[off-topic] Dumb mobile phones

gavinwc gavin.chester at gmail.com
Mon Jan 1 16:37:55 AWST 2024 

Hi Bill,
Yes, my categorical statement of your "error" was too harsh, so sorry about
that :-)
It is a worry, ie, the growing need for authentication and app use you
cite, and why I carry a tablet VERY occasionally when I suspect a need for
a better screen experience without the smartphone.
But, getting back to Margeret's stated need, I see a feature phone serving
all her needs in a candybar or flip-phone format with large buttons and a
small screen. These are still readily available at many retailers.
:-)
Gavin

On Mon, 1 Jan 2024 at 16:26, William Kenworthy <billk at iinet.net.au> wrote:

> I dont see it as wrong as some of the entities I have dealt with in the
> last 6 months are getting beyond allowing simple acccess - and this
> applies especially if you are looking to the future - as of now you are
> already mentioning having to enable browsers and functions beyond the
> basic sms auth codes that were mentioned.  Its only going to get worse!
> My point is that if you get a too low end phone, its just not going to
> be adequate in the (near) future.
>
> BillK
>
>
> On 1/1/24 15:57, gavinwc wrote:
> > Sorry, Bill but you're wrong. See my posting that would just have come
> > through :-)
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Gavin
> >
> > On Mon, 1 Jan 2024 at 15:53, William Kenworthy <billk at iinet.net.au
> > <mailto:billk at iinet.net.au>> wrote:
> >
> >     Hi Margaret, I am thinking you have left it too late to get a dumb
> >     phone. Some of the financial entities I deal with now require an
> >     authenticator app to deal with logins and I can see plain sms 2
> factor
> >     auth going away at some point - some still have it as optional or
> >     use it
> >     as well, but its changing.  The auth app uses a closed system to
> verify
> >     its really you/your device being used by you. Some apps also check
> the
> >     phone to make sure its up to date etc. Google/MS/Apple are also
> >     inserting themselves into this process as they see a financial
> benefit
> >     (to them) as well as the improved security.  Even dealing with
> >     mygov/centrelink (via their apps) is getting irksome.  Its fast
> >     becoming
> >     a case of participating or being sidelined and have to move to
> Tasmania
> >     ** :(
> >
> >     BillK
> >
> >     * a trip to India in December was an eye opener - to get two sim
> cards
> >     valid for 1 month took an hour and a half with photographs of us,
> >     passports and visas being sent via the shop assistants smart phone to
> >     the InGov servers.  The shop assistant had to photograph us to
> >     verify us
> >     against the passport/evisa data they hold from our entry into the
> >     country, then use the selfie mode every step to confirm by photo
> >     that it
> >     was them using their phone.  A long, painful, slow and error prone
> >     process - but no simcard unless you do it. And to add to the
> weirdness
> >     of it, there had to be physical printouts of the electronic
> >     documents to
> >     go on file as well!  1984 anyone!
> >
> >     ** Apologies to Tasmanians!
> >
> >
> >     On 1/1/24 14:33, Daniel wrote:
> >      > Hi Margaret
> >      > If you get a cheap smart phone and turn wifi and data off … I
> >     think you still get text messages but not fancy ones with pictures
> >     and I suspect that stops voip with faked numbers?
> >      >
> >      > Will you just get a number and not a url for authentication?
> >      >
> >      > Is that adequate security that would allow you to confidently get
> >     a low priced smartphone (sold without updating the operating system
> >     and already out of date and despite suggestions that security would
> >     be enhanced many may never get updates made for it let alone made
> >     available )?
> >      >
> >      > You may be quite sensibly flinching at the cost of a smart phone
> >     you don’t intend to use much  …
> >      >
> >      > Daniel
> >      >
> >      >
> >      >> On 1 Jan 2024, at 11:53, M S R Wood <msrwood at gmail.com
> >     <mailto:msrwood at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >      >>
> >      >> I don't want a smart phone, but I have reluctantly decided it
> >     is time
> >      >> for me to get a moblle phone. The main reason is to receive
> >     codes from
> >      >> banks and other organisations who think this is the best/only
> method
> >      >> of two-factor authentication. I only expect to make outgoing
> >     calls in
> >      >> a emergency (e.g. car breakdown), and will hardly ever send
> texts.
> >      >>
> >      >> So my ideal phone would be voice calls and text only - no
> >     internet, no
> >      >> apps, no camera, no torch, no music. It would have keys/buttons
> >     rather
> >      >> than a touchscreen, and a display in muted colours - preferably
> text
> >      >> only, rather than icons. That's probably impossible to find
> >     nowadays,
> >      >> but is there anything that comes close?
> >      >>
> >      >> I'm also looking for a low cost, pre-paid phone plan, where
> unused
> >      >> credit lasts as long as possible,
> >      >>
> >      >> Any recommendations?
> >      >>
> >      >> Margaret
> >      >> _______________________________________________
> >      >> Off-topic mailing list
> >      >> Off-topic at plug.org.au <mailto:Off-topic at plug.org.au>
> >      >> http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/off-topic
> >     <http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/off-topic>
> >      > _______________________________________________
> >      > Off-topic mailing list
> >      > Off-topic at plug.org.au <mailto:Off-topic at plug.org.au>
> >      > http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/off-topic
> >     <http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/off-topic>
> >     _______________________________________________
> >     Off-topic mailing list
> >     Off-topic at plug.org.au <mailto:Off-topic at plug.org.au>
> >     http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/off-topic
> >     <http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/off-topic>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Off-topic mailing list
> > Off-topic at plug.org.au
> > http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/off-topic
> _______________________________________________
> Off-topic mailing list
> Off-topic at plug.org.au
> http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/off-topic
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/off-topic/attachments/20240101/7fb903f3/attachment-0001.html>

More information about the Off-topic mailing list