I am a bit mad at myself for not even thinking about that. I know people who still use flip phones and this basically segments them out even further.
I think we just need to look at AIM, MSN, whatever yahoo's was called. I think there is a good reason that those were very quickly replaced by just SMS. Even though I would argue that in many ways those were superior to SMS and had features that we really did not get until iMessage (for better or for worse) but we already went through this once and SMS won out.
>I am a bit mad at myself for not even thinking about that. I know people who still use flip phones and this basically segments them out even further
Don't worry, you're in good company - increasingly a gigantic amount of systems just assume that you have a smart phone and are willing to use it to do everything. And that you are fine having everything tracked and logged because you did it digitally. The assumption of "everyone has phones" is absolutely absurd, and it's way too wide spread. The final evolution of this is "cashless" stores/restaurants, where you literally cannot exchange money for goods and services without having a bank account and a smart phone.
I'm not so startled by the number of systems that assume you have a smart phone - most adults do - but am startled by the number of systems that assume you have access to a keyboard/mouse/monitor.
I have PCs at home and at work and a laptop that travels with me. I use these computers to do things like filling out forms, shopping, composing emails, reading PDFs, filing taxes, tracking my calendar, and otherwise interacting with businesses and governments that use computers.
A shocking number of my friends and family do all of these things on their smartphones. They're not impoverished, they might have a PC at work but none at home, they might even have an old laptop they haven't booted up in years...but they'll suffer through side-scrolling a PDF or typing on a ~3" square display (the top of their 6" display, with the bottom used for a touchscreen keyboard).
> I know people who still use flip phones and this basically segments them out even further.
We aren't all impoverished, it can be a conscious decision.
I like how SMS just works, it's far from perfect but feels closer to an independent tool, like a hammer - with the expectation that each time you pull it out of a toolbox it will continue to remain a hammer - other than that rare occasion when the head finally drops off you can rely on it doing it's job without getting in your face asking about updated ToS and changing how you have to hold the handle every few months before you smack a nail in the wall. It's the F-91w of the digital messaging world, somewhat quirky, a bit antiquated, yet provides permanence and doesn't fuck around. I also value privacy, and I can't rely on SMS for that, which is unfortunate.
I am a bit mad at myself for not even thinking about that. I know people who still use flip phones and this basically segments them out even further.
I think we just need to look at AIM, MSN, whatever yahoo's was called. I think there is a good reason that those were very quickly replaced by just SMS. Even though I would argue that in many ways those were superior to SMS and had features that we really did not get until iMessage (for better or for worse) but we already went through this once and SMS won out.