Last year I upgraded my smartphone because it was my last chance to get a "tripling" phone from Tracfone before they were to be forever phased out. My old phone wasn't really that old and worked fine. Instead of tossing it, i made it into a mini tablet.
That phone can't be used to make phone calls, but it can still connect to my wifi. On it are games that my grandkids play, as well as apps that I use once in a while that I don't need cluttering up my newer, main phone. I have hit a wall with my new phone and it's full, even using an sd card when I can to park some of the apps, photos and videos, so that old phone is a good storage device. It can be used to take pictures and videos too, which the kids have fun with, and I have the peace of mind knowing that my own phone is not going to suffer some accident in the hands of the little people. Parental controls are on all apps (when offered) on that old phone too.
So, go through your dead electronics box to see if you can make use of something you thought was useless!
Source: My own life
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I got a smart phone, then quickly got rid of it. I had no idea what they were like. Mine had Google OS on it. I could not escape Google. I am a privacy nut. If Google had its way, I would have lived Google. Google would have been a deep rooted permanent fixture in my home and life.
Google would have known where I was 24 hours a day. It would have suggested where I ate, where I shopped, what I bought. The music I listened to would be through Google, most likely owned by Google and arranged in my smart phone by a plan from Google. The news I saw on the phone was what Google wanted me to see. I spent days trying to turn off the news app but couldn't.
Most information I wanted or really needed would have been through Google. To access this info, I would have had to register with Google and sign agreements. By just looking at something, I was 'agreeing' to the terms and conditions set by Google. I said 'Hell no', Google will not invade my life, know everything about it and arrange things so I am very dependent on Google and would find it difficult to live without it. I went back to a basic cell phone.
Some smart phones have very good cameras on them. I would like to have one just for taking pictures and transferring them to my computer. Google has made it hard to completely remove its operating system from a phone but it can be done. Perhaps you would tell us the method you used.
I like what you have done and hope to be able to do the same. I would not buy a phone just for this purpose. I've placed an ad in Freecycle in hopes someone has an older phone with a good camera they would be willing to recycle to me.
Thanks for a very interesting and useful article.
I have a smart phone that I use as a tablet. I switch it to airplane mode and go online using my home wi-fi. I don't use apps, instead I use a browser window and bookmarks - a little more time consuming but you don't have to sign away access to your contacts and photos as a condition of using an app and I downloaded DuckDuckGo which lets you delete tracking cookies very easily.
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