I could have thrown it away years ago but my old Droid X is still in service. I have it Velcrod to the base of one of my monitors as a desk clock. It’s basically running 2 apps. One is the clock app with seconds showing and the other is an NTP app to keep the clock precise. In my world 8:59:59 and 9:00:01 are very different times and this is very useful.
Additionally in my bedroom I have a Droid Maxx that has wireless charging and sits in a wireless charging cradle. On that phone I’m running a night clock app with alarm clock and can speak the time by double tapping the screen. In the morning I pick it up a read the news online so it’s my morning newspaper as well. And with Google Voice I can make phone calls if I need to.
So – don’t throw that old cell phone away. They can become excellent clocks.
My old phone became the 32 GB music server for my truck.
Good use!
Only problem for me is, that I don’t get a new phone till the old one is dead.
My old Galaxy 3 has this on it:
http://salient-eye.com/
It does work and we use it for the hotel room when we travel.
I like it. Good use!
One could also wall mount one and use it for inside lighting controls.
Whoa, I like that one. There goes my afternoon. But I’ll probably just get a bunch of crappy pictures of my cat.
As an alarm you set it and it gives you 60 seconds to get out. Of course when you get back if you walk in front of it then you get e-mails with a bunch of pics of yourself turning it off.
Even if the thief walks in and steals the phone by then the pictures have already been sent.
There are a few iPhone apps that do this… records video when motion is detected.
What a massive waste of energy. How about instead using a single AA battery that would last for months if not years for a clock on the wall?
“massive?” Really? Come on, it’s not a “massive” waste of energy. You’re being extreme and dramatic.
Besides, if you’re so concerned with the environment, isn’t it better to find new uses for our old tech and keep it in service?
And maybe a pair of AA batteries lasts a year, but if everyone did your clock-on-the-wall option wouldn’t we collectively go through like millions more AA batteries on an annual basis?
I have no need for cell phone service but I bought a $10 Moto-E on sale on Black Friday. It connects with my wireless so I can download files from my server (sftp) and then use it to read books, watch videos, check my email, surf, listen to music etc. When I’m away from home it’s a camera. Not bad for $10.
Another use is on the plane with a digital GPS speed app. Nice to see the plane go from zero to 550Mph.
Here is what I did when I bought the iPhone 6. I gave my iPhone 5s (which I like) to my friend Joan who is 79. All she wants is a cell phone just for making calls… taxis and calling when she out and about. The added line is less than a dollar a day. Good money spent to knowing she ok and can get a taxi.
This is better than giving the old iPhone to a rug-rat who will break (the phone), misuse and fuck-up your phone plan.
We both go shopping together (90% of the time) and use the city bus to get to where we’re going. We used to take the city bus going back home, $2.1o round trip for each of us. 80% of the time when coming back we have to much stuff or are tried and call a taxi. The cost of the taxi is usually around $10, well worth it! After sometime using a taxi we found a driver who we liked. We got his cell phone number to call him directly (bypassing, “please stay on the line and we’ll get to you.”). He’s there to pick us up in 10-20 minutes… basically no waiting!!!
I’ve been going commando on the phone thing. 95% of the time Skype on the desktop computer is just fine. Saves me lots of money, time, and frustration especially around dinner time.
BUT….I’m close to buying a phone for all the non-phone functions. Camera and mp3 player in the main, but I almost jumped to load up on the rfid lost keys finder AND to replace all my getting to be non-replaceable remotes.
……………..with the above, I’m motivated to buy the lowest cost phone to run a virtual reality headset…but likely will default to Occulus and build a new purpose built computer for that.
………………………………….and still, no need for an actual phone.
Amusing.