I notice it mostly when it comes to sleep. I stay awake late into the night, or I’m still in bed in the morning, almost late to work.
Scrolling on my phone.
It’s eating up way too much of my time, and I’ve been looking for solutions.
“You can just put your phone down.”
That’s true. I can just put my phone down. A lot of this boils down to self-control and discipline. That’s a work in progress. On iOS, there is no perfect solution; the nature of apps on iOS plus ridiculous subscription fees rule out an app-based approach.
Until I discovered dumb phones.
I thought the dumb phone market was dead. There were only relics on eBay that would be rendered useless by the onslaught of 5G networks. It is, in fact, still alive with new models, start-ups and communities.
So I began to browse.
Picking a Dumb Phone
The best part about dumb phones is that I have options. More options than "which glass pane and OS do you want?"
I can get a flip phone, a blackberry-lite, the banana phones from the Matrix, a smartphone that is neutered, and others.
This allows for a spectrum of dumb. I can get "transitional" devices. Flip phones and the like, but with a smart OS. The Unihertz Jelly Start (pictured below) is considered a dumb phone. It's meant as a transition to get you from a smartphone to a truly dumb phone. There are even purists and elitists in the “dumb phone community.”
Then there's the stupid phones. The ideal dumb phone. The phone to remind you of a Nokia 3310. There’s the Light Phone 2, the Punkt MPO2 (which won a design award. God knows why), and the Sunbeam F1 for that classic flip phone feel.
Why not jump right into an old flip phone? Why the need for a “transition device?”
Smartphones have become very integrated into our lives. Much more than we consciously know.
Maps
Music
Lyft and Uber have almost killed the taxi industry
No one has phonebooks anymore
Flashlight
Reminders
Alarm clock
Calculator
Vemno, Zelle and other apps
I recently went to a job training that I could not have completed with a dumb phone. QR codes and online forms were a part of the training. Having a smart phone is practically assumed and with good reason.
Are some of the features above a bit of a stretch? Yeah. The alarm clock can easily be replaced. I just wanted to illustrate how many tools are on an iPhone nowadays. It’s not just social media and YouTube. Strip those away, and you still have a very useful tool.
I’m still in a part of my life where I use other apps for texting. I still need a Lyft sometimes, and I rarely carry cash around, so Venmo and Zelle get plenty of use.
Smart phones, like it or not, are tools of the modern world and going back to a tool of yester year is a more serious sacrifice.
For tools like music, I can always grab a refurbished iPod. For maps, Map Quest is still a thing. What about the QR codes at job training? Or a night out when you’ll need an Uber?
There is another problem.
Let’s say, for example, you fall in love with the CAT S22, gather the cash, and buy it, only to find out it only works with T-Mobile. Maybe you have T-Mobile, in which case you’re in luck. Or maybe you’re not, and now you also have to switch carriers. Not all phones work with all carriers, which is something I have to be aware of, and it limits your options.
Privacy
Less screen time isn’t my only goal. I recently found out my phone was tracking not only my steps (I’m getting them in) but also my sleep. I know, that's not super crazy, especially when it comes to the data tech companies do collect. Likewise, I know under US tech companies that none of my shit is “secure,” but, Goddamn, if I don’t want a little bit more privacy between me and a tech megacorporation.
There are privacy-based phones operating systems like GrapheneOS and ApostropheOS. Graphene only works on Pixel phones; Apostrophe only works on the Punkt MCO2, their smartphone, not the dumb one.
All the privacy-based smartphones are based around communication. They have apps and software based around keeping your communication private. No one else I know uses these apps, so they're wasted on someone like me. I don’t feel like asking the people I know to download another app just for texting and calling.
And here’s where we run into an issue.
I can’t go with a stupid phone; at this stage in my life, I still need a transition device. Outside of a hipster-ish wish to be different, why should I get one? The workarounds I’m using on my iPhone (downtimes and gray scale, for anyone wondering) are kind of working. Most transition devices use Android or some Chinese OS; some I’m trading the devil I know for the one I don’t.
I’m spending up to a few hundred dollars on something that only fits my needs kind of. At that point, why not save the money, get another handme-down, or splurge and get a Samsung smartphone? Is my online time and privacy valuable? Yes. But there is a line my unprincipled dumbass is too comfortable crossing.
I added a question mark to the title.
I’m still unsure if I’m going to take the plunge or not. I’ve seen a few models I have my eye on, but at this point, I’m just playing the waiting game to see. Maybe you are more willing to take that leap than I am.
A big thank you to all my new subscribers.
Until next week.