Heck, if you're over 30 you remember this. The problem though is that you remembered those numbers because you dialled them frequently from memory (and, at least in my location, landline numbers were much shorter than cell phone numbers). If you're not doing this on your smartphone you're never going to be able to remember the numbers. e.g. I can remember all of my childhood friends home phone numbers. I can't remember my partners cell phone number.
I recently considered getting an analogue phone book and noting down all the numbers in my smartphone contacts book just in case I ever lost access to the digital version.
The Dutch government not only defacto requires it, soon an Android or iOS phone with their app will be required too. Only very determined, very patient people with lots or spare time will be able to do without.
What do poor people do? Or the very elderly? Or those with diminished mental abilities? Or people whose culture eschews technology?
But I'm the one who hates all smart home devices. I'm the one who wants a dumb TV. I would be perfectly happy with my dumb phone if it didn't keep pocket dialing emergency services.
I want less tech in my life not more.
All of us--and I include myself although I try to have some backup information on paper--have probably become too dependent on a single physical device which sucks in more and more information every year. See ongoing digitization of driver's licenses.
Especially for international travel, but really generally, I try to make it so I'm not completely screwed if something were to happen to my phone.
No. People have been trained to think they need an e-mail address for real-life things, but they don't.
I had a roof replaced in my last place, which involved multiple contractors and insurance companies. No e-mail. No text messaging involved.
I recently moved to a new city, and setting up utilities, dry cleaning service, parking garage, etc... probably involved a dozen new accounts. I gave my e-mail address to none of them. Depending on the disposition of the provider, I either told them I hadn't set up e-mail yet since I moved, or just a flat "no."
you need your contact list to reach out to friends for help
If you're over 40, you can remember the days when it was perfectly ordinary to remember the phone numbers for dozens and dozens of people and businesses. These days, we've allowed computers to think and remember for us (hello, Stackoverflow!) so we don't have to. Memory is a normal skill that many people have lost or neglected.
you need access to your bank accounts
That's why it's important to have your bank accounts with an actual bank, with actual branches, and actual human beings to help you when human being things go wrong in the real world.
your cloud-stored scans of your ID cards
I can't even wrap my brain around why you'd trust information this important to a rental computer a thousand miles away.
"Everything digital" is a marketing tool. In reality, it only works when it works. When things go wrong, digital shows its fragility.