Your Smartphone Is Too Important to Take for Granted

Earlier this year at a gathering of tech and art enthusiasts, the Intercept quotes President Obama as saying:

If your argument is strong encryption no matter what, and we can and should create black boxes, that, I think, does not strike the kind of balance we have lived with for 200, 300 years, and it’s fetishizing our phones above every other value. And that can’t be the right answer.

Smartphone fetishists everywhere bristled at the perceived attack on privacy: one of their highest values. While no one would self-identify as a smartphone fetishist, there are plenty of people who understand the value that the modern smartphone brings to their lives.

It is not difficult to understand why so many people have become so highly possessive of their smartphones, and dependent on the freedoms and conveniences they afford. Obama’s verbal overreach caused an avoidable backlash. He may have been pandering a bit to the people who do not yet grasp the value of a smartphone. Here is why one of the greatest advances in a generation should never be taken for granted:

Your Smartphone Holds Too Much You Can’t Afford to Lose

Even if you have all your important documents backed up to iCloud, One Drive, Dropbox, or one of the many Android solutions, there will come a time when your storage is full, and you are no longer backing up to anything. That will be the time when you have got the only copy of your daughter’s wedding photos on your smartphone. Believe it or not, there are even more important things that come and go on your smartphone than that.

On such a fragile device that is not being automatically backed up, important digital assets have a way of getting lost forever. Fortunately, there is a solution for data recovery Quebec residents can afford, as well as citizens everywhere. From the SSDs in your smartphone to the data tape and RAID arrays found in large companies, there is a no recovery, no pay solution.

Losing your data is the fastest way to start appreciating it. If you don’t have access to a professional data recovery service, there is very little you can do about the loss other than learn from it. From work to personal, there is more on your smartphone than you think. Don’t take it for granted.

Experiment with Care

Android is far better than iOS when it comes to tinkering and experimentation. There are all kinds of amazing things to do with a rooted Android phone. But beware! Almost all of them are risky in ways that put your digital assets in danger.

You can change the performance profile by overclocking, to undervolting. but beware! Tinkering with the thermals of a smartphone can cause it to power down for good. Your smartphone is not a toy. Do your homework before making adjustments to the way it fundamentally works. Taking your smartphone for granted often leads to unwise hacks that carry great risk and little reward. Be positive you know what you’re doing first.

Your Life May One Day Depend on It

Your smartphone is a great way to pass the time when waiting in line, or at a doctor’s office. But one should always save a little battery for emergencies. After all, that is one of the main reasons people used to buy cell phones to begin with.

More remarkably cell phones can save your life even without reception. The GPS breadcrumbs are often enough for a search and rescue team to track your whereabouts. If a criminal steals your smartphone, they can easily determine where you live and when family members are likely to be home alone. Just by utilizing the builtin security features, you can keep a lost phone from becoming a much greater loss.

Finally, taking your smartphone for granted can lead to careless handling, drops, and breaks that leave you with no way to call for help when you need to. So if you are going to experiment, do so with care. Because there is a lot more irreplaceable and sensitive date on your smartphone than you think.