If what you're 'locked out of' is considered 'modern life' that'd make me a Luddite. You can have your 'modern life' and do with it what you want, I'll keep to my ways (where Apple et al fear to tread).
That is the government's aim yes. They want you to carry a spy device so they will encourage any carrot or stick. Carrots being "look at this shiny thing" or have some dopamine". Sticks being no parking, no banking, no menus, and more.
I have not carried a phone or an Google/Apple controlled device in 3+ years and exclusively use FOSS on a personal basis.
I live in Silicon Valley, run a b2b tech company, have a huge group of local friends, and have never been excluded from anything I wanted in my life for not having a phone.
Paper menus are available if you ask, sms can be converted to VoIP, you do not need Genie Plus to navigate Disney, there is always a way to pay with cash (or cash purchases gift card), paper tickets still work fine everywhere, your bank actually cannot force you to use an app, and internet comments and notifications can wait until you are back home at your desk.
Sure, it is a bit like having a dietary restriction, but it is not the life fulfillment blocker everyone makes you think it is.
Typically you can use a webapp or find a paystation where you can use cash or a prepaid credit card.
If there are really no humans at all I would just park further or sometimes just park anyway and risk 1/3 chance I get a $20 ticket once in a while I can then pay online without an app. Sometimes paying occasional tickets instead of using the app can actually save you money.
Hmm here in Spain it's more difficult. Nobody uses SMS here (nor iMessage), it's all WhatsApp and Telegram. And most banks do force an app here (for 2FA payments for example). Tickets can go on paper yeah, though some restaurants I visit don't do paper menus (especially the asian ones).
Also some stuff for work is mobile-only. We have a stupid 2FA system that only works with a mobile app (the company gives us a phone but it does mean being tracked), and the same with the desk booking (I absolutely hate the office since we implemented flexdesks).
Cash is still common here yeah though I don't like dealing with it. I wish there was a mobile payment method that didn't rely on Apple or Google.
Both can be bridged to Matrix, which can be accessed with any OS you like with FOSS software.
> Tickets can go on paper yeah, though some restaurants I visit don't do paper menus (especially the asian ones).
Many have said this to me initially, until I insist I do not own a cell phone. Then they always find a way to produce a tablet for me, or hastily print a screenshot from a phone, or find an old paper menu and cross out some old prices. When I go back to those restaurants later they sometimes have paper menus more readily available, because they were embarrassed the first time for being unable to accommodate a paying customer.
After all, even people who do have phones, end up with dead batteries. People with dead phone batteries need to eat too
> Also some stuff for work is mobile-only. We have a stupid 2FA system that only works with a mobile app (the company gives us a phone but it does mean being tracked), and the same with the desk booking (I absolutely hate the office since we implemented flexdesks).
Almost nothing is truly mobile only. You can run Android applications on QubesOS in a pinch, but more generally I find most 2FA apps actually use TOTP or FIDO under the hood, and can be replaced with open alternatives with a bit of research.
> and the same with the desk booking (I absolutely hate the office since we implemented flexdesks).
I have never seen one of these that does not have a webapp alternative. If they really don't have one, run their app in a VM and sniff the request traffic. Then you can make a simple shell script or webapp to book those desks for you. Open source it to annoy the company into producing their own. Done this sort of thing many times.
> Cash is still common here yeah though I don't like dealing with it. I wish there was a mobile payment method that didn't rely on Apple or Google.
In most countries instead of trying to flag down wait staff to take your card, then wait for them to come back, you can just drop cash on the table and leave at any time. I have not been to Spain specifically though.
Thing is, everything you buy with Google Apple Visa or Mastercard is logged. Everything you buy at the pharmacy is cross referenced from the cash register software and your credit card purchase then sold to insurance companies, etc etc.
Every time you use cash, you are making a small vote against those types of organizations having any more power over the public. Cash can be an annoyance, but it helps take power away from entities who will absolutely use your data to harm people for profit.
>Both can be bridged to Matrix, which can be accessed with any OS you like with FOSS software.
I do this. It's great for protecting your location data and select meta-data, but the contents of your conversation are just as vulnerable as ever because the other party might still be using native apps.
> Both can be bridged to Matrix, which can be accessed with any OS you like with FOSS software.
Correct, and I do exactly this. But WhatsApp requires a mobile device. It can work without the device turned on, but after a few weeks it will stop working. So you still need to have a phone though you don't need to bring it with you.
iMessage and SMS is totally not a thing at all here. But Telegram is (which doesn't require the mobile app luckily, in fact I really like Telegram despite the lack of end 2 end encryption in regular chats). They allow alternative clients, bots, and their paid plans are cheap enough and offer some features that are genuinely cool and useful. I use it most of the time with local people here instead of whatsapp, I only use that with the few people that don't have telegram.
I'm just mentioning this because in the US telegram appears to have a bad rep somehow. But to me it's one of the services that's the least trying to enshittify. Even Signal I don't use because it's just not terribly useful the way they implemented it.
> Almost nothing is truly mobile only. You can run Android applications on QubesOS in a pinch, but more generally I find most 2FA apps actually use TOTP or FIDO under the hood, and can be replaced with open alternatives with a bit of research.
That won't work. My work requires MDM management of the mobile device for accessing work stuff. And the 2FA app is unfortunately not TOTP or FIDO.
> I live in Silicon Valley, run a b2b tech company ... I have not carried a phone or an Google/Apple controlled device in 3+ years and exclusively use FOSS on a personal basis.
I grew up on the road often getting food from food stamps and food pantries, been working since 10, had to fend for myself since 17, spent years surfing couches and sleeping in cars, and learned engineering skills while working retail, pc repair, coding gigs, street entertainment, day labor, trucking, and telemarketing.
I am accustomed to life without a smartphone because I could not afford one until my mid 20s and only had a laptop because of a $200 Black Friday sale I waited in line 3 days for.
