I've heard nothing here about that, but it might not apply in all countries.
My basic 3G 'phone's not linked to the Internet but if I do need change it, it will be to an equivalent, and on PAYG (provided the spivs don't stop that option too).
You reminded me I'd not switched it on for nearly a week, and when I did, breaking off from typing this to do so, it clanged away with a slew of messages...
Of those from the provider, O2, one is odd. It reads,
"Hi. Need to top up? Due to a software update on your device, you may need to connect to wifi to top up if you run our of data..."
It then gives some instructions but does not say what "data" might run out. Surely they know mine is a basic instrument on PAYG, even if they have no idea that I have no "wi-fi" equopment? It might just be a blanket message to all O2 subscribers, of course.
Still, it does end,
"Or you can call 4444 free from your mobile".
That's what I do anyway, maybe once a year, even less frequently. Someone tell 'em to leran "portable" from "mobile"...
Another from O2 was a blasted advertisement for tickets to some Disney film, in a city nearly 200 miles away. I would not watch a Disney film anyway. I'd not had 3rd-party ads on my 'phone before - I may have to find how to block them.
They aren't obsolete. I bought a new hardback dictionary last year. I intended to also buy a new law dictionary but realized my old ragged one, while falling apart, is full of my own notes throughout that big ole book. They are so expensive now that you can rent them. Unbelievable!
Google and dictionary.com are free and at least as comprehensive. The biggest advantage of the Internet is that information is not static and fixed as of the date of publication.
But the website ones change definitions to suit some poltical issues. The definition of vaccine was recently changed...because of the covid shots do not meet the standards for a vaccine. There was a word used in a Congressional hearing and the respondent to the question claimed it was offensive. Dictionary.com changed the definition that same day.
Reninds me of George Orwell's 1984, in which one of the Ministry of Truth's tasks was savagely cutting the language back to much shorter vocabulary with very careful, literal definitions.
Excellent. I try to do the same. I can still do mental two digit multiplications and can estimate like a pro. I have had store clerks give me an odd look when they tell me how much my purchases is and I already have it in my hand.
When I was working a job, we got a new cash register and one of the teens working there asked how to set it up to show change. I had no Idea. I had never needed it. He couldn't make change without it.