Since I do many things related to technology on my website, I get asked quite a lot on what kind of cell phone do I use and what is my opinion on them. So here is my take on what I think about the whole grand scheme of things. Those of you who know me personally, will know I'm very much against cell phones. Don't get me wrong, I still use a cell phone because there are some benefits of actually owning one but only up to a certain point, I just don't carry it around with me. They come with a high-resolution camera nowadays, which before you would have to buy a whole separate device that really had no other functionality other than that of taking pictures. Cell phones are also useful to have when going to some unknown destination, I tend to just download the maps of that particular location offline, like that my chances of getting lost are minuscule.
The more I think of it, cell phones as we all know are computers, but they are one of the most personal kinds of computers that people have. Just think about what you have on your cell phone; all your photos, emails, logins for numerous websites, maybe even banking info. These kinds of devices have the most personalized and sensitive information, yet the "owners" of these devices have the least amount of control over it. You can't even uninstall all the applications off your phone if you wanted to, I'm referring to the stock applications. Majority of people don't even have root access over their phones, which is basically the ability to access/modify any and all files on the cell phone. My biggest gripe about android devices is the amount of Google applications that come pre-installed onto the phone, and yet users don't even have the ability to remove these applications if they wanted to. Everyone knows that large companies such as Google are data-mining organizations, yet people are still alright with those applications coming pre-installed onto their phones, which they usually spend over $800 on average. Also, a lot of what you do on your phone may be quite different from what is actually happening, I mean, do you really think some Google service is being stopped when you go to disable it?
Cell phones are extremely personal to most people, yet they don't even have the basic rights that they do on a conventional computer. This is why I try my best to do everything that I can on my computer such as Two Factor Authentication (2FA). People like to think of their cell phones as their own, however, in reality they have very little control over what can be done on it, not to mention the default permissions of applications. Needless to say, other companies like Android, Apple, Google, your carrier, etc. have root access to change whatever they'd like on your phone, but you don't have that ability. People can go out and root their phones, but that poses new security threats that weren't present before. And by rooting your phone, you are voiding your warranty that you have on that particular device because those companies purposefully do not want you to have root access to them or in other words full control.
Now people have the option to install custom roms such as GrapheneOS and LineageOS to run 100% free software, in theory. But even if you have a phone that runs only free software, you can't escape the cellular network which you must connect to, in order to call and text. That is also where a lot of your data gets tracked and can easily get intercepted.
Apart from all that being said, cell phones just in general aren't really that useful. It just seems as if we need them because of how much they have become a part of our lives, but don't be fooled. People around 20 years ago didn't need cell phones and they were far better off than we are today. With the rise of social media, a new psychological barrier has been implemented into the minds of those who are severely affected by it and yet only some are starting to see the consequences. Sure everything is now closer than ever to us, in terms of social media, as well as people in general, but the problem lies when the lives of many are being built on this virtual reality; none of this physically exists. People feel as if they need certain cell phone applications and that they can't be replaced. But in reality, if you go without a cell phone like I have or don't own one, you start to realize just how free you become mentally and physically; you begin to interact more, invest time into real stuff and not social media, etc. Now of course, you might need to use your phone for your work like a business phone, which is alright, I mean 20 years ago, the only people who ever owned a cell phone were usually businessmen.
Also, not to mention how reliant people have become on technology and cell phones to the point they wouldn't even be able to function without one. A lot of human functions such as navigating or analyzing have been replaced by cell phones with map applications and this leaves many dependent and helpless in a situation where they might not have access to a cell phone. Another psychological reflex that has been developed among those who frequently use cellular devices can be seen when they have nothing else to do. Let's say you become bored, and you have a few minutes to yourself, more often than not, you will pull out your cell phone and start browsing various social media applications even though you already know that nothing is there. This mental time which you have to yourself, could really impact you if you don't abuse it by pulling out your cell phone. I, for example, do some of the best thinking when I get bored. I often solve problems that I might have had throughout my day, or I would self reflect on what is going well in life and what isn't. But by having a cell phone, this completely disrupts this normal mental process which people have been having for centuries and it's terrible. This really interferes with our social interactions as well, because many prefer to look at a phone than to engage in a normal conversation with the person next to them. By developing this reflex, you end up losing this mental freedom that you once had when you would become "bored".
Many may not see what is so wrong in developing this reflex in the first place. But the fact that it disrupts a normal mental process of just letting thoughts come to you as they should, it's really disturbing. Not to mention how your personality changes, as your thoughts are shaped by the culture that is presented though the various social media applications such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, etc. In general, I'm not someone who will tell you what to do with your life but this is just how I see it. Like I said, I do own a cell phone, but my uses for it are very specific and I never carry it around with me (if you know me personally, you hitherto know this). For example when I'm travelling into some foreign land, then its always a good idea to have a cell phone in case some emergency arises. Usually, that's the only time I would carry it with me, otherwise I'd always leave it inside the house.
There also seems to be a lot of people that have this feeling where if they stop using their cell phone consistently, they can't have normal human interactions which is quite obscure. That's not true because people are great at adapting, especially to things like this. They will recognize you aren't a consistent cell phone user and will usually try to contact you some other way. I, for example, would much prefer to actually see the person who is trying to communicate with me rather than receiving a bunch of text messages or even an email at the very least. With that being said, I think that a majority of people should aim to trim as much time as they can from using their cell phones, because that will greatly increase their attention span and they're are actually going to do things that they otherwise would have not done.