I'm not so in-demand that I couldn't rely on the desktop versions of all those channels of communication. We'll see, though. I've definitely been in binds where a smartphone saved my ass. But those moments of uber-productivity have been outweighed by everything else for some time now. I'll report the results if and when I get it (the "Light Phone 2" should be out in April). The developers say they're working hard on carrier support: Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T should all be work on this phone in the States. The impetus for my looking for a dumbphone is that my iPhone was stolen about three weeks ago. It took me two days to get over the raw FML-feeling of it, but then I experienced three of the most serene weeks of my life. Granted, I was in a veritable paradise that no doubt improved my affect. But I noticed I was less distracted, less triggered to smother every pang of momentary boredom with a stimulating dose of smartphone, and less tempted to document every part of my day. I didn't suck on a firehose of social media newsfeeds--something I seemingly can't prevent myself from doing. The very act of opening an app to share something ineluctably leads to minutes/hours of scrolling with the associated emotional up-and-down reactions. If my phone wasn't involuntarily stripped from me, I don't think I would've grokked the extent of my smartphone conditioning and then planned a semester-long experiment in dumbphoning. Not trying to preach. A fraught relationship with my smartphone is hardly unique. Just was looking for solutions besides "delete the Facebook app."
To add to kb: there’s a difference between digital detoxing and digital minimalism. One is about considering what really matters to you, and choosing carefully which kind of tech to use, discarding the rest. The other is about going back to a Nokia because you lived like that before and you think you’ll manage. One requires figuring out what you really want from tech, the other is an attempt to fix tech with more tech. It takes more time and experimentation, but it’s worth it. I have, for example, uninstalled all social media for a few weeks, only adding back what I really missed. (Really, not a lot. Even though Insta is fun.) I never hear my phone ring or buzz unless I’m directly expecting a call. I have removed 90% of all notification, and my phone screen doesn’t light up unless someone calls me. After 10pm, my screen turns greyscale and I need to unlock any app that isn’t communication-related. All of it is to remind my brain that this grey box is designed to distract me from things that I really value (reading books, spending time with others) with short, meaningless bursts of dopamine. I once read that focus is not something you have, it’s something you escape to. During my Budapest trip recently, my colleague noticed that I didn’t check my phone for hours on end, even though I had it right there in my pocket. That was entirely intentional - I wanted to focus just on this trip and on getting to know my colleague better. That trip made me very aware of the benefit of silence. Not in the literal sense - the city was not exactly quiet - but in the sense of not distracting myself from the present with thoughts from other people. "A constant flow of thoughts expressed by other people can stop and deaden your own thought and your own initiative...That is why constant learning softens your brain. Stopping the creation of your own thoughts to give room for the thoughts from other books reminds me of Shakespeare's remark about his contemporaries who sold their land in order to see other countries." - Arthur Schopenhauer
What, with restrictions? The greyscale and screen time management things were part my phone’s Android P upgrade. I can now decide on a per-app basis how much time I allot myself per day, and it also shows me how often I unlock my device. (Which was genuinely an order of magnitude higher than I expected it to be.)
You know, it was only over the last year or so that I’ve come to realize smartphone addiction is a very real thing. I used to laugh at people who even used the term, but this whole digital wellbeing thing Apple and Google have introduced was enough to cement my thoughts about the topic. Now that I’ve restricted my phone so much I feel hyper aware just how often some people around me use their phones. They’re rarely people who are good at focusing and listening.
Day before yesterday, I was awoken by my roommate arising at 5:45 to use the bathroom. I also needed to use the bathroom, but I was sleepy. I dozed until 6:15. The fan was still on. He was still in the bathroom. I dozed until 6:30. The fan was still on. He was still in the bathroom. I got up, got dressed, got my bag ready, checked messages. It was 6:38 and I needed to get to fucking work. I knocked on the door, surprising him. The toilet flushed eventually and he mumbled out apologetically. Mutherfucker sat down to take a shit at 5:45 and browsed Twitter until damn near an hour later. Went to a concert with Other Roommate on Sunday. He was so busy texting someone as he crossed the street that he stone-cold kicked the curb and did an ass-over-teakettle. Dude couldn't keep his face out of his phone while crossing the street in downtown LA. Got another buddy. Brand new Tesla 3. Screen on that thing is an easy 17" of information overload; I had to talk him out of putting up a frickin' stalk so his iPhone could be in Carplay right next to it. 'cuz you know. When you're stuck in traffic for an hour you need two displays to keep you from driving. Shit's real, dawg. What's funny is that I haven't seen anyone in either of my two colleges who has much of a problem... other than millennials. GenZ is fine. GenX is fine. 'boomers are fine. But the millennials apparently got primed for that shit.
I totally get it, dude. The entire design of our little ubiquitous computers is predicated on ego depletion. they exist to give you that little endorphin hit of "somebody likes me." They are mental junk food, a hip flask of attention span there to soothe you when you can't handle the bag of skin you've been saddled with since birth. But cripplephones are near-beer. "Can you do that one thing you do well really shitty so I have an easier time not bingeing to pink elephants?" What you're really saying here is that you don't have the discipline to avoid Facebook and that's not like you. Of course you do. It's just more attractive to go "if I buy this innovative glitzy solution being pitched to me by earnest young entrepreneurs that'll be so much more fun than teaching myself that Facebook is pointless!" Fact of the matter is, your phone was involuntarily stripped from you. You have grokked the extent of your smartphone conditioning. bfv doesn't have a phone. When I'm at work I'm required to leave it in the hallway. The only reason I have a smartwatch is so that I can get notifications on the damn thing if I need them... and I've discovered that having a smartwatch on my wrist while I drive causes me to drive dangerously. I'm toying with leaving the damn thing in California, except for the fact that I think it might give me an opportunity to try out watch face design before I have to fire up the laser cutter and enameling kiln. I might leave it anyway. The tech ain't gonna save us. Your dumbphone will not keep up with you; I'm running a 2 1/2-year-old Pixel and it can barely keep up with modern apps and networks and it was built for f'n Google. You've been given a taste; "this is your life without technology." And now it's up to you - not the gadget - to make it stick. Don't buy something because it does what you don't need badly. Learn to do well with whatever you have.
Your logic is v compelling. Why fight evil technology with bad technology? I've tried a version of digital minimalism, viz. veen's suggestion to prune my smartphone. However, the mere deactivation and deletion of apps is not so an insurmountable a resistance that I don't reactivate everything in moments of weakness. Plus, the web browser is its own omnipresent, tantalizing possibility for distraction. My ego stores remain high when I don't have to even think about it. It's almost as if my brain will only know quiet if there's a hard guardrail. Drink less? It'll be teetotalism, thank you. Exercise more? Two hours a day or nothing. Focus more intentionally? Who wants a free iPhone 8 Plus? We'll see. I think events might make this clearer for me in a week once I get back home.