I’ve been very stressed lately and have been doing some window shopping to calm down. I’m interested in gadgets, but a lot of things can just be replaced with apps. I realize a phone won’t replace very large appliances like refrigerators or washing machines so I’m trying to scope my question to portable devices. So what are some portable devices or gadgets that their specialization hasn’t been replaced by smart phone apps? Extra points if they’re super useful and reliable.
- A pocket notebook and a ballpoint pen, for quick note taking. Edit: add to that a pocket watercolor set and a brush, for quick sketching
- A pocket book, for on the go reading
- My (mechanical) wrist watch
I don’t care if the smartphone can be used to take notes, to read and has an extra precise clock. I much prefer my analog tools. They don’t require upgrade, they don’t need recharging, no one will ever try to stole them (my watch is not fancy at all, it’s just mechanical ;) and, well, I prefer using those.
I’d argue phones are actually better pocket books. Assuming looking at a screen does not bother you:
- it’s much more compact, can be held in one hand and you can carry multiple 800 page books. I’ve never actually seen a pocket book that can fit in a pocket.
- you can adjust font, text size and brightness (some font choices in printed books are just terrible)
- does not need an external light source
- you can quickly look up words and take notes without needing external items
Requiring a battery is a downside but most reading apps consume very little power compared to other apps.
I’d argue phones are actually better pocket books.
It’s obviously a matter of personal preferences, which is absolutely fine.
As far as I’m concerned, I prefer print for these reasons, and for context I have been reading ebooks since I have owned a Palm Pilot PDA in the early 00s, so not reading them is a decision and a choice, it is not an allergy to them or to the tech:
- Print fully respect my privacy.
There is no tracking and no spying on my reading habits. That’s also why I read print newspapers and magazines as much as I can. - No remote deleting of ebooks after purchase.
Like Amazon and Microsoft already did. They refunded customers but that’s not how private property is supposed to work: I pay for a good, I own it its previous owner taht sold it to me can’t decide to enter my home to take it back, even if they were to leave some cash on the table. - No remote editing possible.
No matter if one book or one word in it suddenly becomes unpopular or offensive to anyone. - No notifications, social media, games, email, whatever, to distract me.
- Does not need external light either.
Try to beat day light and at night, or when the sun plays hide 'n seek, well, I have access to this revolutionary piece of high-tech called ‘lamps’ that are lying around absolutely everywhere in our home and, as far as I can tell, are also everywhere I may find myself wanting to read a book. - Does not need batteries, and no recharging.
The same with my watch, btw: no battery, just a spring I rewind every morning after I shower and when I put it to my wrist. It has been working wonder for years and its manufacturer has yet to send my a message telling my watch is tool old and I need to purchase a new model to get updates… because there are none ;) - Does not need app and system updates.
- Does not need Internet.
- Unlike a smartphone, a book itself does not need to be replaced every few years by a new one (aka creating always more e-waste). Talking about phones, here, not e-readers that may last many, many years.
BTW, I seldom need to quickly look up a word either. When I don’t know a word and if I can’t figure out its meaning by using the context it is used in, aka surrounding sentences, I write it down in my pocket notebook (which also requires no battery, no upgrade, doesn’t track me either, etc.) and look it back at home in one of my… paper dictionaries (which don’t push ads into my face, don’t track me, and so on)
you can adjust font, text size and brightness (some font choices in printed books are just terrible)
This is the one advantage I find to ebooks in general (the reader is in charge of the display… depending the app used) but getting that freedom you also instantly lose access to the excellent page layout many publishers work hard on. Sure there are a few dickheads in the field but a majority are not at least those whose catalog I enjoy reading.
And, most ebook page layout is, well, what word did you use? Terrible? You would be right.
I’ve never actually seen a pocket book that can fit in a pocket.
There are (I would say I can fit most poetry books and many plays in my jeans back pocket but I don’t really), the idea is that those small books are easy to carry and are cheap (at least back in then they were supposed to be). It also depends a lot what one reads.
Edit:
it’s much more compact, can be held in one hand and you can carry multiple 800 page books.
I don’t need to carry that. On my desk I have dozens of books and references volumes opened at once (that would be expensive to do the same with multiple phones, right? ;) but I only carry with me a single pocket book so I can read on the go. I do not need my entire library, not even a couple 800, or even 1600 pages books ;)
Edit: if you’re willing to read more of my reasoning to stop using ebooks (I should say ebooks sold by Gafam, as I will still by self-published ebooks when there are DRM-free and there is no print available) and refocus my reading on print instead, I’ve published a couple blog post. Link in my profile.
About half of those issues are solved by drm-free ebooks (or piracy). True, a phone comes with extra work (charging, updating, upgrading every few years) so if you’re not already maintaining one you obviously won’t do it just to read books.
The rest is up to use case. I do need to look up words a lot (usually in other languages) and a bus stop after dark will never have enough light for reading. If you read at home I guess these aren’t issues, but pocket books are meant to be read on the road.
About the formatting there are some books which should absolutely not be read as ebooks cause you’ll miss out on things. But most books are a block of text split in chapters and paragraphs. A phone can absolutely support that.
Anyway, it’s mostly up to use case and preference as you say.
About half of those issues are solved by drm-free ebooks
My iPhone or Kindle will still track my reading habits when I read a drm-free or pirated book (which I tend to avoid as I want to support authors and publishers and I can afford to). For years, I have been using a Kindle that I disconnected from the Web after activation, it was working fine but then I realized we should not have to fight that situation to begin with: our privacy should be respected out of the box. Since I decided to not compromise anymore on that, well, I quit using those device. Like I said, it’s just a personal choice in favor of my privacy (not an allergy to tech itself, just to the way it has been hijacked to become a spying tool)
I do need to look up words a lot (usually in other languages)
So do I (be it in my native French and in the few others I pretend to speak). But like I said, I also never need to get instant access to a dictionary either. So it can wait I get back home.
and a bus stop after dark will never have enough light for reading. If you read at home I guess these aren’t issues, but pocket books are meant to be read on the road.
I would say (pocket) books are meant to be read and would not have any expectation on where and when people are supposed to be reading them. Then, I don’t read when I’m moving (I get sick). I will read at a bus stop or waiting in a line anywhere if there is enough light. If there is not enough, I will either write stuff in my notebook (even dim light is enough to jot down quick notes), or I will think about stuff.
About the formatting there are some books which should absolutely not be read as ebooks cause you’ll miss out on things. But most books are a block of text split in chapters and paragraphs. A phone can absolutely support that.
Typography and page layout was once a thing. It was considered kind of an art form even. I feel a bit sad to see it boiled down to some ‘block of text split in chapters’ but it could also just be a sign that I’m getting old and out of touch. Which is to be expected too ;)
Thx for the discussion, it was interesting.
After seeing the edits, it seems we have wildly different use cases/priorities. I’ll check the blog too, it seems interesting, thanks.
Typography and page layout was once a thing. It was considered kind of an art form even.
Honestly I’d love to see that because it feels pretty rare right now.
I carry a jailbroken Kobo with wifi disabled. That solves most of the issues you have described here. I sideload DRM-free ebooks. I can’t stand reading text on my phone’s LCD screen (and OLED is worse), but eink screens are totally different, my eyes like them.
Does not need external light either
Lamps exist
That’s exactly what external light means. If you need to sit near a lamp to read your book, then you are relying on external light.
Btw, I agree with the point in general you’re trying to make. Physical books and physical note taking still have a place and are often gone forgotten and underutilized. They can promote greater information retention, due to the tactile experience being mixed into the reading/writing experience.
I carry a jailbroken Kobo with wifi disabled
I used to that with a Kindle. See my answer to the other comment why I decided I did not want to do it anymore.
That’s exactly what external light means. If you need to sit near a lamp to read your book, then you are relying on external light.
The idea was that I do not need an extra light because, well, there are plenty all around but, you’re right, that’s what an extra light means. They’re just already there ;)
The idea was that I do not need an extra light because, well, there are plenty all around
The biggest counterpoint I have is simply that I enjoy camping. Good luck finding a desk lamp when you’re 5 miles into the woods. And I’m not wasting my flashlight’s precious battery life on reading.
The biggest counterpoint I have is simply that I enjoy camping. Good luck finding a desk lamp when you’re 5 miles into the woods.
Nothing to answer there :P
- Print fully respect my privacy.
Professional work tools come to mind. Laser measures, camera gear, flashlights, 3D scanners, calculators, synthesisers, etc. Sure, there are apps that offer the same functions, but they usually lack the precision and reliability expected from professional tools. There are also some great gaming devices (such as the Analogue Pocket) that probably offer a better experience over gaming on a smartphone.
If you’re looking for an outlet, why not project shop with the aim of making something?
This gives you the opportunity geek out on the gadgets you’ll need to pull off whatever you want to make. More importantly, the journey will continue post purchase as chase the thing you want to make.
You can make both digital and physical stuff. With things like CAD, Arduino/Raspberry PI, and IoT you can also blend the two pretty easily.
A very low key example might be a small garden. I’ve put a bit of time/effort into my seed stating setup, including designing and printing parts for my lighting rig. It seems like the setup iterates a bit every year. In addition, every year I spend a decent amount of time thinking about what I want to grow this year and then diving seed catalogues to find some new-to-me verity of something I’ve grown before.
You can also design from-scratch speakers and go as far down that rabbit hole as you want to - buy vs build (kit) vs design the amplifier, ditto for the actual speaker, etc.
/a person who likes making things
Good suggestion! Unfortunately I have a Mountain of Shame of unbuilt and unpainted Warhammer models. I need to process those first before picking up another hobby I’ll neglect.
I would like to subscribe to your newsletter
Haha, the one where I make a bunch of things and fail numerous times along the way or the one where I keep a running list of “this would be a neat thing to try at some point in the future”?
Yes
It looks like I might have a good place to do that, so yay. I’ll try to get something up in a day or three.
I’ll answer my own question, “Fans”. You can absolutely buy a small fan or even one you can wear, but a smart phone can’t blow air to cool a person down.
I had a very compact fan that plugged right into the lightning port on iPhones. I got a new phone and it stopped working, unfortunately
I stand corrected.
Honestly most of the non digital functions of a phone are still inferior to it’s dedicated counterparts, but I would argue that a phone is good enough for 99% of people.
So get a pocket multitool thingy, I always carry one in my bag and it has helped me quite a few time in my life.
Which multi tool? I carry a Benchmade bugout knockoff and a genuine Leatherman skeletool, ifixit Minnow screwdriver set and a generic basic screwdriver with small/large Philips and flathead in my work bag. Oh and a small adjustable wrench… Covers 95% of my work.
Yeah, the issue with multi tools is the same issue with phones; They’re mediocre at a lot of different things. A dedicated multi-bit screwdriver will almost always be better than a multitool. A solid pair of pliers will almost always be better than a multitool. Et cetera, et cetera…
But in a pinch, a multitool is better than nothing. And a multitool is a hell of a lot easier to carry as a “just in case” thing than an entire toolbox of individual tools. As a freelancer I habitually keep a lot of tools in my trunk, but I don’t want to walk all the way out to my car just to tighten one screw. So I also keep a multitool around as a “good enough” solution.
Jeez, nice!
I have this thing from victorinox:
My stuff is pretty basic. I’d carry something like that if I owned one already, over the years I’ve pretty much shed anything I don’t use enough on a regular basis. My whole kit is probably $80, mostly cause of the Leatherman. The bugout is a knockoff from AliExpress and I LOVE it. $15 is a steal for that style/size/design for a pocket knife.
Shank
The galaxy notes solved that… when thay were around.
Stun guns
Actual guns
Hi-fi audio recorders with builtin microphones. As a bass player, I deeply resent phone mics and speakers.
Phones suck for anything audio related in general.
My Ipod classic can run laps around my phone in terms of audio playback and its a recentish flagship.
They’ve been bad for calling people in my experience for years.
also, a good music player is nice! not having the hassle of using a phone while driving or doing literally anything else is nice for listening to music and the like.
You underestimate my ability to find and download new music to my player. It’s not that I can’t, it’s just that I forget to.
i feel this, i totally forget to update my libraries haha
Books.
The kindle app might be convenient but it’s shit compared to an actual book.
Books are my fondest indulgence as I age. I’m an absolute Aztec history dork and a screen doesn’t do any Mesoamerican codex justice.
I buy more odd art books than I should.
Do you have any recommendations ?
Art books or Aztec history?
Both please !
I inherited my mum’s first edition copies. She worked in publishing and had some great stories. She met Tolkien and Ian Fleming through her job.
So, no, kindle, you cannot compete with that.
She met those two? Plus first editions?
Damn that’s awesome
Sidenote, a huge thank you to the lady at Barnes & Noble who pointed this book out to me. I had no idea it even existed. I knew about Lord of the rings. I just didn’t know about this exact edition.
Best way to calm down would be to look into minimalism.
Pocket knife. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a phone case out there with a box-knife-like insert for a razor blade.
…infact, brb.
Please send pics of “Knife Phone”.
Edit:
Well fuck me, turns out not only does it exist, but there are quite a few options!
There’s this dude, which tries to be an entire Swiss army knife. Buyers pretty consistently complain about the build quality though.
This one has a sheath for a removable knife:
And this one uses the mechanism I had envisioned when I was typing my original post, but uh… cuts a little differently than I had expected, and is ofc the clear winner:
Fuck yeah! Knife Phone and Fuck You Phone!
My dumb ass would forget this is my phone case and try to go through TSA lol
- smartwatch
- e-reader
But from your description maybe you need a gadget related hobby. How about home automation? It’s not just multiple gadgets but having fun with what they can do together. You can do anything from dip your toes in to going all out
While it’s not an electronic device, my wife says makeup mirrors. Yes, you can reverse the camera and use your phone as a mirror, but she says it’s not as good as a real mirror.
Phone cameras are kind of useless for makeup. It’s just good for checking if your hair and lipstick are in place, also if you have food on your chin.
A Vibrator.
Never had an older Nokia?
Have I got an app for you!
:-D ~~~
RrrrrRrrrrrRrrrr~RRRRRRRRIs that the same though? I don’t have the right parts to know, and the procedure to find out makes it easier to ask.
Men can, well you know…
But depending on the size of your phone it takes more bravery.
A steam deck (OLED if you have the extra money). Best purchase I’ve made in freaking ages. It’s the most used device I have in my house. Worth every single penny.
My poor steam deck has been following me everywhere I go since release. Still holding strong that guy.
