We may look back at these days - you know, where not all diseases kill you, and in fact were super easily handled, barely an inconvenience!:-P - and wish to have such things as "antibiotics" again, before bacteria all became immune to them.
Or maybe the world will rally together, and start funding research into alternatives quickly enough for it to matter? Just like climate change too...
It's a good thing that people aren't anti-science now, bc that surely would be a problem if we want to reach that bright shiny happy future we keep hoping for. :-|
There are MANY different kinds of devices, and each offer their own unique blend of functionality. The hardest to replace seems to be the phone part - calling emergency services or receiving a text using a laptop might be possible, but takes some setup and just is not quite the same as being able to whip out your phone and already be in a call one or two seconds later. Conversely, neither iOS nor Android are even attempting to replace actual desktop/laptop-like operating systems, and while using a tablet as a keyboard may be possible, nothing beats a true keyboard and mouse setup; although that said, a smart device (either phone or tablet) with a broadband data connection can offer a WiFi hotspot to a laptop, thus significantly enhancing its' capabilities still further. Even some places that offer you WiFi may be super slow, unreliable, and/or do things like change the access code every hour or so, making it more convenient to simply provide your own - plus that's a bit safer too (which would you rather use: a public toilet, or your own at home?).
Having a printout (even if PDF) of a bus or train schedule isn't nearly as convenient as being able to connect with an app to live updates - like "it should have been here an hour ago, what happened, do I just wait further?", plus allows quick deviations like "am I so certain that this (other) route even runs on Thursdays?". Even dumbphones with a data plan could access the Internet, but apps are much more convenient, thus useful for things you do often.
Then again, some of that you could replace with a broadband connection on a laptop. What the smartphone provides is a nice bundle of features that, while each one could be replaced individually, is thought of by most people in the developed world to be often highly useful. Though ymmv - e g. people with addictive tendencies might rather prefer the barrier of having to pull out a larger device such as a laptop or tablet than to have immediate access to everything with a smartphone readily pulled from a pocket; and people who have a desktop at both work and home may want to get by with just a dumbphone for calls and texts.
Funny story: some dentist offices refuse to take patients who do not consent to receive texts and respond with confirmation of the appointment an hour or so before - they apparently were burned so often by people who made appointments but never showed that now everyone has to jump through those additional hoops, and they get enough patients that acquiesce that they can turn away everyone who does not. But if YOUR dentist does not do that, then your need for a device capable of sending and receiving text messages is lesser compared to those who do. It still is worth noting though how common it is to have such devices - most responsible citizens have at the very least a mobile phone, though not all!:-P - and your access to services in public spaces increasingly depends on such, so especially in cities, though they have significant uses even in rural areas as well. And yet if you don't use public transportation, always drive the same roads (or have a dedicated device for GPS, if you need that), and haven't found the need yet for apps, that's fine too? You apparently don't need them while moving about, though they can offer great convenience - enough even to replace a laptop entirely, if you have quick access to desktops.
"All" is an awfully large group - perhaps start with "some", e.g. "all in Maine" (and likely some subset of that even, like those who have lived there for 5+ years already, to avoid someone getting cancer first, then suddenly moving to Maine, then once the expensive treatments are over with go back home, etc.), and then if people enjoy seeing it be done well, expand our from there. I dunno... it's a thought, at least.
It seems society always goes down the shitter over and over following the same path. People rise to wealth and power extracted on the repression of the masses, massive disparity, ignorance exemplified, xenophobia and blaming minorities for any possible issue, laws signed with golden pens but becoming more meaningless when...
There is nothing new under the sun...we are the same monkeys that we have always been. Technology / circumstances have changed though, somewhat. Nature + Nurture, with the former unchanged and the latter altered might produce something different? But people thought that the internet would solve all the world's problems, and if you replace "internet" with anything else at all, repeat as nauseum, you get life... so no, it both "changed everything", while also changing nothing.
Strong societies beget weak children, who produce vulnerable societies, which after (as?) they fall apart beget strong children. That is what I see anyway, right or wrong. That is why it is important to ask questions as you are doing. Entropic decay can only be overcome with effort. You can't solve the world's problems, only your own - and those who are willing to listen. As an example, we cannot fix Reddit, only make a new place to be better, but that takes WORK.
What search engine is currently showing the most useful results? What other tricks do we have aside of adding “reddit” or whatever internet community to the results?
You seem to be misunderstanding the point of your doing your search: they got paid for the results that they delivered, and for the ad traffic of you having received it! Don't you see why this is best for them you? /s
Google's VP of searching has even mentioned that, which really is Google's fault as it was an issue long before spez caused Reddit to crumble - Reddit was just propping up Google's bad choices, then Musk bought Twitter and started running it into the ground, now Huffman sees both of those as examples to follow somehow... plus Stackoverflow is on strike, and the internet archive / wayback machine is facing legal troubles and may have to cease existing b/c of some decisions they made during the pandemic as well. So it's not just Reddit: it's enshittification of the entire internet.
I know what you mean, but also it's kinda fun to solve my own problems lately, even if it takes 100x longer:-). Fortunately cached copies of many Reddit posts exist, although unfortunately those do not always include comments:-(.
For those that enjoy using Reddit, they are perfectly happy to remain... so why try to force the issue?
Their criticisms of this place are most often correct - it does have less functionality, it does have a barrier to entry, starting right from the beginning in picking an instance to join, and if you later switch then you have to make a new account and start over (I think? although your old content would still be accessible, it wouldn't be "yours" anymore without logging into the old one). We prefer it anyway, but it's up to them what they want to do.
Bonjour, je m'appelle Jesus (lemmy.world)
Titl3 (sh.itjust.works)
How does ears work? (literature.cafe)
And I will die on this hill. (lemmy.world)
Out of harm's way (lemmy.world)
When your kids misbehave (sh.itjust.works)
On the tenth day of Trek-mas, (startrek.website)
SUBMIT ENTRIES FOR DAY 11 HERE!...
I've been working on 3 new looks for the family dinner this weekend... (startrek.website)
Should get me out of a few conversations
On the ninth day of Trek-mas, (lemmy.world)
SUBMIT ENTRIES FOR DAY 10 HERE!...
Vulcan's can't lie (pixelfed.social)
Burgers (lemmy.world)
Multiplayer games (lemmy.world)
cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/9386488...
Japanese chip flavors (startrek.website)
shut up (slrpnk.net)
Inspired by reading everyday news (lemmy.ml)
NOTE: may be inaccurate. Feel free to photoshop your variants.
What makes a smartphone useful to you?
Always had a cheap desktop computer and never thought a phone was worth it. Is there a reason people like me should reconsider?
Where is Kevin? (lemmy.ml)
fishing for math (feddit.de)
Found via...
What is the most promising pathway to reach universal healthcare?
Let’s assume we want all people to have health care. What are the steps / methods most likely to get us there?...
Will human societies always enshittify themselves?
It seems society always goes down the shitter over and over following the same path. People rise to wealth and power extracted on the repression of the masses, massive disparity, ignorance exemplified, xenophobia and blaming minorities for any possible issue, laws signed with golden pens but becoming more meaningless when...
What is the least SEO-fucked search engine?
What search engine is currently showing the most useful results? What other tricks do we have aside of adding “reddit” or whatever internet community to the results?
Reddit seems to be scrambling behind the scenes to try and limit the effects of the migration. Damage control: ChatGPT bots are spamming pro-admin, astroturfed comments (i.imgur.com)
Apologies if this is a repost. They’re scared lol....
Ordinary redditors are feeling the pain as well. (teddit.adminforge.de)
The protests worked, and so did moving/editing/deleting our old content. As one person complains,...
I don’t understand people who say they can’t figure out Lemmy or KBin
Does federation have a bit of a learning curve? No doubt....