@daughterofrao Whilst I agree with the general theme around digital exclusion, I'm not sure about the premise that a cheap Android phone (which can install apps, or access websites) is less accessible than a laptop and desktop applications.
And I'm not sure I understand why you'd pay €600 extra in train fares, rather than buying a cheap phone to download the DB app...?
Wouldn't it be easier to have a phone?
Whilst I respect your position, it does feel ideological rather than pragmatic :)
@hugh @daughterofrao@weirder.earth A factor that shouldn't be forgotten is that phones, *especially* cheap phones, are significantly more locked down and less future-proof than eg. second-hand laptops.
You get updates for maybe a year or two if you're lucky, you can't install a different OS/version/variant/whatever so you're shit out of luck after that, and everything is trying to get at your personal data while giving you no controls to prevent that.
Sure, cheap smartphones nominally exist. But in practice the point of accessibility is a lot more complicated than just the purchase price. Paying 150 EUR for a device you cannot trust and that's often barely usable performance-wise, is not actually better than paying 200 EUR for a trustworthy laptop that performs fine.
@joepie91 @daughterofrao Finally, I think this blog from Terence is always worth a read:
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/01/the-unreasonable-effectiveness-of-simple-html/
I think someone (who I won't tag) did post an update on user agents accessing gov.uk and it's increasingly mobile devices of various flavours.
The point being that I think trying to hold out against smartphones is rather a fruitless endeavour, which only isolates the individual.
As I say, charities give people mobile devices (not laptops) for a reason.
@joepie91 @daughterofrao I don't disagree that manufacturer support, especially with Android software updates, is poor.
gov.uk has historically taken a stance against apps and always designed its pages to be responsive & work on the most basic devices, and I continue to agree with that.
Accepting the reality of the situation, I would still suggest that providing someone with a basic Android phone will be more useful in practice than a basic laptop.