2973

I have a cheap one on my nightstand that’s never fallen off. I used to think wireless charging was kind of dumb but then my Pixel 3 port died:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TTJ6KSH

2974

Yeah, we’ve got several of those scattered throughout the house, and have never had an issue with phones falling off.

Pro-tip: The way they hold the phone stable, angled downward, and don’t block the camera makes them very handy for pointing at the keys of a piano for lessons over zoom.

2975

So, again, I’ll be connecting a wired speaker to my phone most times I’m charging in bed, so it’s dongle-palooza for me. But appreciate the rec! That’s actually the one we’ve got a couple of for the house in general.

2976

I apologise for minimizing your dongle-palooza.

2977

Oh, you’re not the first to minimize my dongle. Likely won’t be the last, either. . .

2978

Ugh, nasty.

2979

Just out of curiosity: does a good fast smartphone exist that does NOT have a camera?

I’d like to get a new phone with a faster CPU and more storage space. I have never used the camera on my phone for anything but a couple of QR scans, and that is easily avoidable. I don’t take pictures. My wife does, but I don’t. I even deleted the camera app on my phone just to free up space.

I see no reason to pay premium prices for new phones where the major feature is something I don’t use.

2980

I can’t imagine so, no, outside of dedicated high security ones which may not meet your other needs and are probably more expensive anyway. Cameras are used for so much more than taking pictures that it’s hard to imagine a meaningful market for it. And you could get a perfectly decent mid-range phone for much less than premium prices.

2981

Take more pictures. I used to be the same. I now regret not recording more of my past when I had the chance to.

What we have today may well be gone tomorrow. And the ever-fallible human memory is poor substitute.

You don’t have to become a selfie addict taking snaps of their every meal to get a lot from it. Plus you can always delete the ones that do not bring you joy.

2982

I’m weird about pictures, too. I don’t take a lot. I prefer not to focus so much on documenting the event that I forget to experience it.

That said, I also wish I had more photos of some of the places I’ve been and the people I’ve been with. Photos are great for sparking memories, and if you don’t have photos, sometimes you can forget experiences.

So, I’ve been trying to take more pics.

2983

I do remember being very annoyed with my parents when I was young about stopping our enjoyment for the sake of taking pictures. Especially the really boring pictures where you get everyone together to take a picture. How is that going to look interesting, it’s just a bunch of people looking at the camera!

Of course, as an adult, I really appreciate that they did that now. All my pictures of visiting places throughout the 80s and 90s, when I look at them, I had forgotten most of that stuff. Not only the places, but especially the people we visited. Having those pictures where everyone is together helps you put names to faces and remember who people were, and remember stories about them even though those stories are not captured in the pictures.

2984

Ya, my Pixel 2XL is still rocking along without issues… I feel like I should probably replace it, but the new pixel phones just don’t seem like a huge upgrade, and I really don’t want to go with a non-pixel phone at this point.

2985

I know I’m really happy with my Pixel 3aXL for now, about 1.5 years in (I got it in August 2019). Battery life is great, OS updates are frequent and prompt, and I don’t play games on my phone so that’s not a factor. The only thing I miss is expandable storage because 64 GB is a bit tight, but oh well.

2986

I have a Pixel 4XL bought at launch in October 2019. The device comes off my “tab” this October, and since my employer blindly pays my mobile bill, I (and my colleagues) are able to bury the costs of new devices in our expenses.

I really like this phone, and I don’t plan on an upgrade unless the Googs’ comes up with something mindblowing in October.

2987

The Sheissenfon’s replacement finally showed up. Initial impressions:

  1. Gott im Himmel, the Moto G Power is enormous.
  2. Build quality is a clear step down from the Pixel 3, though it’s not like it’s bad.
  3. Migrating phones is less annoying every time I do it. Sure hope Google never decides to kill my account; that’d be catastrophic, heh … :(
  4. It’s not Forever Unclean, so that’s a clear step up.
2988

I finally pulled the trigger on a samsung s20.

The battery life on my aging pixel 2xl is starting to show its age, and while i love Google’s phones, i feel like the pixel 5 just isn’t the kinds of top tier phone i want, especially at its price.

But right now, Google fi is offering $600 off s20’s, which seems like a really good deal. So, at $399, it was a good enough deal to pick up, but if I decide to replace it in a year or so, it won’t be as big an expenditure as if i spent $1k.

It’ll be interesting to see how Samsung does.

2989

I’ve had a Samsung for the past couple of years and really love it. If the next BlackBerry doesn’t look great I’ll likely stick with Samsung.

2990

Are the flagship Samsung phones these glass-backed curved screen things? I’m sure they’re very nice in terms of speed and responsiveness but those two things would drive me nuts.

2991

To be honest the only thing I can’t stand is the on-screen fingerprint reader. Next phone I get will have it somewhere else.

2992

I’m sticking with the S10e as long as possible because it has a side fingerprint reader and a headphone jack, and it’s not ludicrously large.