nnnnot my weekend

[extrapenguin]

It seems I managed to lose my keys over the weekend (like, really lose, not just misplace inside my house) and while I do have a spare house key, I do not have a spare bike key, so there goes my main mode of transport... My mom might have a spare, and definitely has the power tools to saw the built-in lock open, so ig we're doing that, then.

(The keys do not have my name, address, or any identifying details on them. There is a zero chance they will be used to break in. OTOH, there is also a zero chance they will be returned to me.)

Also over the weekend, I updated some apps (always a mistake) and now a bunch of them have straight-up stopped working. Including my banking app and Microsoft Authenticator. As my phone is from perhaps 2017, I guess it's time I switched, but gdi, I don't want to! My phone is 7 cm wide and that's as wide as I can handle. Everything is huge now. I want something I can use one-handed! Taking a quick look at the available stuff, my options are:

- Rugged Phones for Rugged People Who Wrestle Bears (example
- Babby's First Smartphone
- For Seniors Disappointed Their Nokia 3310 Cannot Handle Online Banking

Grump.

Anyway, I ended up buying a Fairphone, since nothing narrower than 7 cm was readily available and that's a) only 7.5 cm wide, and b) has software updates until 2031. I hate obsolescence.

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

Ugh, that is annoying about the keys... I hope you're able to use your bike again soon.

re: phones that one can use one-handed -- ugh, tell me about it. I had to go into the Apple ecosystem to find a phone that size when I finally caved in and upgraded my teeny Nokia to a smartphone. I've been using Apple SE (Special Edition) phones, which comfortably fit in one hand (and I have small hands) even in a heavy-duty case. And there are also some iPhone Minis that now exist that are also about the size of a 2017 phone but have better specs. Unfortunately everything is still at Apple's overinflated prices, except SE, which is a lot cheaper than other iPhones, but still expensive for what it is, compared to other phone brands. Other than the price, and my general distaste for Apple's smugness, I must admit I have been happy with my succession of SE's over the last ~7 years.

No experience with the phones you mention, unfortunately, but good luck with the decision!

[extrapenguin]

My mom found the spare key, so if she can get a duplicate made she'll send the dupe over. Also I checked the current bus routes and they're less bullshit than they were pre-pandemic, so, I guess I won't die.

I've heard people praise Apple for being the one (1) manufacturer that makes phones for people with normal sized hands. I'm the height of an average Finnish woman and my hands are proportionate to the rest of me. I guess Asian men who're my height might have slightly larger hands due to sexual dimorphism or something, but I don't think their hands are that much larger. Maybe the boundary for them is 8 cm instead of 7 cm. But! Why are so many phones designed exclusively for European men?! You'd think European women and ALL OF ASIA would be a large enough market someone would decide to manufacture phones for, but no. (Or they DO make smartphones of reasonable size for the Asian market and just don't ship them to Europe because lol women don't need convenient phones...)

I re-checked the Fairphone and turns out that's also about 7.5 cm wide, like the other immediately available options, so I got one of those. It promises software updates until 2031 so I'll extract at least a decade out of it. Hopefully by the weekend I'll be able to do shit again...

[hamsterwoman]

oh nice! those sound like promising developments! (being able to use a mobile phone for a decade is such a luxury these days...)

I also don't understand why nobody else seems to be making normal-sized phones available in the US. Maybe people have decided they'd rather have giant screens than be able to use phones one-handed? But, like, if I wanted a tablet, I would have bought a tablet! (It is also important for me to have a phone that fits in my pockets, and the smaller Apple ones do.)

[kat_lair]

That's so annoying about the keys!

I got Fairphone 5 a few months ago when my last one legit stopped allowing me to make phonecalls and so far I have been very happy with it. The 5 year warranty was definitely a plus in addition to the general ethical choice I can afford considerations.

[extrapenguin]

I'm checking the local Löytötavaratoimisto in a few days. Hopefully someone will have found them.

The ethical choice + repairability + warranty are definitely all good! I intend to extract at least a decade of use out of it. The current one (BlackBerry KeyOne) and the previous one (HTC Desire Z) both made it to 7-8-ish before app requirements marched on and forced me to swap. (Also both of them had physical keyboards, which are apparently fragile and finicky, yet both were doing fine. Like, the space bar on my BlackBerry is a bit temperamental nowadays, but that's it.)

[china_shop]

Ugh, that sucks about the keys. Fingers crossed for the Löytötavaratoimisto (which Google Translate hilariously renders as "Foundry office").