Over the last two years, I’ve completely rethought my use of technology and done a lot of work to simplify my life and avoid distractions and unnecessary stress. A major component of this change has been rethinking how my iPhone is configured.
As it stands today, I’ve deleted all social media apps1, disabled all notifications, switched the phone permanently to silent, disabled the web browser, removed badges from app icons, and uninstalled Slack. Further, until 8a each day, my phone is set to black & white. As configured right now, I’ve pared my phone down to be an engine for sending texts, referencing e-mails, checking the family calendar, reading RSS articles, and taking photos.
All of this leads to an interesting question: Why in the world do I still have this thousand-plus dollar pocket computer?
- Truthfully, there are no articles that I really need to read right away. I could drop that.
- The weekly calendar already exists in my paper planner. With a little extra work, I could drop that.
- Texting & reading e-mail/notes could be done on a much simpler phone. Drop it.
Basically, what I’m left with is taking photos, paying for parking, and getting into Nashville SC games.
So, why do I have this pocket computer? Why does it seem so scary to loose Apple Pay — that I never use? Why does the thought of losing an always on me camera — that I basically never use — worry me so much? It’s nice getting iMessages on my computer, but would it kill me to move to SMS and only have it on my phone?
Apple’s been so focused on services and supporting “Big Social” that I think they’ve forgotten what made the Macintosh and iPhone so great. They were tools for the mind. Apple’s in trouble when someone like me — an Apple user since 1991 — is seriously considering a better set of tools.
Except Micro.blog ↩︎
