They kind of are, I'll immediately cop to that. I don't think it's that odd to say the constant upgrade treadmill is expensive though. I also don't appreciate gating features of our society behind smartphone ownership.

My specific concerns are odd. Not appreciating smartphone requirements for life feels more mainstream (if only marginally)

I’m not tied to a smartphone to do those things in the UK or Aus either.

Different geographies work differently I guess. In Brazil there’s an entire payment network (pix) that is centrally run, free and hugely popular.