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A comment on Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found with steel chestnut. Parent comment

Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by zarzavat on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @04:03AM (#41846080)
It's much more likely to have died out because of smartphones. The boredom of the pre-smartphone era led to all kinds of ingenuity. Kids were bored so they found ways to not be bored. Nowadays everybody is addicted their phone, simple pleasures such as violently smashing two nuts together no longer have the same pull.
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Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by treerock on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @04:24AM (#41846264)
I was out for a walk yesterday, and kids were throwing sticks up trees trying to knock the chestnuts down, so I don't think it's dead completely.

I never really played it when I was a kid, but knew all about it from The Beano and Oor Wullie.

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Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by mellosouls on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @07:07AM (#41847299)
It's much more likely to have died out because of smartphones

I know kids have a lot more money these days but I refuse to believe they are swinging two smartphones together instead of conkers.

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Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by joelanman on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @07:50AM (#41847542)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carrotpop....
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Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by dgacmu on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @09:02AM (#41848128)
I would like to introduce you to my six year old.

Mind you, it's much more likely the two phones involved would be mine and my wife's.

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Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by Cthulhu_ on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @09:15AM (#41848248)
I've seen enough clips of kids playing with their phone to drop them in the water to know that they probably would.
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Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by philipwhiuk on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @07:30AM (#41847409)
Not for long. Schools are looking at banning smartphones.
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Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by Cthulhu_ on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @09:16AM (#41848261)
They are where I live, both elementary and secondary schools. The first results are promising; kids have more concentration, interact socially with each other more, etc.

I mean if it's a school where they also have to carry laptops and use digital schedules I don't think it makes a difference, but it's a good first step.

One issue was that each phone also has a camera, so people would seek out / make trouble on purpose, spy on people and post it online, etc.

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Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by tsukikage on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @08:31AM (#41847892)
...I mean, you could play conkers with smartphones. They even have that strap attachment built right in. Might have to outlaw old Nokias though.
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Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by 0xdeadbeefbabe on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @02:14PM (#41851401)
Kids can get bored of smart phones too.
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