crustie]

Inspired by 'getting rid of nearly everything you own.'

Ever thought about it? Would it be worth it? Keep a laptop for emails. Stick it to the tech monopolies, bit more freedom from surveillance, probably improve your mental health and do you *really* need to be able to communicate with all these people at every moment of the day? And after all they're only companies and we're just consumers and if we stop buying into the product...

BUT the sheer inconvenience. Have to explain it to everyone. Worthy prick. Plus no Spotify on the bus. Who could possibly live that way?

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

big fan of my life not being centred around a shitey god device which listens to my conversation

drove me fucking mad living with housemates that had chromecast. undignified as fuck to address a lil box like 'hey google'

muppets

[thenoise]

I don't get the alexa (etc) things at all. But I have a "smart phone", for some reason, so fuck knows if I will be able to resist it forever.

I guess still posting on an anonymous forum is being somewhat archaic in this day and age?

[TrenterPercenter]

This would be my advice from a wellbeing perspective which doesn't require getting rid of any tech.

Get rid of Facebook and Twitter as a priority; you absolutely do not need them and within weeks you will realise how and why it is so addictive to people.  Some people can use Facebook responsibly if you are one of these people keep it - this means you would signing in once or twice a week max. (There is no point doing this with twitter but you might want to keep it to get opinions or instant takes on things when they occur - crisis/public disasters etc).  The trick is with both of these is when you are infinite-scrolling through boredom that is what to get a hold of).

Keep your TV; but never watch anything terrestrial or anything on a schedule (exception for live events).  Do use your TV/Laptop for watching things you want to watch and skip through adverts etc...
Never pay any attention to those news feed things on your phone etc; make sure you are not insidiously sliding into a recommends algorithm; subscribe to things that you enjoy but actually seek other information that is counter to this (that isn't finding shit opinions it's finding different approaches and mediums for information).

Stay away from news and news websites as a daily activity; it's a business; they want your clicks and they will embellish, lie and exaggerate with what they are legally allowed to do in order to grab your attention.  Use news as you would a periscope keep abreast of important stuff but you never really need to read a columnists view on anything.

I don't see a problem with Spotify or other music providers; the medium is access to already fragmented content and art so this is healthy.

Last of all interact as much as possible in the real world; the news and certain people would have you believe you are alone in the world with a millions arsehole when in reality their probably loads of people with similar interests that are really nice people with half a mile of you; you just haven't met them; and society has told you they won't like you and you won't like them.  You will but be willing to give someone the same patience you would give yourself - stop thinking people are consist or unchanging this isn't true people are always in flux.

[bgmnts]

If you have an addictive personality, twitter and Facebook will be replaced by cab or YouTube or whatever.

Tried to bin everything before, found it impossible tbh.

[Emma Raducanu]

Try going on a holiday in a caravan. You'll enjoy the sound of rain. Your cup of tea will taste better and you'll learn a load of card games.

[Johnny Yesno]

Never pay any attention to those news feed things on your phone etc; make sure you are not insidiously sliding into a recommends algorithm;

I have to add a caveat here. Somehow, the news feed algorithm on my phone has got stuck mostly feeding me articles about Mars, black holes, nanotechnology and quantum computing. It's fucking brilliant.

[TrenterPercenter]

I have to add a caveat here. Somehow, the news feed algorithm on my phone has got stuck mostly feeding me articles about Mars, black holes, nanotechnology and quantum computing. It's fucking brilliant.

Sounds like you have got your algorithm working for you and not the other way round.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

i mean it with no irony that tumblr is the best social media right now precisely because it does not work in any way like social media currently works

it has no possibility of earning you any real money and the algorithm non-existent; all chronological order posts

it's just memes and personal posts and art and it's great don't let any fucker tell you otherwise

[crankshaft]

i mean it with no irony that tumblr is the best social media right now precisely because it does not work in any way like social media currently works

it has no possibility of earning you any real money and the algorithm non-existent; all chronological order posts

it's just memes and personal posts and art and it's great don't let any fucker tell you otherwise

Post-porn Tumblr is a tragedy.

[flotemysost]

Plus no Spotify on the bus.

Although I suppose technically this is adding more devices to your life, I've always used an MP3 player to listen to music on the go, not my phone.

Just really nice not having to be reminded of all the other dross in your life every time you need to look at the screen to change tracks or whatever - I honestly think I'd have lost my mind (even more than I already did) in lockdown without being able to to go on walks with my headphones in, not letting any fucker bother me, not checking any emails, notifications etc. til I wanted to.

Obviously it requires you to own whatever you want to listen to, so it can result in either getting stuck in a rut or spending loads on buying new stuff, but yeah I love having that separate oasis of escapism. And you don't need to ensure you've got signal/drain your phone battery etc.

drove me fucking mad living with housemates that had chromecast. undignified as fuck to address a lil box like 'hey google'

The living room TV in the flatshare I'm in has a chromecast. I don't even know if that sentence is grammatically correct - can a TV have a chromecast? Maybe the TV is the chromecast? Anyway, I'm basically terrified anything I watch or look at will be inadvertently broadcast to the household.

_{Can someone take the recycling out please, cheers.}

[chveik]

Obviously it requires you to own whatever you want to listen to, so it can result in either getting stuck in a rut or spending loads on buying new stuf

soulseek is your friend

[bakabaka]

If you have an addictive personality, twitter and Facebook will be replaced by cab or YouTube or whatever.

Tried to bin everything before, found it impossible tbh.

Yup, CaB 27 times a day seems to be working for me now that I've lost all my irl friends. And if you need a fix of that lolrandom social media soul-sucking, time-stealer [insert name of app here], just try wandering around HSArt, starting at page 12. There is everything a person could want there, apart from a thread that allows the use of the word 'goysplaining'.

[Lemming]

Cut out the big shitty homogenous social media sites ages ago (Twitter being obviously the worst one). But other than that, cutting down on technology doesn't sound good to me - through the internet, we've got the sum of all human knowledge and cultural/artistic/musical achievement at our hands. Might as well make use of it by watching people eat really spicy things and then scream in pain on YouTube.

I think people are too quick to be down on online social interaction, too - it's not a replacement for real face-to-face human interaction and never will be, but talking to people from all around the world with extremely different views on certain things, people who you'd never even know the existence of before the advent of the internet, isn't something to be dismissed. I don't think friendships formed online are necessarily worse or less complex than real-life friendships, just different, and in the modern world there's no reason not to enjoy both.

Post-porn Tumblr is a tragedy.

I'd have to agree with GoblinAhFuckScary, Tumblr is the best of the big (or formerly big, in Tumblr's case) social media sites right now. The adult content ban was a boon for the site IMO, since it caused such a mass exodus of users that the remaining communities became stronger and tighter. And you can safely open it on your phone in public now without something obscene and horrifying popping up. Still a drag if you spend too much time on it, but it's great to dip in to some choice blogs every now and then to get your fix of funny pictures/latest fandom-related drama/music recommendations every once in a while. It's also probably the best social media site in terms of allowing you to control exactly what you see, and filter out anything that pisses you off or bores you.

[peanutbutter]

I lock the internet (router and phone) away with a timed padlock pretty often, it's a pretty great cleanser and I honestly should to it more.

You do need to have the self respect to not just break the lock though.

[flotemysost]

I lock the internet (router and phone) away with a timed padlock pretty often, it's a pretty great cleanser and I honestly should to it more.

You do need to have the self respect to not just break the lock though.

The dominatrix thread is over here, btw.

[Lost Oliver]

Had a week in Cornwall a while back and the caravan place didn't I was at didn't have mobile reception or WiFi. It was fucking lush. After two days I stopped craving messages from people and felt so peaceful. I did have a Game Boy with me so played that a bit (completed Rayman) but for most of the time I was just interacting with whatever was around me - people, rocks, books, board games. Went back the next year and they'd had WiFi installed on site and I enjoyed the week 50% less - though that might've been because my dad fell off a cliff and broke his spine.[nb]My dad didn't fall off a cliff, he was in Wigan[/nb] 

[touchingcloth]

My dad didn't fall off a cliff, he was in Wigan

My sympathies.

[Midas]

I hadst a cunning phone once.

I was awestricken by the siren's song. Onwæcnan during the fucking cwildseten to stare upon'r splendour. I has't alloweth those hours to vade into a forgotten past and what has't I to showeth f'r t? Náht!

'Twere mere trickey. What am I but a paragon of fools, if not a witness to the novelty of kings?

All I wanteth from a phone nowadays is the ability to sendeth messages, ignore the daw's calleth and playeth snaketh so I've been content with mine own Nokia f'r years. A blinking idiot of mine own.

[thugler]

Just seems like a pose to me. Just stop using dumb apps. Nothing wrong with technology in itself. Even twitter, if you're not following too much shite is basically just live commentary on current events. Largely pointless but sometimes useful or interesting or funny. Yes, don't overuse it or get obsessed with it. But a single small portable device that does music/stuff to read/stuff to listen to and does communication is largely a positive. Too much paranoia about about it, just reminds me of people calling the television 'the idiot box' or whatever. I probably do spend way too much time listening to podcasts but I'd probably not be doing anything all that useful while going to the supermarket/washing up/cooking to be honest.

[peanutbutter]

The dominatrix thread is over here, btw.

the lock I used is literally marketed as being for "self-bondage", so you're not wrong

[Lord Mandrake]

Headphones destroy ears. If your running, it's cheating listening to music. Rocky couldn't actually hear the theme music except in his head.

You need to hear the chanting, the twigs snapping, the automobiles, the slap of feet on road.

[touchingcloth]

The chanting? Do you typically jog round monasteries?

[chveik]

there's nothing like having the endorphins kick in when you're listening to some good techno

[Lord Mandrake]

The chanting? Do you typically jog round monasteries?

The chanting is probably in my head.

[Lord Mandrake]

there's nothing like having the endorphins kick in when you're listening to some good techno

I can head play Dave Angels 1995 album 'Tales of the unexpected' from memory. Good audiation practice.

[jamiefairlie]

I can head play Dave Angels 1995 album 'Tales of the unexpected' from memory. Good audiation practice.

[idunnosomename]

considering chopping all my limbs off like the bloke in the Paranoid Android video and falling into the sea for mermaids to take me away

[Kankurette]

i mean it with no irony that tumblr is the best social media right now precisely because it does not work in any way like social media currently works

it has no possibility of earning you any real money and the algorithm non-existent; all chronological order posts

it's just memes and personal posts and art and it's great don't let any fucker tell you otherwise

It's also easier to avoid unwelcome bullshit, unlike Twitter. I've found some nice football bloggers on there and I mainly stick to fandom stuff or people who post interesting photos and art. You have more control over your feed.

Agreed with Trenter. I don't miss Facebook. I've lost friends because of stuff I've posted on there and it's out of control now, too many ads and random shite popping up because a friend commented on it. That said, I do find talking to people difficult and I have kept Messenger. My job also means not having much of a social life.

ETA: I also hate the fact the gym I go to shows rolling Sky news. I try not to look at it.

[GMTV]

Those who visit pornhub at the weekend, their happiness will never bend
Those who visit pornhub midweek, will never have their troubles to seek