I can appreciate analog and/or specialized tools. I think typewriters, film cameras, watches, etc. are all fascinating. I might enjoy engaging with them. However, a low end Android is cheaper more accessible to most, assuming limited finances and/or no inheritance of such items. 'Everything machines' can be a boon for those individuals by means of concentrating utility and reducing cost. Evidently, capitalism nonetheless creates issues with this, as others have correctly discussed.
I would say that in China, one uses smartphones for neerly everything, even more so than in the global north. This is for various reasons, but it does have practically since all you ever need will be in your phone, including wallet and keys. This does make the development of HarmonyOS by Huawei very interesting. It may abate some of the current issues, especially given that I believe the OS is open source.
I do agree smartphones are utilities that allow people to do much more with them for the much lower price tag, that is a great point. They also are very much useful for disabled people as they trivialize (mostly) many tasks that were in the past very difficult for them.
Regarding China, I'd say I'm happy that they've achieved a unified model with smartphones really being the everything machine. But personally due to my past experiences with computers and smartphones I'm not really fond of that being the only option, and would love for "low tech" alternatives to exist. I really wouldn't like my smartphone to be the singular point of failure of me being able to pay or even worse, open my home in the first place.
I also don't like (from what I've heard) that cash, despite existing, gets very rarely accepted anywhere in China. I've also remembered now some kind of article that was linked to GenZedong about China forcing some, but I don't remember which, places to accept cash no matter what as to help seniors. So if anything, and I hope I'm wrong, it sucks that there are little alternatives to the smartphone life one has in China. It should be the mainstream, but weirdos like me exist unfortunately, even if we are the absolute minority...
I can appreciate analog and/or specialized tools. I think typewriters, film cameras, watches, etc. are all fascinating. I might enjoy engaging with them. However, a low end Android is cheaper more accessible to most, assuming limited finances and/or no inheritance of such items. 'Everything machines' can be a boon for those individuals by means of concentrating utility and reducing cost. Evidently, capitalism nonetheless creates issues with this, as others have correctly discussed.
I would say that in China, one uses smartphones for neerly everything, even more so than in the global north. This is for various reasons, but it does have practically since all you ever need will be in your phone, including wallet and keys. This does make the development of HarmonyOS by Huawei very interesting. It may abate some of the current issues, especially given that I believe the OS is open source.
I do agree smartphones are utilities that allow people to do much more with them for the much lower price tag, that is a great point. They also are very much useful for disabled people as they trivialize (mostly) many tasks that were in the past very difficult for them.
Regarding China, I'd say I'm happy that they've achieved a unified model with smartphones really being the everything machine. But personally due to my past experiences with computers and smartphones I'm not really fond of that being the only option, and would love for "low tech" alternatives to exist. I really wouldn't like my smartphone to be the singular point of failure of me being able to pay or even worse, open my home in the first place.
I also don't like (from what I've heard) that cash, despite existing, gets very rarely accepted anywhere in China. I've also remembered now some kind of article that was linked to GenZedong about China forcing some, but I don't remember which, places to accept cash no matter what as to help seniors. So if anything, and I hope I'm wrong, it sucks that there are little alternatives to the smartphone life one has in China. It should be the mainstream, but weirdos like me exist unfortunately, even if we are the absolute minority...