My HTC Desire Z Android phone from 2010 died. I am taking this as a re-ware design/lifestyle provocation. As such I am now running an even older smartphone - my development iPhone 3Gs from 2009. Do we even need a modern smartphone for our day-to-day computing needs?
Things I have learned:
- No, we probably don't.
- "Add to Home Screen" for web apps remains an amazing innovation that is now in Android's Chrome browser too.
- I missed my ebook reader so I wrote a web app called MindReader.
- Most other things I do on a smartphone are available via the browser now.
- I'm un-Googling. I've moved my contacts list & calendars to my own CardDav/CalDav server running Radicale.
- The "touch" experience of the iPhone 3Gs is still aesthetically superior.
Here's a screenshot of MindReader self-hosted ebook reader:
In other news my HP Folio 13 screen also cracked a couple of nights ago. It has been a really wonderful machine and I am sad to have to upgrade.
My favourite thing about it has been its rectangular shape in each dimension. It will live on in our house as an HDMI media box under our television.