In China, you can’t exist without a smartphone, because for all existential things you have to do (paying bills, buying tickets etc.) , you are forced to use the almighty wechat app. Smartphones are a tool to manipulate and to spy on the population. It is a tool utilized by the ruling class, to control the masses. I hate the future and I hate “progress”.
Elon is working on replicating it now with “X”. He’s already said he wanted something like that for the US
I mean, you already do. Everything is digital, and most stuff is centralised anyhow (payment is controlled by a duopoly, Visa and Mastercard, and you gotta pay almost everything with them)
Yes and no. I can still pay with cash and live a normal live without owning a smartphone. I can still buy paper train tickets etc.
UK & EU loves this stuff though, so they won’t mandate you have to use a single phone app for everything, but they will slowly remove your ability to do anything without your phone. You’ll just end up with a shittier version of China’s system with a billion shitty apps.
This will happen and marginalized groups like illegal immigrants, the homeless, and the disabled will be effectively excluded. Poor people are going to have their finances controlled even more. This will cause deaths.
My kid’s school just implemented an app-based pickup process this year.
You have to download an app and register your phone and email and child, then when you get in the line to pickup your child you have to press a button in the app.
I literally cannot retrieve my child from school without a smartphone.
I literally cannot retrieve my child from school without a smartphone.
I’m positive there is a backup method; did you ask about one, or did you simply install the app?
I would not be so positive. Schools aren’t well known for thinking policies through completely. Good chance this person lives in an area that has high enough income that they would just tell poor people to not be poor and get the app.
There are reasons besides “being poor” for not have smart phone access at pickup time. I assure you the answer won’t be “I guess this kid is spending the night here”.
There is a backup method.
Edit: minor rewording for clarity.
Take it from the lens of the average Chinese person, and they will tell you it’s awesome, simple and convenient. Pros and cons basically.
The average Chinese person has no concept of protecting their personal privacy from the government. They accept the government to invade their privacy (being brainwashed by propaganda since birth).
You are talking to people who some refuse to download Facebook, Instagram, tiktok, and some being degoogled and running GrapheneOS. And some who opt for self hosting over trusting companies with cloud.
When those people don’t even see eye to eye with the average person from their country I sure don’t think they are going to care about people overseas not caring about privacy. Especially if they are not pro government surveillance to begin with, and some even hating their government and being suspicious of them.
The lens of the average person is currently under 6 feet of mud and water after having been victimised by an authoritarian government and system that prioritised fast progress over safe progress. It’s hard to even find news about this because the machine systematically cuts internet access of people who try to bring light on the floods.
