
If this woman stays off her smartphone for an entire year, she'll win $100k - MilnerRoute
https://www.abc15.com/national/if-this-woman-stays-off-her-smartphone-for-an-entire-year-shell-win-100-000
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aerovistae
This has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. They have no way of
knowing if she did it. They gave her her a flip phone and at the end of a year
they're going to have her take a polygraph test. That's the setup. Wow.

~~~
fouc
Would you risk $100k to touch a smartphone at any point during a year?

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npo9
I think that’s really close to the price point that would keep me away from a
smartphone.

~~~
notus
I'd just buy some JNCO jeans and get a netbook

~~~
fouc
HAHA, that's true, a netbook could function as an effective replacement for a
smartphone.

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Lucent
This doesn't sound bad at all if you can use a laptop, which the rules say she
can. I strive for functionality parity between my phone and laptop, so
anything I need to do or data I can access is reachable from both.

~~~
sdan
Wanted to say this as well.

I barely if ever use my phone. Everything is on laptop.

~~~
anonytrary
I also came here to say that. This is basically free money. Although, you
might have a hard time navigating around a city without modern navigation
tools like Uber, Lyft and Google Maps.

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emptybits
> a Kyocera flip phone that she can only use to call and text

She should get a Twilio account. ;-)

I say this half seriously, because I know it may not be in the _spirit_ of the
challenge, but it would be enriching to cobble together some simple scripts to
receive an SMS and proxy things like Google queries, maybe maps directions,
Calendar lookups, maybe a Tweet-sender, HN headline fetcher, etc. It would be
constrained but educational and fun. (I say "fun" because HN.) Bonus marks:
IVR and/or voice rec version.

~~~
xigency
Google actually did run a service on 600613 (I think) for some time that would
text directions and info from certain queries. I was disappointed when I found
out it was down.

~~~
indecisive_user
Wow, that just reminded me of ChaCha.

When I finally got an unlimited text plan(~2009), I asked soo many questions.
I was still on dial-up at the time, so it was actually faster than trying to
look something up on Yahoo. And as a bonus, I could still use it while my mom
was on the phone!

[https://www.cnet.com/news/chacha-gives-you-answers-via-
text-...](https://www.cnet.com/news/chacha-gives-you-answers-via-text-
message/)

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markus_zhang
Not difficult given the incentives. But the lie detecting sounds a bit
worrying.

~~~
beardog
It blows my mind that people still use the "lie detector" (polygraph) for
anything.

~~~
imtringued
They are used for intimidation primarily. If you are being interrogated by a
police officer and gullible enough to believe in polygraphs then you are more
likely to tell the truth.

However, I bet the effect wears off after the first interrogation because you
lose that last ounce of doubt "what if it works".

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DrScump
This parallels the Twilight Zone Episode "The Silence"[0] which itself has
roots in Chekhov's "The Bet"

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silence_(The_Twilight_Zone...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silence_\(The_Twilight_Zone\))

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Nextgrid
It's ironic that a mainstream brand which presumably advertises a lot is
sponsoring this challenge considering that smartphone addiction is caused by
advertising (as it incentivises the social platforms to maximise engagement so
they see more ads thus make them money).

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thraxil
My dad doesn't own a smartphone. He has a flip phone that he takes out when he
goes on trips but where he lives (rural Maine) there is no cell reception so
he doesn't see a point in having anything fancier (also, having watched him
attempt to operate a smartphone, it's probably for the best). Does someone
want to pay him $100k for that?

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mnm1
This is trivial. Get a gps for the car. She has a flip phone. And she can
still use laptops and desktops. She could even get a laptop with lte if she
really wants. I'd do this for a tenth or even a hundredth of the price
although the lie detector test seems suspect.

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joshstrange
In other news man ties arm behind back for an entire year for $100K...

Not only is a lie detector test far from definitive but why? Why would you
knowingly put yourself in danger this way? It's akin to driving without
seatbelts or airbags.

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paulcole
Are you serious about not having a smartphone being on par with not wearing
your seatbelt? If anything, not having a smartphone is safer than having one
because you’re not going to be staring at it while driving, crossing the
street, juggling knives, etc.

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Vanit
Paul Miller did a similar thing (no direct internet access for a year) for The
Verge a few years back.

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ZenModeRy
I did an 11-month detox on a dumb phone and loved it. It's like fasting, just
mind over matter.

~~~
tomcam
And where’s your damn hundred thousand? There’s no justice!

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momentmaker
How will she use her 2FA ;)

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gnicholas
Apple Watch with cellular, for hailing Ubers and messaging?

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ALittleLight
iPad mini with cell service?

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gnicholas
The rules say no tablets. Could do iPod touch with cellular hotspot though.

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thrower123
This sounds like one of those "you could live in this mansion free forever,
but you can't ever listen to Beyonce again. Wyd?" Instagram posts.

The answer is always yes, sign me up.

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edw519
Actually, she'll win more like $200k, $100k for the contest and another $100k
producing value for others because of all the additional free time she'll have
thanks to the absence of useless distractions.

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wott
I have been doing that for the last 40 years, give me $4M! But if fixing other
people's phone counts, I'm out of luck.

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hamandcheese
Smartphones haven’t existed for 40 years!

~~~
jeremyjh
I’m sure that made the early years a lot easier.

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waplot
Why do people need to be rewarded money to do something like this? Why can't
the reward be a better social life or better mental health? As the person says
in the article, "Getting away from the smartphone has been freeing, and it has
opened my eyes and made me more aware of some of my other bad health habits."
That's a pretty good reward for most. I'd take that $100k and use it to spread
awareness about social media and its health effects. All a project like this
does is reinforce the idea that people should only do things for monetary
gains, including bettering their body and mind.

~~~
joegahona
> I'd take that $100k and use it to spread awareness about social media and
> its health effects.

I would bet $100,000 that you would spend $0K of the $100K to spread awareness
about social media and its health effects.

