Re: is my phone ON or is it OFF?

On 5/2/24 11:22, Frank Slootweg wrote:

bad?sector <forgetski@_invalid.net> wrote:

On 5/1/24 06:08, Frank Slootweg wrote:

bad?sector <forgetski@_invalid.net> wrote:

On 4/30/24 10:01, Frank Slootweg wrote:

[...]
>

     My take is that 'bad sector' just wants to ramble/vent.

>
Not really, what I want is CHANGE. The BlackBerry had not only real
buttons but chicklety ones extremely well engineeered for that positive
feel. My son had one, they *were disappeared* just when I was getting
set to buy one! I had to do with a basic cell-phone with no texto even.
I did what I needed done but a while ago it packed up so I wanted to buy
another one like it but with texto capability. My provider said
"FORGET-IT, we've been keeping your special low-end account for as long
as you phone would last, now it's NOT renewable anymore". So I went and
bought this android zFlip5 but it's a giga-letdown for too many reasons
to mention and I think I will get rid of it. I can live without a
cell-phone, my take is that demand will eventually force design
improvements as well as open source non-proprietary OS'es developed by
units walking on two legs. Meanwhile I call a spade a spade and I will
let no apple, faecesbook or goongle steer my life, they already have way
too much influence on my bowel movements.
>
tinyurl.com/3s7bkhw7

>
    As I've said to others with similar needs/wants/complaints:
        Buy a 'dumb'/'feature' phone and be done with it. They still have real
keys/ buttons. have SMS capability and can work on modern 4G (and of
course 2G and 3G) networks. Problem solved.

>
Other than satellite, where I live there are only 3 providers one of
which (Bell) doesn't even have my physical address in their data base so
when I call them they say "you do not exist". The other big one (Telus)
is the only major that is available on paper but with only 4g service
and so poor as to make the entire idea of a cell-phone laughable,
tethering is a joke that NEVER works. The third one is a discount arm of
Telus selling their crap for a few pennies less. I'm only saying this to
put things into perspective. Telus as I said will NOT renew my old
plane-jane service for a plain-jane flip phone fare, I have no choice
but to go with the minimal but hefty price of full 5g and tethering
package very little of which could I use with ANY phone and almost none
of which with less. Bottom line, if I have service at all be that
minimally high-end on paper, I might as well have the phone for it.

    If you tell the audience where (about) you live, they probably can
give you some sensible and reasonable cost alternative providers,
possibly/probably 'even' some prepaid ones.
    Meanwhile we in the read world - meaning non-US or maybe non-NA - have
no such problems. How I use or do not use my phone is no-one's business,
I only pay my provider(s) for what I need/use. End of story.

I live in eastern Quebec and our two levels of government can't even spell "utility price controls" the way they do in Europe where unlimited 4g plans are about 20 euros from what I hear. But cost is NOT the issue nor the topic which is "is my smartphone ON or OFF including on-hook off" conditions which IMO are not that obvious all the time nor is their setting as simple and intuitive as it could and should be.
When designing something as important as a communications tool or its OS for the masses you sit down with a number of people who have never used a cell phone and give them one asking 'is that phone ON or is it OFF right now as it is'? In the event of no answer or a wrong answer it's back to the drawing board UNTIL YOU GET IT RIGHT! Ditto for putting on-hook or turning off without reading any manual in which context I also want to see removable batteries.
I'm not looking to use providers whose head offices do not fall under Canadian law. As I said there are 3 domestic ones here at least theoretically available to me, all of them suck and a 4th one which I haven't named gets such bad reports that I wouldn't even use them if THEY paid ME.

Problem 'solving' would BEGIN with stomping on the manufacturers' and
providers' balls with both feet and forcing them into line or lose their
market or licenses. Unfortunately our barbie-boy leader always sits with
his legs crossed.