[sf-lug] some notes on the Virtual Meeting of Sunday 3 January 2021

[Akkana Peck]

> Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com> wrote:
> > Topics that were raised included Smart Phones ...
> > Akkana brought up the Pixel 4. as a desirable model at a
> > low price.

Pixel 3a, used. I'm sure the 4 is fine too, but it's quite a bit
more expensive.

What I like about the Pixel line is that they'll have OS updates for
at least a year and a half. And after that, the bootloader is
apparently easy to unlock (mine came with it unlocked) so it will
probably be possible to install something like LineageOS on it.
Since I'm coming from a Samsung that hadn't gotten system updates in
years, and which had a bootloader that was extremely difficult to
unlock and very little Lineage support, that was a factor for me.

aaronco36 writes:
> IIRC, at some point during the discussion, Akkana P also mentioned using a
> TracFone, and Bobbie S mentioned solely?/primarily? using her own landline
> for phone voice conversations.

For light users, prepaid plans can be a lot cheaper than monthly.
I use my phone a lot for offline stuff (RSS reading, mapping with
OsmAnd) but don't use it much for web browsing or email, and I've
never liked long phone conversations. So prepaid works for me.

TracFone can use Verizon (the only option where I live in NM, but
even when I lived in San Jose they had by far the best coverage) and
it's less than half the price of the cheapest other option mentioned.

Ting is also good. I switched away from them because they couldn't
use Verizon, but I think they can now. They're a little more expensive
than TracFone but they have very good support people and a good
website, so you can always get an answer to your questions.

I also mentioned Google Fi, which looks good on paper (can hop
between different carriers, and the pricing seems very reasonable,
though higher than TracFone or Ting), but I have no personal
experience with it.

aaronco36 writes:
> Yeah, I piped in my agreement that those of us Phase 2+ persons who aren't
> 75 years and older, adults 65 to 74 years with "high-risk medical
> conditions" including diabetes and heart disease, frontline healthcare
> workers, "essential" workers, police and fire officers, delivery and livery
> persons, workers in regular in-person contact with others and members of the
> public, politicians(!), wealthier patients, ...etcetera *probably* aren't
> going to get vaccinated until Summertime at the very earliest :-(

Agree. Keep wearing those masks, folks!

        ...Akkana