Avoid paying $5 for mailed paper statements. Enroll in eStatements!
FROM MY BANK
2012 was a crossroads year for me. My old flip phone was cracking at the hinge, and I needed to replace it before a total break happened. So, I went to my Verizon dealer, and I had to make a choice between another flip phone or to go with the herd and buy a smartphone. I had already had a negative experience with an iPod touch, so I decided that I needed another flip phone. The one I picked was an expensive but robust and durable model from Casio. I reasoned that it would probably be the last flip phone that I would ever be able to buy, so I may as well invest in one that would last at least a decade. That phone turned out to be the best phone I have ever owned. You can see it in the pictures below.
This phone was more than a tool. It was a friend. It saved a coworker's job when I used the camera to catch a guy in a lie. This phone was called a "super phone" by a coworker who thought my text messages were better than anything sent from a smartphone. My secret was that I used my brain and creativity instead of emojis and apps. The ultimate test came in 2018 when this phone survived the accident that damaged my brain and body. I was able to call my boss and my wife to tell them what happened. My partner's smartphone was all busted up, and he had to use my phone to call his wife. This phone ended service in 2019 when I had to move from 3G to 4G. I upgraded to another robust flip phone made by Kyocera which I use to the present day. I am happy to say that I think flip phones are not going away.
When I bought the original Casio flip phone, I showed it off to people at work because I was impressed with its ruggedness. They looked at me like I was a fool. I remember using the phone and someone asked me if it was my work phone. I told him it was my personal phone, and he couldn't believe it. Why would anyone buy a flip phone in the smartphone era? That was my first encounter with what I now refer to as the Push.
The Push is that unseen force that exerts itself in an effort to make you conform to the herd. I have taken a lot of ribbing and flak over the years for the flip phone, and I have resisted all of it. Unfortunately, the Push exists in other areas. For instance, my bank and my internet provider demand that I now pay $5 extra per month for paper statements and bills delivered by snail mail. I don't want this. I am not alone on this.
When did companies decide to get in on the Push? When did passive-aggressiveness become a business strategy? The answer to that one goes back to Steve Jobs and Apple. Apple became famous for deleting features from their products. You want a disk drive for your box? Go buy a Dell. You want a plug for your wired earbuds? Go buy an Android or a dongle. Other manufacturers believed in backwards compatibility. Apple knew they could save money and increase their margins by giving their customers less. The chutzpah was amazing, but Apple knows their customers are devoted idiots who would buy manure as long as there was an Apple logo on the box.
This arrogance became the Push as other companies followed suit in forcing their customers to eat it. This is how you get the self-checkout at Walmart. This is how you get TV broadcasters forcing the conversion to ATSC 3.0 and DRM encryption. And this will continue until we have central bank digital currencies and the Mark of the Beast. Freedom will give way to COMPLIANCE.
I am not into compliance. I am into the opposite of the Push which I call the Resistance. I push back. I kneel to receive communion on the tongue. I refuse to buy an electric vehicle. I do not use social media. I still use snail mail for cards and letters. This isn't Luddism. This is my daily choice to go with what Catherine Austin Fitts calls a "human future."
Can the Resistance win? It is already winning on the electric vehicle thing as consumers stick with internal combustion and EV makers go bankrupt. It is winning against energy hogging AI data centers as the locals protest their arrival. There is a thriving dumbphone/digital minimalist movement that represents a stubborn minority. You can still watch a movie in a theater. You can still buy vinyl records, cassette tapes, and manual typewriters.
In the past, people adopted tech because it was an improvement to their lives. There was no compulsion involved. People wanted these things. I wanted a cellphone. I wanted the internet. Hell, I wanted Facebook until I learned better. No one had a gun to my head. Today, I want a paper menu instead of a QR code. I want to pay with a check or cash instead of putting my financial information at risk. I want music performed by real people not AI. I want my AM radio. The thing I have learned is that the Resistance wins when it doesn't comply. You just have to stick to your guns.
UPDATE: We had a good time laughing at this article over at Breitbart:
Researchers: Americans Holding on to Old Tech Devices Is Hurting the Economy
The reality is that Americans holding on to old tech devices hurts the profits of Big Tech especially Apple. They can't come out and just say this, so those profits magically become the "economy" which is to right wingers what the "environment" is to left wingers. To hell with the economy. What about my personal economy? As usual, the combox comments on this one are glorious:
If the economy is dependent on conspicuous consumption and planned obsolescence then maybe 'the economy' is sick.
***
Most REAL people can't afford to throw away more than a thousand dollars every year to buy a new phone when the old one still works just fine.
The people putting out this kind of trash live in an artificial world that has little or nothing to do with the REAL world the rest of us inhabit.
***
Consider me on of those Americans holding on to "old tech devices," but in this case it's my 2015 Ford F-150 which has 186,000 miles on it. This vehicle cost around $52K when I purchased it new. In order to replace it with a 2025 or 2026 model with similar options, I would be looking at a sticker price in the 90K range.
Not gonna happen. I'm much more interested in "my" economy, then "the" economy.
***
I get emails, texts, shop, pay bills, look up that actor in the movie who's name I can't remember and do everything else that I need on my 5 year-old, $175 Android just as well as a $1200 iPhone. I don't understand why people "need" them so badly?
***
So in escense what this article is saying is that we need to spend our money as fast ss we make it so that investors will be happy. Kind of like the old credit score, if you arent already in debt you cant borrow money. People need to wake up, its all propaganda designed to suck us dry while the elite get richer
***
Right.......we're the problem, because we're not buying enough of their crap at over $1000 every year they issue some b.s. upgrade. The arrogance.
***
IPhones are over 1k. New tech isn't my priority, bills are.
***
The "experts" are concerned now?! Wait till about 50 million of us shltcan the cursed things and go back to the good old days.
***
Our society has become insecure smart phone social media zombies.
***
What if I don't own a Smartphone at all? Is that a capital offense? I'm quite pleased to be supporting "the economy" as little as humanly possible.
***
It's been a while since I went to Blockbuster.
I still have a lot movies on VHS I need to rewind.
Are you saying I should upgrade?
***
Researchers out to cash in on AI , nothing is wrong with old devices, old devices work perfectly well. No need to throw away and replace older technology . I wonder how much money that researcher is getting paid to push people into buying something that they do not need . No Thanks!!!!!!!
***
Excuse me? There is no way to scold people for holding on to working equipment, instead of wasting money to buy the latest and greatest. This is really STUPID financial advice.
Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or do without!
DEBT IS SLAVERY.
***
"Researchers" must own stock in high tech.
***
My $9 a month tracfone and $300 laptop serves me just fine. Will keep them for as long as possible.
***
Last year I was having problems with my phone so I went to the provider. The first thing the sales person said to me was Why are you still using that dinosaur? I don't think we even support that one anymore.
I had to get a new phone.
***
IPhones are usually around 2 years behind Android in terms of being up to date with the latest tech - they know people who know almost nothing about real value or tech buy their stuff like sheep so - they don't need to worry.
***
Oh, I am crying for the tech billionaires. The real estate billionaires are saying we are hurting the economy by holding onto our houses and not selling them or buying higher-priced ones. How did we ever live before these greedy moguls?
***
It would be interesting to know what manufacturer of what products funded this 'research' ???
***
Try prying that flip phone from my cold, dead fingers lol! We could care less about your need for speed! When you can convince me that driving across town takes less time to drop off a bill than online banking where you can’t communicate with a real human if a problem, hacking issues( no bragging of your high tech wonders!)and when you call go through 5 to 8 prompts, 2 to 4 different departments to hear a barely English foreign worker who could care less about your 90 year old mom and her bill, maybe we the people may reconsider!
***
LMAO! How about trying to make an affordable product rather than up charging each year for slave labor in China to boost profits? Every other year at the least there should be a discount, or offer phones with more basic options, then sales will increase. I am sure the CEO's will cry that their 38 million dollar salary went down .0025%, but that is what truly hurts the economy.
***
Make new ones cheaper and maybe I would upgrade. That said, not much difference between a 2020 phone and a 2025 phone.
***
What a load of crap. Most work computers are plenty fast enough for the people who use them. And productivity for personal phones? Don't make me laugh. Most people don't even think of their phones as productivity devices. This is just research by device makers who want to increase sales. They should try lowering their prices, and more people will buy new ones.
***
Why should we spend money we don't have on devices we don't need?
***
They must own stock in apple. Good stuff, wouldn't own anything produced by them though.
***
I guess I should buy a new house and car since I paid those off and stay in perpetual debt instead of enjoying my disposal income the way I want.
***
Our son is getting a new VHS player for us for Christmas. I'm not paying for streaming. DVDs are the final technology entertainment for me.
We had a CED collection (similar to laser disc), some beta, a ton of VHS and finally DVD. Same with music. We started with a vinyl collection, then cassettes, and CDs . There's a limit to how many times I'm going to purchase the same music or movies.
It's a racket. I stopped caring a long time ago whether I had the latest thing. Correction. I never cared.
***
I want a phone that is just a phone. Caller ID, a contacts list and I will accept texting. Yes I admit I am a tech Neanderthal. I have a GPS in my vehicle. I have email on my computer. I have a Kindle. I don't need or want anything else.
***
They can`t make anything simple anymore. Too many bells and whistles. Like new cars with computer screens,... Worse than cellphones for distracting drivers.
***
My last laptop an Acer Aspire held the ghost for 6 yrs. My Galaxy s22 Ultra is going on 4 yrs. My buddy who is YoubreakiFix store manager has a Galaxy s9 going 7 yrs. What do they all have in common? What was pretty expensive when new, but well made. They are going to stay in our hands until they die. F these tech companies who want us to dig deep into our pockets every yr or two to line theirs. F THEM.
***
I drive older vehicles to escape driving a computer on wheels.
***
I still use an ancient "flip phone" cause it has buttons instead of a touch screen! I do not the have touch sensitivity required!
***
"Experts claim"; Stopped reading at that point.
***
Society was better off in the flip phone era.
***
How about an article on why Americans can't afford new tech...
***
Bad....Bad, Americans! You're the cause of the tech manufacturers' pain and poverty this Christmas season! Your frugality will be punished!
***
My dad retired at 65 and went right back to a flip phone. It does everything he needs and he was so happy to get rid of his smart phone.
***
Do you understand now? They see you as cattle and you're only purpose is to serve the economy.
***
Actually the problem is most people are so broke ass they are lucky to keep their lights on
***
Benjamin Franklin said, "In all things, be frugal". Keep your phone, your laptop.
***
Not only that, I hold onto my vehicles. My truck is 19 years old. My car is 20. And I own a 1960 , a 1968, a 1974, and a 1975 motorcycles. I have lived in my fully paid off house for 43 years.
***
My 28 year old son just downgraded to a flip phone. Tired of doomscrolling and being a victim of algorithms. I salute his discipline.
