I don't want an ad-riddled phone, I want a pocket computer

It would figure that someone has come up with a new way to make using something you bought a complete ad-riddled cluserfuck: US carriers want to bring "screen zero" lock screen ads to smartphones (And of course it's brought to us by the same US carriers that salivate at the idea of adding more and more fees to their existing services). The company is Glance (no, I'm not going to link to them) and they have figured out a way to make me never want to carry anything with their product on it. This is an abomination and I want no part of it. If this shows up on my phone I'll deactivate the phone. Plain and simple.

That got me thinking about what I would do to replace my phone. There are many Linux-based phones but either they're horribly expensive or essentially an underpowered Raspberry Pi-alike with a wonky interface (sometimes both). That got me thinking about what I really would want from a portable device. Honestly something like the Pocket Reform would suit most of my needs for portable computing (along with a flip-phone for handling those pesky phone calls). The only things that might be semi-problematic are using the device as a music player, and Google Maps (which is what I use because I'm hapless when it comes to directions. No, Open Streetmap doesn't cut it).

Oh, and a camera that syncs with my computer. That's kind of a biggie. (I use Syncthing at the moment for that).

Thing is I don't want a smart phone. I carry one around because it serves much of what I need from such a device. But I'm tired of everything that I like getting ruined by advertising and greed (but I repeat myself). If that means rethinking the devices that I carry then so be it. I'm not above reconsidering what is part of my life and what needs to be excised. And judging from the comments on Ars Technica I'm not alone in this thinking.

If carriers want to kill their golden goose by shoving more shit down the pipeline then I'll provide the noose.


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