Observations

Steve Jobs was a jerk, but he knew something we still don’t

by Mike Pumphrey · May 23, 2019

I’ve never been a fan of Steve Jobs.

His reality distortion field always rubbed me the wrong way (is it really magical, Steve? Really?) and I always found the slavish devotees to all things Mac as a little pompous.

Yes, Apple makes some quality products, but I think their greatest achievement was to make purchasing electronics a way to make someone feel superior to others.

Bravo.

Consequently, I’ve always been annoyed with the hagiography of Steve Jobs, and if I hear someone else quote from his Stanford commencement address in the same hushed tones as a New Testament reading, I’m going to…well, nothing, because Apple won a long time ago.

But the world turns, and it turns out that Steve Jobs was a bit of a jerk, according to a recent memoir by his daughter.

Recently, Apple’s polish has faded a bit, and even Microsoft, long derided as uncool and the “evil empire”, seems newly resurgent, briefly beating Apple’s valuation last year.

My how the world turns.

But all my annoyance aside, I have to give Steve Jobs a little credit: he didn’t let his kids use Apple devices.

[Read more…]

Are you in a polyamorous relationship with a phone?

by Mike Pumphrey · May 16, 2019

Let’s talk about polyamory.

No, you’re still on the right site.

Polyamory is a relationship structure where people intentionally choose consensual intimate and emotional relationships with more than one person.

This is completely distinct from cheating (which is non-consensual) and also from dating (since the eventual goal there is to narrow it down to one partner).

Polyamory is not for everyone, but then again, the same could be said for monogamy. If you’ve ever thought that it’s a little arbitrary how you’re allowed to have lots of friends, but only one intimate partner, or if you’ve wondered why it’s okay to love all of your children and but not more than one partner, polyamory might have crossed your mind.

Polyamory does come with lots of extra challenges. It can bring up feelings of envy and jealousy. Moreover, when you are with a partner and they are very excited about a new person they’ve met, it can hurt, and bring up lots of fears.

It’s perfectly fine to desire a monogamous commitment.

And yet, before you ignore any of this discussion as being totally irrelevant, I invite you to ask yourself if any of this feels like it hits a nerve in one particular area. Perhaps you have felt a similar feeling of jealousy and frustration towards a particular object.

Perhaps you are feeling this towards a phone.

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Things I don’t need to worry about when my phone is lost

by Mike Pumphrey · Apr 11, 2019

I talked last time about my phone dying, and what I did about it. Despite the withering cultural pressure to buy a smartphone, you don’t need to, and I showed how.

In fact, not only is it possible to live without a smartphone today, it’s probably safer and less risky if you don’t have one.

After all, phones die. Phones get lost. If you don’t have your smartphone, all of the ways that you rely on it become painfully obvious.

So here are some things that I didn’t have to worry about when my phone was lost.

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Is not using a smartphone a sign of privilege?

by Mike Pumphrey · Mar 28, 2019

It seems to me that people are slowly, ever-so-slowly, coming to terms with the idea that there are ways in they have certain privileges that make their lives easier and more successful in ways that they can’t see.

I myself have an incredible set of privileges. For example, because I am a white male, I know that I am more likely to receive an employee job referral, higher salary when I get a job, and I am less likely to be harassed and assaulted.

I grew up with parents who loved and supported me and gave me a safe environment in which to thrive. I live in the United States, which means I have a higher life expectancy than in other parts of the world. And as a bonus, I’m also less likely to be eaten by a lion.

These, and other privileges, have benefited me in ways I am completely unaware of. Would I not have gotten the job / into that college / gotten off with a warning if I had had a different skin color?

Privilege is tricky to talk about, because so much of it is invisible, and therefore people act as if it doesn’t exist. (Listen to anyone talk about how they are “self-made” and “got where they were with hard work alone” to see just how pernicious this is.)

But it needs to be talked about.

And so today I ask: is living without a smartphone a sign of privilege?

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Why you’re actually an early adopter

by Mike Pumphrey · Mar 7, 2019

Oh, how I loathe that word “yet”. I hear it all the time when people see that I don’t use a smartphone. “Oh my gosh! You haven’t gotten one yet! I thought everyone had one by now.“

The primary implication being that someone without a smartphone is “behind the times” or “hasn’t caught up” or, worse, a “Luddite”.

And from the perspective of a techno-utopian, who believes that newer tech is always better, to not be on the treadmill is to be wrong. Like, get with the program, man. How are you going to scan this QR code?

But we know better. We know that newer is neither worse nor better. It’s just newer.

Instead, I suggest we turn this narrative around. Because we could just as easily be called early adopters.

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What to say instead of “I don’t have a smartphone”

by Mike Pumphrey · Feb 28, 2019

Words are important. I once wrote about the salient difference between what you do and who you are.

I spent years saying that I “was a musician”. It was easy to say, and everyone knew what it meant. But then the day arrived where I no longer wanted to do it anymore. And you know what happened?

I lost who I was.

If instead I had been proclaiming that I played music instead of that I was a musician, it would have been less a struggle for my identity. After all, we can choose to do lots of things, and it doesn’t affect who we are.

These subtle changes, like saying that you do something instead of are something, can make big changes in what we convey to others.

And so it is when talking about smartphones too.

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Saving money is not the point (so what is?)

by Mike Pumphrey · Feb 21, 2019

I currently pay $25 a month for phone service.

This gets me unlimited talk and text. I don’t have a data plan, which is fine by me. No data means that I can’t be tempted to get on the internet, something that would be difficult with my phone’s browser anyway.

I wish I could offer you the $25/month plan, but T-Mobile doesn’t offer it anymore. These days, the cheapest unlimited plan they offer is $40 prepaid, which actually isn’t bad when compared to their standard price of $70 for a single line.

The cheapest monthly phone plans

For reference, here are the cheapest plans I was able to find on the major carriers:

T-Mobile: $40/month (prepaid)
Verizon: $30/month (prepaid)
Sprint: $40/month (prepaid not available)
AT&T: $30/month (prepaid)

What we can learn here are as follows:

Plans are on the whole cheaper when they are “prepaid”, meaning, no-contract, month to month billing.
The more data you want, the more expensive the plan is

For that last point, see this chart:

But while I’m all about saving money and lowering my monthly bills, I have to be honest, I really don’t care too much on whether my phone bill is $25 or $40, or even $80. I pay more than that in car insurance each month. Maybe this would have significantly affected my situation a decade or so ago, but not now.

Saving money is great, but it’s not really about the money. So what is it about then?

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