Hardware Decentralization

Alternative Title: How to break up the responsibilities and power of your phone

Phones are amazing tools. They are an extension of our brains (which basically makes us cyborgs) and provide us with many tools all packed into a small formfactor.

This is both their strenght and their weakness. What happens if you lose your phone? You lost access to those tools, your memories, means of authentication, means of communication, and more. You might have a backup of those things because you planned ahead. But there might be someone who also has access to these things. That means they have access to parts of your brain. Isn't that scary?

The problem lies in the fact that a phone has too many responsibilities. It's responsible for getting your mail. For paying for your groceries. As a flashlight when you go into the cellar and the lights broke again. For playing music on your way to work. For navigation on your way to a foreign place. For communicating with your family. For calling for help in the case of an emergency.

If you had different devices for all these things, what would you have used for owning a phone?

A computer. A physical credit card. A flashlight. An mp3 player. A navigation system. A (dumb) phone.

Phew, that's a lot of devices. Why would I go through so much of hassle when I can just use my phone?