Most cell phones are NOT Apple, yet this article has a bias towards Apple phones.
How about screen protectors and cases for Samsung and other phones?
14
I have a suggestion: Just put your phone away!! You're on vacation! Please disconnect. I understand that this message of mine won't change the minds of more than, say, 1% of phone users. For the other 99% of you, please consider how much constantly being connected to friends, etc, adds to the sense of disconnection you get on your "vacation". I suggest that you "unplug."
8
All good advice - but unfortunately this piece overlooks a big issue.
You can't talk about how to protect your phone and your data when traveling across international borders and ignore the issue of border authorities demanding you hand over your phone and allow them access to your data. This is an increasing risk when traveling with phones (and tablets, and laptops) these days in many countries, that needs to be recognised and addressed.
Furthermore, some of the recommendations - for example, that you wipe the phone before traveling and then reinstall your data from backup once you arrive - actually conflict with some of the advice here.
30
Cellphones are not essential. I spent two weeks in Europe without a phone and not once did I need it. Pictures? I used a small Nikon Coolpix camera - smaller than a cigarette pack. Needed directions? I asked the Hotel Front Desk or stranger in the street. Needed to find my way somewhere? I used two small guidebooks with the old technology in them - a map, not a GPS. Needed to text someone? Not at all. If I wanted a dinner reservation, the hotel was eager to make the call. If I needed a computer, the hotel had one. All I had to do was bring a list of passwords - which I had in a small mini-notebook.
I carried everything in a leather satchel that I secured cross shoulder. I wandered London and Edinburgh - enjoying the sights…not wasting time looking at my screen, listening to noise through earbuds, tripping over obstacles because I was glued to my phone and texting while walking, or avoiding conversation because, god-forbid, you might actually have to socialize and communicate with another "person."
Cell phones? A complete waste of money, time and energy. If you really need a phone, get an old fashioned flip phone to make calls, or borrow one from the millions of others who can't break free from this techno-wonder.
27
@Gerald Wadsworth I wouldn't call them a complete waste of money; after all, I'm reading this newspaper, including your comment, on one right now. That's the most important use of a smartphone for me: reading, reading everywhere - on the bus to work, on a plane, in a dark room (impossible with paper books, which are otherwise great too; make no mistake about it). Reading is a great activity that is never mentioned by those who criticize phones unreservedly, they only think of silly games and social media. I wish more people thought of their phones as wonderful reading tools. You don't even have to read the small print of most online pages, for example, since you can copy and paste the texts to free apps that enable you to read offline, control the luminosity and print size, etc. I could go on and on about this. I simply love reading on a smartphone (my bookcase is full of books that I love reading too - believe it or not!).
27
#1 put an email address or contact info on the back your phone. I’ve gotten my phone back at a 20,000 person festival in 15 minutes.
If your battery dies or you don’t have cell service, find my iPhone is useless.
15