quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:

My biggest tip, as I didn't see anyone else say it, is trust no one. Scams are prevalent, beware.

I'll go one step further and say, "assume everything is a scam". Every text or call not from someone already in your contact list is presumed a criminal. And if they claim to be someone you know and are asking for money, assume it is a scam. Any sense of rush means it is a scam.

If you’re undecided my advice would be to NOT get a smart phone.

I have one out of necessity for work but the day I officially retire is the day I give it up and activate my flip phone. Several years ago I bought a Samsung flip phone from Verizon. They worked very hard to try to dissuade me from buying it.

I can’t wait to turn the iPhone off

If you think you’ll follow through without getting frustrated and discouraged, a big yes.
I can’t imagine going back for all sorts of reasons.
Once you get things settled, you’ll wonder why you waited so long.
Have someone help you at first so you don’t get stuck staring out.
I’m partial to Apple even though I have windows computers.

It doesn’t have to be a brick, even the iPhone 17 has a smaller size available.

Another thing, ‘airplane mode’ and leave it sitting when you are busy. I’m on ‘silent’ 90% of the time, never have a phone glued to me when I’m busy. I’ll get back to whoever called or left a message.

The belt holster gets you into the ‘old guys camp’.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
If you’re undecided my advice would be to NOT get a smart phone.

Since I already have the phone, I guess the decision is to activate it with cellular or use it as a mini tablet.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
If you think you’ll follow through without getting frustrated and discouraged, a big yes.

I'm not a tech genius but not tech illiterate either. If I choose to go with it, the tech part will be fine.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
The belt holster gets you into the ‘old guys camp’.

I am an old guy

Pace, may we ask which model phone you were gifted?

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

Low maintenance, cheap fuel.

I suspect you've never owned, or knew someone who owned, a horse.

I spent a lot of time during my pre-teen and early teen years on my uncle's small farm not far from Utica, NY.

He had a couple of work horses that were very low cost maintenance. No hay costs during the warmer months, they grazed in the pasture when they were not working.

Big guys, very docile. They would wait patiently for me to lead them to a stump, climb up and sit bareback, then amble along at a slow "we'll get there eventually" pace.

Winter, they were sometimes needed to provide transportation when the county did not get around to plowing the smaller back roads after the frequent heavy snow falls.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:
Pace, may we ask which model phone you were gifted?

Samsung Galaxy A37 5G

quote:

Originally posted by pace40:

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:
Pace, may we ask which model phone you were gifted?

Samsung Galaxy A37 5G

Cool. The first thing I did was to watch a "how to" to setup my phone in settings to suit me, on youtube.

https://youtu.be/d1HG9YuzC1Q?si=GPjDanDG3OBPA5d4
Maybe helpful?
I found a really good demo video for mine that really got me through setting up the phone for my uses.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:

https://youtu.be/d1HG9YuzC1Q?si=GPjDanDG3OBPA5d4
Maybe helpful?

Thanks! Doesn't seem that much different from an android tablet I had a few years back before I dropped a coffee mug on it and shattered it.

I have a friend who resisted smartphones for years. He barely used his flip phone.

I wound up with a free iPhone (replaced by Apple), so I sent it to him. Now he wonders how he ever got along without it.

A flip phone is all you need.

^^^^^^
I love my iPhone, but it’s good to have a few sturdy troglodytes on the forum.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
A flip phone is all you need.

I have thought the same thing for years and that's all I've used. The biggest thing that set off this conundrum is, as I said in the OP, I got an internet service upgrade, but I can't set it up without a smart phone. I even called them and they told me to borrow one. There's no way to set it up without one.

So, I started thinking of what else required a smart phone and Dr's check-in came up next. I'm the only guy still filling out paperwork. Everybody else hits a couple buttons on their phone and they're done. I watch people in stores scanning bar codes as they put stuff in their carts. They get to the register, point, click, gone. And... I can't count the number of times I hear on the phone, "Would you like us to send you a link to... (insert your life made easier here). "No, this is a landline home phone. It doesn't get texts". Checked out at the dentist last week. Had to ask for a receipt and was told the system automatically sends a receipt to your phone. Told her my landline doesn't get texts. She said they're going to stop printing receipts next year. Lately, it's one thing after another and I don't like it but, it seems that more and more, smart phones are being required for normal daily tasks.

^^^^^^^^^^
Everything in my daily life- grocery stores, shopping, doctor visits, dentist, auto service, restaurants, banking, air travel, driving directions, etc. etc. I can do easily without the benefit of a smartphone, just like life 20 years ago. I long ago stopped noticing that I'm perhaps the only human in a waiting room or line that doesn't have a phone buried in my face. I don't really need a smartphone to fully function in today's society.

I've never had a smart phone, considered it mainly for photos, but I get by fine with a flip phone and a wife with a smart phone.

^^^^^
I get by fine without a wife with a smart phone.

No wife, no smartphone, still alive, so there's that.

quote:

Originally posted by pace40:
One question though. How the hell do you guys carry this brick around? It's certainly not what I would call pocket friendly.

Diamond Gusset has the Lynchburg line of jeans - has a handy pocket on the right leg I find to be perfect to carrying my phone.

^^^^^
I have this holster for my iPhone Pro:
https://a.co/d/08wZRYFO

The outer case has a belt clip that can be rotated for vertical or horizontal carry. Other orientations too, with positive click stops at 15° intervals.

The iPhone snaps securely into the inner case, which is scarcely larger than the iPhone, but provides a much securer grip. I’ve NEVER taken my iPhone out of the inner case.

Actually I had a different model of this case for my previous iPhone too.