SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Okay, there is at least a random chance that some of us or someone in our family got a new smartphone as a gift this year. Maybe you hand the old phone down to one of the kids for a wifi device. Maybe you thought better of trading it in, and having your data end up on the streets.
There are the usual perennial articles on this subject Such as this one from a site that appears somewhat reputable, or this one from BusinessInsider.
Note: Most GSM phones can be used to call 911 in the US/Canada even without a sim card present. Donations to Charities or Women's Shelters or Homeless service agencies is always an option as long as you wipe the phone completely.
So what does the Savvy Soylentil do with the old Smartphone?
[Update: removed derogatory phrasing that was present in original submission. -Ed.]
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Monday December 28 2015, @03:06PM
My female-unit and I both had Samsung Captivates for 3 years and neither of them have more than a couple of scratches. I generally carried mine in a belt pouch (awesome fashion statement) but on several occasions had it fly out of my hand putting it away or something. Once it landed 10 feet away, face down on one of those polished concrete floors, after which it slid about 40 feet. One tiny scratch on the screen. I had a Nexus 4 with the stupid glass back fall from chair height onto a ceramic floor. I thought I was done for, but it lived without a mark.
Perhaps later Samsungs are cheaper, or perhaps you're just unlucky. The one thing I've seen is that many people who carry their phones in their pockets tend to end up with problems with flaky connectivity, flaky screens, or flaky buttons. I think the constant stresses of the slight pressure of sitting, etc, add up and loosen connections. Despite the geek factor, use a belt pouch. It's convenient and protects the phone quite well.