25 Sep The rise of the anti-smartphone
The celebrities championing digital detox and why you should take note
With celebrities including pop star Rihanna, Vogue Editor Anna Wintour and actor Kate Beckinsale all having been spotted with retro mobile phones in recent months, it seems the backlash against the increasingly functional smartphone, driven by the urge to digital detox, may have begun. The satisfaction of flipping shut a flip-phone is hard to beat, and their revival seems to be going strong.
A “retro” mobile is practically indestructible, keeps you contactable, its battery lasts a week and there’s no way of your photos being hacked, so is it any surprise they’re becoming more and more popular?
It’s not just celebrities though – we know from your tweets and comments that more and more of you have started leaving your phones at home, turning them off outside of work hours or simply switching off internet connectivity to free yourself from being a slave to your little handheld computer. It seems you’re all adopting the digital detox trend.
If you want to go one step further yet your old Nokia brick is long gone, there are more and more options on the market to help those of us who wish to wrestle back some power from our smartphones.
Introducing the Punkt. MPo1 Phone
Take the new Punkt phone, for example. Designed to limit distraction, the Punkt. MP01 is an uncomplicated, streamlined phone that simply has two functions: calling and texting. Unlike smartphones, it doesn’t demand constant attention and leaves users free to get on with their lives without feeling the need to check their phones every few minutes. (And as we’ve seen, we really are addicted to our smartphones these days.)
As a company, Punkt aims to ‘tame technology’, creating devices that do exactly what we need and nothing more. By producing gadgets that offer the bare minimum, they want us all to get back to living in the moment, and the Time To Log Off team are big fans of that.
Meet the NoPhone Zero
Taking things one step further is the NoPhone Zero. It is quite simply a phone-shaped piece of plastic which does absolutely nothing. Nada. It’s designed to be held in the hand and thus trick users into thinking they’re holding a smartphone. Upon receiving zero notifications or alerts from their NoPhone, the hope is that people will engage with the outside world around them.
There are even instructions for how to use the NoPhone:
“At a movie: Hold the NoPhone ZERO in your hand. Watch the movie.
At the bar: Keep the NoPhone ZERO near you. Have a conversation with a human being.
At a concert: Hold the NoPhone ZERO down at your side. Look at the band with your eyes.”
Will you go analogue? We’re all for it! If you’re looking for more ways to switch-off and readjust your balance with technology why not try our 5:2 digital diet? If you’re looking to go cold-turkey, check out our phone-free retreats! We host them all over the world.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.