Re: "'Scammers stole £40k after EDF gave out my number"

On 3/5/2025 7:15 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

It is the same in Spain. I live in a biggish city (~200K inhabitants). The bank branches are gone, now I have to walk farther. I'm fortunate, there are still branches at walking distance, villages in the country side may have no branches at all. Maybe not even an ATM.
 If I want to put some savings in a fund, I have to talk over the phone with someone at their central offices, the people at the branch do nothing, they no longer do it. And the signing operation maybe done on the computer or on the phone, reading unreadable tiny documents on the screen. Even if I go to the office to see papers, I have to sign them on the phone.
 It doesn't matter what I think about having a smartphone.
 

  It sounds like you could live without a cellphone, just as
I can. But there are lifestyle limitations. For example, I
can't call an Uber or rent an AirBnB. The cellphone has
become the only accepted ID for those. On the other hand,
I have no interest in either service. They're parasites.
   But it's changing very quickly. Apple invented
computer cellphones in 2008. For several years people
told me not to call their cellphone because it cost too
much. Only in recent years has it become a lifestyle
of constant texting and cellphone-everything. Maybe it's
less dramatic in the US
because here the cellphone lifestyle is still an urban
lifestyle. Rural areas just don't have the coverage.
Though Musk may end that limitation with his new
satellite service.
   Eventually I suppose we'll have embedded chips,
with ear and cornea implants. All voice activated.
Then we'll all be convening here to discuss the best app
to stop from hearing tampon ads at 3 AM.