Curious what you're using these days? I've got an old iPhone that I haven't updated past iOS 14 and have been wanting to just drop smartphones completely when this thing dies. I'm just wondering what I'll do for MFA mainly, and here in NYC it's nice to have maps when you're out (even though I remember the time I got myself around the city just fine without them 15-ish years ago).
For me, the 2 weeks turned into 5 years (so far).
Oh and I've migrated to a different country in that time, and I'm still alive, despite not having a navigation app thingy. No excuses! :)
A good middle ground I found is the Light Phone. You can send and receive texts, load music and podcasts onto it, and it has GPS navigation. But, it has no web browser, no appstore and a monochrome e-ink display.
>here in NYC it's nice to have maps when you're out
I'm very grateful I live in a country where going smartphone-free, a bit like going car-free, is still a viable choice while maintaining a relatively mainstream lifestyle. Good luck!
Saying that, colleagues and friends have had a laugh out of some of the escapades I've got myself in to, with no smartphone for navigation. I still maintain that my choice is better for me overall, in terms of time and energy usage.
I assume our elite education system is currently fostering the next generation of innovators to answer this question.
Wearables, AR/VR appendages and implants. I know, not the answer you were looking for
The tech is getting a bunch of hate right now for some reason (possibly the open disgust the Meta thing seems to provoke, inherited directly from the already loud anti-Facebook voices), but it seems shortsighted to me. I wish Facebook had just stayed Facebook and kept Oculus going as a separate brand-- in some ways they've almost harmed the market with their choices.
VR can be great fun for anyone who can tolerate it, and even many of those with motion sickness issues can overcome it (I did). It also gets you moving around, something that doesn't get enough credit.
That said, I think AR will absolutely dwarf all else in a nearer time frame. People are going to come up with all kinds of wild body sensory interfaces with friends and/or internet audiences, and I'm not even talking about sex stuff.
Accessories which light up specific colors or patterns based on anything from biometrics to video views to investments, cascading emoticon displays sewn into clothing fed by live feed responses, sunglasses showing secret geocache stashes (or human contacts) related to alternate reality games... the kids are gonna come up with all kinds of ways to be cooler than their parents, as they always have.
What could it possibly be? There's just text, images, audio, and video. All these social media companies are just riffing on those same formats with their own spin (filters, formatting, expiration time, content length, etc.) Same as with like/dislike, follow/subscribe, share, etc. actions. Same as with instrumentation/telemetry to harvest data and sell to advertisers. What else is there? Main difference nowadays is the recommendation algorithms for keeping users engaged.
It is precisely my desire to learn how to authentically and deeply connect with people that has lead me to my decisions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blipvert
From the Max Headroom episode 1 synopsis: Investigative TV news reporter Edison Carter uncovers the disturbing secret of a new TV advert technology in use by his own employers, Network 23, called "Blipverts", high-intensity high-speed commercials with the ability to overload people's nervous systems, causing them to short circuit or explode.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_(TV_series)#Seaso...
As a now non-owner of even a smartphone, I overtly ogle other people using Tiktok. It's equally amusing and baffling for me, and I feel pity for that person.