“PayPal forcing me to have a cellphone to access my account” (opens in new tab)

> We seem to be moving towards a future where not having a smartphone is just as unthinkable as not having a bank account or electricity.

When my current smartphone dies, I won't be replacing it with another smartphone. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact that will have on my ability to function in society.

My guess is that it won't be much of an impact beyond a decrease in convenience. Right now, it would only lock me out of using a few parking lots, my apartment building's laundromat, and a smattering of vending machines. I can live with that -- especially because I already do, since I will not install any app for that sort of nonsense.

Just so; in some cases we are already beyond the point where you need to be in some way wealthy or privileged in order to interact with a company beyond the basic automated phone and web-based interface.

Yet every so often I still hear someone (to be fair, not nearly as often as I used to) suggest that poor people (and sometimes refugees) having phones shows that they're undeserving of assistance, since they can clearly afford a phone. As you say, it's becoming the cheapest and in some cases only way to interact with a lot of businesses and services that are necessary simply to operate in society.

Honestly this seems a very "good", manageable business strategy. Cell phone number provides one method of 2FA that is easy (but not necessary secure) to use -- text messages, provides some level of guarantee that the account owner is not a bot, and means that the user is very likely to spend money in phone apps where PayPal is one of the allowed payment methods (e.g. Uber). Companies have little to lose by ignoring users who don't use cell phones.

Eventually we'll reach a point where the police search for you if your phone is off for too long, and ticket you for wasting police time when they find you.

Imagine thinking that dropping expats and international travelers is a good move though.

On the same note, what the hell is up with the cottage industry of volunteers on Microsoft’s community site who claim to be some self-assigned title?

I always wonder what purpose these sites serve. They often show up on search results when I'm trying to solve a problem and they're always full of non-answers. I don't even recall a single instance in which I was able to get a working solution from company community forums.

The reward is in the action itself, the feeling of elitism.

Malicious bots have gotten sophisticated enough that SMS verification and velocity controls are one of the few ways to manage Sybil attacks. Device and IP based systems can’t cope with the onslaught.

Some concert venues are requiring axs.com mobile app to show the ticket QR code for entry and parking. I found out after I had purchased tickets.

For many of us there aren't other viable choices.

Not everyone does.

For example, I used to live in a part of the UK with no mobile towers, and thus no reception.

So if I really, absolutely had to make a phone call at some point I could then travel to a different town + buy a new sim card / phone number to make the call with.

Meanwhile Vodafone (UK) expires mobile phone numbers after 3 months of inactivity. So, that "new" phone number would tend to be expired when I next needed to use it.

This happened several times. :/

Yeah, you guys all have phone right?

Getting rid of paypal is not a bad idea anyway; some day they will ‘disappoint’ you too (and steal some money). It’s in their dna. After that you can get rid of your phone. Although all banks in my country need a mobile phone (and some a modern smartphone) too; not sure how that is elsewhere.

It is possible, but it raises the difficulty setting of many otherwise trivial life tasks. I'm in my fifties and have never owned a mobile phone, initially because I don't like phone calls, but more recently out of general cussedness. (I do use an ipad.) The number of services for which a phone number for 2FA or confirmation by SMS is mandatory is definitely on the rise. I guess at some point going phoneless may become the equivalent of trying to live without a bank account. But for now, it remains just barely doable.

It would force you into a contract with one or more third parties though, at least a carrier and a handset maker. Maybe Google or Apple as well.

And if you live in a foreign country and bank in another country, what then? Fly back to your "home" country to sign in and stop rebills?

I have the same issue with my Apple account.

They have my email on file but won't help because the number doesn't match anymore. Just one more reason to not return to the iDevices.