Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
nsew
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by nsew »

The smartphone is clearly an aid for hopelessly lost fretful types.
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TrevA
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by TrevA »

I always carry my Smartphone but it stays in my pocket 99.9% of the time. It’s connected to my Garmin so if I get a text or phone call, I get a notification, but unless it’s a family member or the Doctors, I don’t interrupt my ride to deal with the call or text. It’s nice to have the back up of maps on the phone if you get lost, you can catch up on the weather forecast at the cafe stop, or the latest news if so inclined. Like a puncture repair kit or spare tube, it’s nice to have it in case you need it, but it can stay in its case most of the time.
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Psamathe
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by Psamathe »

It's not only cyclists who benefit from a smartphone
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/tesla-power-outage-app-musk-b1961339.html wrote:Tesla drivers locked out of cars due to server error
Tesla drivers said they were left unable to open their cars due to a server error.

Shortly before rush hour in the US on Friday, drivers reported that the app they use to connect to their vehicles was not working.
.....
The Tesla app is used as a key by drivers to unlock and start their vehicles.

When users were hit with a 500 server error, they found themselves unable to connect and many went online to complain.

“I'm stuck an hour away from home because I normally use my phone to start [my] car,” one owner tweeted.
...
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Slowroad
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by Slowroad »

I only got a smartphone in September 2020 and already damaged it by letting it get wet on a cycling weekend in May! So when I was packing for over a week in Wales this September I wasn't sure I wanted to take it. But I did, but kept it wrapped up and switched off most of the time. The weather was fair and dry the whole time... I switched it on for a hour or so in the evening to pick up any messages, and 3 or 4 times to find out where I was and how to get where I wanted to be - I was using paper maps like I always do. This meant the battery lasted for 9 days and still had 25% left on, so I wasn't messing about on Facebook in the evenings and having to find places to charge it - but I was able to use it if necessary.
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horizon
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by horizon »

thirdcrank wrote: 17 Nov 2021, 1:54pm horizon - I know you mourn the passing of the Morris Minor and perhaps the horse-drawn tram but smart phones are here to stay - for now, at least.
I don't doubt that (though some things do come and go surprisingly quickly); the question is, in what sense are they here to stay and on a cycle tour in particular? I don't doubt either that they are useful (to those that kindly pointed out the myriad uses they have).

But I do wonder if they get in the way of our other ways of experiencing the world. This is true of everyday life (apart perhaps from work where anything goes). But on a cycle tour I would suggest that we have a particular way of experiencing the world that encompasses not only our physical senses but also serendipity, the kindness of strangers, manifold surprises and maybe a deeper reflection of who and where we are.

You could argue (and I'm sure some will) that the object we call a smart phone does not inhibit or distract from any of these things. You might also argue that the fewer "manifold surprises" the better!

The problem is that distinguishing which bit of the smart phone is genuinely useful from that which is, let's say intrusive, is like untangling a ball of string. The task is made even harder by the fact that some functions of a smart phone previously belonged to other artifacts such as a camera.

I do accept that each person has his or her favourite utility and some of these are no doubt of the "killer application" variety that makes possession of the phone essential. Furthermore, most of us on this forum do have experience of what cycle touring was like before the invention of this curious product so we have something to compare it to. I'm also aware that the phone is an all-or-nothing deal: you cannot (generally) take half of it with you.

And yet I'm wondering. I wouldn't recommend to anyone something that I wouldn't do myself so I am going to temper my advice until I've actually tried it So roll on the next tour. :)
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
st599_uk
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by st599_uk »

Certainly entering Germany at Munich airport, the smartphone was useful to be able to show my proof of immediate funds. (Luckily the funds needed for Germany are low, but for France, it would be more critical).

I could have shown the other stuff in paper form (return flight tickets, accommodation bookings, travel insurance and Covid passport/Passenger Locator), but even then it was useful to use Google Lens to ensure I was translating the form correctly in my head.
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by Jdsk »

Slowroad wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 8:36pm I only got a smartphone in September 2020 and already damaged it by letting it get wet on a cycling weekend in May! So when I was packing for over a week in Wales this September I wasn't sure I wanted to take it. But I did, but kept it wrapped up and switched off most of the time. The weather was fair and dry the whole time... I switched it on for a hour or so in the evening to pick up any messages, and 3 or 4 times to find out where I was and how to get where I wanted to be - I was using paper maps like I always do. This meant the battery lasted for 9 days and still had 25% left on, so I wasn't messing about on Facebook in the evenings and having to find places to charge it - but I was able to use it if necessary.
horizon wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 10:11pm And yet I'm wondering. I wouldn't recommend to anyone something that I wouldn't do myself so I am going to temper my advice until I've actually tried it So roll on the next tour.
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mjr
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by mjr »

Pinkie wrote: 19 Nov 2021, 9:24pm A planned cycling tour with a friend foundered on the premise that I wanted to point the bike soulth and see where we ended up and he didnt, something about needing a safe place to sleep booked in advance, there was no room for compromise, I wanted an adventure he wanted a package holiday, I went on my own, no phone
There's a big difference between wanting a package holiday and simply wanting to know where you are going to sleep that night.

Riding off without anywhere to sleep that night or at least certainty you can afford somewhere isn't cycle-touring: it's cycle-vagrancy, isn't it?
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TrevA
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by TrevA »

An example of where a smartphone was useful.

On a recent ride - in the summer, we came upon Tynemouth Castle during one of our rides. We thought it would be good to visit, but it was advance bookings only. 10 minutes sat on the grass outside the castle and I’d booked myself and my wife for the next half hour slot, we then returned and the guy found us on his list and let us in. Without the phone, we wouldn’t have been able to visit that day and would have needed to find a computer to book.
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nirakaro
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by nirakaro »

Another example : when I was on the station at Newhaven, wanting to get a ticket to London, it was five quid cheaper to book it on my phone than getting it from the ticket machine on the platform.
Psamathe
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by Psamathe »

Sitting in a Dutch ferry port having booked a boat back to the UK that night, called Greater Anglia (trains) to book bike on train from station to home station (as bike needed to be booked in advance and only way I'd ever found then was a phone call).

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horizon
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by horizon »

mjr wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 3:42pm
There's a big difference between wanting a package holiday and simply wanting to know where you are going to sleep that night.

Riding off without anywhere to sleep that night or at least certainty you can afford somewhere isn't cycle-touring: it's cycle-vagrancy, isn't it?
Or maybe it's life. I can see (as people have pointed out) the many advantages and usefulness of constructing our lives around what is available on our smart phones. But what I am saying is that there are possibly other interpretations of the world around us that we might miss when we turn to the phone. I think that is particularly true of cycle touring (which may be construed perhaps as a kind of pilgrimage: it isn't where you go but how you experience it).

It could well be the case that travelling of any sort is nowadays impractical without being accompanied by a smart phone. But I don't see that as an improvement, more of a shame.

By the way, I put this thread in the Touring and Expedition section rather than the Tea Shop; it is undoubtedly reflective and philosphical but touring IMV is hopefully a reflective experience. I accept that others may not view it that way.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
pwa
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by pwa »

Each and every one of us will have our own take on this subject, and each of us is right. We are expressing our own personal preferences. My own preference is to greatly reduce contact with the rest of the world during a cycle tour or a long walk, and try to focus on what is in front of me. I want to leave the news and social media behind, and have a cleansing experience. Almost like a "retreat". And to some extent I am also happy to live without useful tools like online info about accommodation and online mapping. That way I can get back to basics and use my brain with paper mapping, and book places to stay as I like to do anyway. I can seek out locals when I need to ask something. Recently I have used a GPS for touring, as it shows me the route but doesn't offer distractions like a smartphone would. I know this makes things trickier sometimes but that is part of the game. It is living without a safety net. That being said, I generally carry a switched off phone for genuine emergencies. 999 stuff.
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by rareposter »

pwa wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 7:49am I can seek out locals when I need to ask something...
IME "locals" quite often don't know much about their local area, especially not if it's to do with campsites, accommodation etc (why would you need to know about B&Bs when you live in a house there?!) and certainly now, the reliance on smartphones means a lot of people never even bother to learn this stuff as they can simply look it up. Most people have a fairly pre-set pattern of where they go and when; anything outside of that is a mystery to them. Even in my relatively small town / big village, if someone asked me where a street was and it wasn't in the immediate surrounds of my house or roads where friends live, I wouldn't have a clue - I mean, I'd probably know the road if taken to it, maybe I even ride along it on a regular basis but I won't know it's called Smith Street.
It gets worse when you're asking for directions since most people are so used to driving everywhere that they don't know about cycle routes and they'll simply give you the main road route. I'm the opposite - if a driver stopped me and asked for directions I'd be able to give them the gravel route but not the road one! :lol:
Plus it's slow as hell trying to do that - find someone, stop them, ask the question, wait while they dither around, repeat with the next person...
Stop, get phone out, find location, ride there with it giving directions at you.

pwa wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 7:49am That being said, I generally carry a switched off phone for genuine emergencies. 999 stuff.
This used to annoy the hell out of me and my sister when my mum got her first mobile (not a smartphone, this was the early days of mobiles). It would NEVER be on.

She'd turn it on, send a text or make a quick call then turn it off again. It meant the phone was never connected long enough to pick up messages so she'd then wonder why we hadn't texted her back (we had, it's just that the network would get bored of trying after an hour so it'd then ping the phone once every few hours until it could finally deliver the text several days later).

She did the whole "it's for emergencies" thing but we pointed out to her that in an emergency, she'd have to turn it on and wait while it did it's start up and also added that emergencies work the other way around and what if we needed her in a hurry?! Eventually she just got used to it.

That said she's now very good with the tech, routinely does video calls, books stuff online, checks train and bus times with it, checks the weather and so on but it certainly doesn't dominate her life.
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Cowsham
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Re: Cycle touring: time to ditch the smart phone?

Post by Cowsham »

freeflow wrote: 11 Nov 2021, 4:32am A smart phone is a tool. Treat it as such and your life will be immesurably better. No need for existential angst when you can switch them off untill you decide you want to use the tool.

+1 the smart phone has enabled me. I see it as a means to be more mobile and adventurous wrt cycle touring. If stuff goes wrong I can book a place to stay or summon help or book other transport eg ferry or train journeys etc.
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