Plus so many places just expect you to have a phone. For tickets and access to places, to view a menu and order in a restaurant, to access maps and information.

My last friend who still uses a "dumb" phone with no internet has started to struggle over the last few years as more places just require a smartphone. He's increasingly excluded from services.

Hm, I'm doubtful.

I have a smartphone, but I use it for text messaging, calls, navigation, and not much else. Tickets I buy online and print. I've never been to a restaurant that required a phone to see the menu or order, and I'd likely walk out if they did.

The maps/navigation is convenient, but if push came to shove I'd print the directions like I used to do before phone navigation was a thing.

> Tickets I buy online and print

I do not own a printer (30 years old), and neither do any of my siblings. If I want to print something I'd have to do it at work but don't know how to make the work printers work (despite being a software engineer at a company with a "good" printer setup). I travel internationally and don't print anything for that anymore.

> I've never been to a restaurant that required a phone to see the menu

I've never been to a place with a web menu and tried to get a physical menu.

> if push came to shove I'd print the directions

That's true if you know where you're going ahead of time, but if you're out and decide you now need directions to a coffee shop, ATM, public toilet, pharmacy, etc, you often need to look them up. You can ask for directions, but only if you speak the language, can find someone who knows, etc.

I have a vague bad feeling about all of this change, but I can't really justify it. These are the ways things are going and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing in general, although there are negatives to it.

To justify it, there’s the SPF issue. When everything is online, then any failure in the chain between you and the target URL breaks it. Phone doesn’t work for any multitude of reasons, no internet access, et cetera. Printed matter is very robust.

Yeah, if I'm traveling, especially internationally, I'm going to probably have a printed backup of my itinerary, any pre-purchased tickets, etc. I absolutely don't want to be in a situation where my phone goes out and I don't know where I'm staying that night.

I certainly don't obsessively print things but I don't work in an office and I probably want to print at least a few pages in a given week.

> if push came to shove I'd print the directions like I used to do

If push came to shove, I'd send smoke signals to my friend across town when I want to invite them to a party.

If I go sit down at a restaurant and they can't tell me what they can make in the kitchen without me scanning a QR code I'm getting up and walking out.

There are some cities now where this choice means you'll only be eating at home. I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to live like a monk just to avoid using my phone. That's why internet free cruises were so great.

Which cities?

Taipei city, I can confirm many restaurants now do this. I suspect many restaurants in China have gone this route for a while now as their service landscape is more phone-heavy.