Technology
This is the official technology community of Lemmy.ml for all news related to creation and use of technology, and to facilitate civil, meaningful discussion around it.
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But that's the thing, smartphones make them less of a "petty bourgeoisie pleasure". It's not uncommon for a person of quite modest means to have a smartphone. That opens up all sorts of possibilities: payments, formal banking, messaging, job connections.
Also, smartphones can provide a benefit that dedicated devices don't: they are there all the time. We never would have seen justice for George Floyd if bystanders hadn't provided multiple videos, and the same with Ahmed Avery. The often shocking police tactics in putting down protests would have gone undocumented. This extends into professional journalism as well, with the non-photographer reporters getting some training on how to use their smartphones to get quick photos of moments that would have been lost before because there wasn't a photographer available. And despite what you say, the camera can often produce a perfectly acceptable result.
Wait... real stuff like... getting somewhere??? Turns out phones are plenty good at that.