I cannot tell you a way my life has genuinely gotten better since the advent of "smart" phones.

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For me, it was notes, calculations, and having access to the necessary information for making the two.

I might be sitting in the train, looking out the window, zoning out, and suddenly I start thinking about the melting point of tungsten. I begin to wonder how much power an arc furnace would draw while melting tungsten, and could you keep one running with just solar power. How many panels would you need at this location? I have so many questions, and most of them involve calculations.

You can imagine how glad I am that I don’t need to carry a calculator and a bunch of books with me.

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Suddenly, printing stuff has declined in popularity when you could just have all the data with you in your phone. Don’t even have to be stored locally when you can access the cloud instead.

tate

I thought there was a whole movement going on among the "youngs," where they were specifically getting old flip phones that couldn't run any apps. I heard about that trend more than a year ago, so it's probably long passed.

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Do you never leave your house?

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Do portable GPS also have a list of every single business near my location?

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No. Being overly hostile against smartphones because you don't do much in your life is having a low-effort life. You're basically saying soap is useless because you don't shower.

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Was i being hostile?

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What does having it in my pocket vs at home on a desk change? Im never really in such a hurry to find something out that I can't just look it up later. I actually prefer researching at my desk.

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Gps without having to buy an expensive in-car GPS unit.
Gps that automatically updates maps.
GPS that updates routes based on traffic\

Route planning including public transit
Especially when you're not sure what your departure time will be
That accounts for temporary route changes
That automatically updates permanent route changes

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Still going but hard to get a decent new flip phone.

Bizzle

I, too, hate phones and love weed

OpenStars

It is a tool. Make sure to use it rather than allow it to use you. For my next phone I wish I could get a dumbphone but the need to have something like Google Maps is too strong. I'll definitely just get a cheapie though, or perhaps a Fairphone.

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Google Maps on my smartphone is God tier.

I drove in the before times. You have any idea how much of a pain in the ass it was to use a paper map or look at written directions and miss a turn? Do you realize how great it is to type in "food near me" and see everywhere you might want to stop for a bite to eat and right where it's at? That I can youch a business name on the screen and it will show me its hours they're open? How n8ce it is that I don't even have to look away from the road and have nice lady robot voice tell me to turn right 2 miles?

I could give up a lot of my smartphone stuff and not have it be "for the worse", but im keeping the mapping stuff.

dadarobot

I just got a fairphone, and so far i have no complaints.

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I use the Realcalc scientific calculator app at least 5 times a week. As others have mentioned GPS functionality for driving is great. I also use my phone's GPS to get waypoints for the location of fixtures for my job as a telecommunications facilities designer.

Having a high quality camera is also handy for work and personal stuff.

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Yeah you’re full of crap dude. You’re telling me you’ve never used the GPS on your phone at the VERY least? Even for walking in the city or something?

AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet

You've obviously never had to read a shampoo bottle to keep you entertained while taking a dump before.

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These badboys exist - tempted to get the hotspot and navigation version.

Flip phone

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There are a lot of good things that a smartphone provides that has made my life better.

Weather they apply to you I don't know.

Here are some great features of my smartphone that had improved my life.

GPS navigation - being able to quickly and easily find your way is amazing. Though I will never have my GPS running with sound, I use it to have a map up when driving where I can glance to see the general idea of the way to my destination, this sometimes mean I miss a turn, but it's fine the system quickly calculates the route again and I don't get yelled at to follow directions when it might be impossible, reducing stress.
Smart lighting, my phone can turn on my lights at home before I get home making me able to open my front door into a cozy lit up home rather than a black void.
Translation on the go, being able to get translations of just about anything you need at any point is amazing, sure the translations are not perfect, but they are good enough.
Entertainment is probably to biggest win for me, being able watch a movie, listen to music, read a book where ever you are on a small device you have with you is truly amazing.

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It's been going on 20 years since smart phones arrived. You go figure it out.