As a Smartphone Addict and Internet Addict, I definitely do not want:
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Video Entertainment Playback Capability (Youtube, Netflix, Fb…)
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Social Media
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Mobile Games
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Constant buzzing and blinking from notifications and red badges on Apps (unless you explicitly choose so for important reminders for work and so on)
For some features I am not sure if they should be included, but if they are, there needs to be an application that allows you to block or limit their use. Think of the ScreenTime Application for iOs or the Cold Turkey program for Mac and Windows. You should not only be able to limit screen time, but also block certain categories on your browser, such as: Entertainment, News, Shopping and Adult Content. This concerns:
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Internet Browser
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Direct Messaging (What’s App, Fb Messenger, Telegram and so on)
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Sound Applications (Music, Podcasts, Audiobooks etc.)
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Email
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Reading and Text Applications (Ebooks, News Apps…)
What I do want, is tools, that help me for my work and my life. That includes:
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Phone Calls, Video Calls (ie. Skype), Alarm and clocks, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Weather, Navigation Apps, Translators, E-banking and E-pay, Tickets, Camera and Photos, ScreenTime and Blocking Applications
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Numbershare in order to use it as a secondary phone, Auto-Synch with other devices, a modern Touchscreen with multitouch, water resistance and a long lasting battery
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high end specs and quality components and continuous updates so that the phone does not become obsolete within a short time.
I don’t regard Smartphones or the Internet in itself as a bad thing. It depends what they are designed for. In essence a smartphone should be a tool, rather than a distraction. It should focus on connecting people and supporting them in real life rather than entertaining them and sucking them into an artificial world. It should be designed as easy and uncomplicated as possible, so that even elderly people can just pick it up and use it for whatever they need to use it for and then put it away again.
Smartphones and the Internet are here to stay, they will be more and more integrated in our lives, whether we want it or not. Even my now retired parents are forced into that world. They despise it, but they have no choice. When they want tickets for something, they have to get them online. Their Bank gives them no choice but to use E-banking, All their friends are on What’s App, Telephone and TV are no longer available in analogue.
What matters is that we don’t get completely lost in the digital sphere and only use it when it is beneficial to get a task quickly done.