Believe it or not, I don’t have a smartphone. A few months ago, I replaced my smartphone with an adequate “dumb phone” and I have a 7" tablet for home and travelling, and I’ve never looked back. Best decision I’ve ever made.
However, all of my Chinese friends here in London tell me it would be impossible to live in China without a smartphone because of the way society there functions. I’ve been away from Taiwan for nearly three years now, and I don’t have any Taiwanese friends in London, so I’m wondering how much has changed since I’ve been away and if it would also be impossible/difficult to live in Taiwan without a smartphone?
Three years ago, I don’t think living in Taiwan without a smartphone would have been that much more difficult than doing the same in the UK. It might be a bit more of a hassle to keep in touch with people, as everybody there was on LINE and Facebook, but I don’t think it would have been a big struggle. Remember, I still have a tablet (and laptop) at home and I’m always on a computer at work for most of the day. But I know in China now, you need a smartphone to buy things and you might even arouse suspicion if you choose not to have one. Is Taiwan like that or heading in that direction?
But I don’t take my tablet out and about with me on a day-to-day basis and can’t connect it to 4G. So if I need to buy things with an app, it might be a problem.
Haha! I don’t go on dates very much, so I didn’t even think of that! Might be just as much of a problem in London too. Guess I’ll just have to try to only date interesting girls.
A smartphone can be helpful for several things, but it’s not necessarily a must-have. It can do a huge amount of tasks all packed in a single tool, that’s what makes it extremely useful.
Most phones can be used as a hotspot, so the sim card of your phone will allow you to connect your laptop to the internet anywhere.
I don’t buy anything using my phone, I use cash and the Easy card.
A smartphone’s utility also depends on your job. If you often need to transfer/send files to other people, or you want to access them anywhere, a service like Google Drive is easily accessible from the phone and allows you to send/download files anywhere. It can be done with a laptop of course, but you need to have the laptop with you, turn it on etc etc.
Depends on how “social” you want to be. It’s certainly not necessary, I think most people communicate via apps now. And even for work, information might get passed down on Line unless it’s a major announcement.
Is an EasyCard just as prevalent for buying things from shops as apps like WeChat and Apple Pay?
With regards to work issues, if it really can’t be helped, I might have to tell this prospective future employer I’m still hoping to find that they’ll need to provide me with a work phone. And then I would just need to use my willpower to not turn that work phone into a substitute for a personal phone.
The convenience stores and some public gyms accept easycard and vending machine and many car parks. Public transport including trains now can mostly use it. The odd coffee chain.
But many places don’t accept it either such as coffee shops and shops .
Mostly cash is still king here , there’s a few stores have gone cashless such as Decathalon .
Usage of all king of payment apps I’d widespread but it’s hassle because there’s not one preferred option and some places still want cash.
Even credit cards, mostly I pay by ’ wave 'credit card which I find the most convenient but not all places accept my preferred card.
Is it clearly going down that direction? I think most countries will inevitably get there, and I’m essentially just trying to hold out as long as I can, but I think Europe might be a lot further away than Asia.
I can’t think of any normal payment situation where I can’t use either cash or EasyCard, although you may miss out on the occasional small QR code discount.
Not necessary. I was pretty late to the smart phone scene anyway, and here I often let my data run out and don’t recharge for several months. Sometimes I notice it when I’m in a new area and can’t use Google Maps for directions, or sometimes I’ll want to look up restaurant reviews. But it’s good to just rely on intuition sometimes
Thanks for the replies! It sounds like Taiwan is perfectly fine to live in without a smartphone at this point in time. I was worried that it might have become like China during my absence, but it seems like it isn’t quite there… yet.
I got my first smartphone three years ago, only because it was free. All I use it for is playing games on the MRT and googling stuff when arguing with idiots.
And I don’t even have a credit card.
You’ll be perfectly fine.
This is exactly the kind of thing that caused me to finally stop complaining about it and actually get rid of my smartphone. I no longer have patience for people who can’t get off their phones during social gatherings. It makes it harder to meet new people, but at least I know who’s worth bothering to make the effort with and who isn’t.
