Additional thoughts on dumbphones

There is a lot more for me to share about dumbphones

On this blog post I want to share more thoughts what I think about dumbphones and how useful is it to me and others who are interested.

For now let me recap from what I've said from the previous blog posts:

Many kinds of people around me

There is a transformation for me. At the start I want to be upset over the fact how almost everyone around me is addicted to their phones. Now, I cannot be upset anymore. Why? It's because I've failed to understand how it feels to be in their shoes. I, myself, being the person who was a former smartphone user, knew how it felt to be addicted to these devices. It's the same thing when I used to be addicted to fast-food. I can't get angry when these companies have found ways to inject powerful ingredients inside their food. It's hard to escape addiction. I'm gonna have to learn to let go.

My problem is this ... can I shove my life style choices into people's mouths? The reason I'm asking this is because at my workplace, only 2 or less knows that I use a dumbphone, awhile the rest has no idea. I don't like to be the person who is "look at me, I have my act together! I'm so happy without a smartphone! I'm can perform better than you because I am not distracted from a smartphone!"

All of my co-workers in the break room are busy looking down at their phones, awhile for me, I'm either doing something offline and/or watching public TV. Yes, almost everyone is having their head down looking at a black mirror screen.

It gets even more creepy when I visit the convenience store. Half of the kids I see on the shopping carts are looking down at the smartphone/tablet. Sure they are quiet but is that really good for their health? It's the same issue I have when I walk around the neighborhood too. Instead of playing sports, they are sitting and watching whatever is on their phone/tablet.

Back to my anger. The reason why I'm upset is because I cannot stand my supervisors and bosses wasting time looking down at their phones. I cannot take them seriously when they give me orders when they can't even look at me eye-to-eye. I even confronted one of them about it, because to me, it's very juvenile for a supervisor to hold a work device on one hand and a personal phone on the other hand. It looks ridiculous. We are in a workplace, to work. And these are kinds of people that need to lead by example and they are not doing a good job at that. If I was ever in a position of leading, I'd might be the biggest jerk in the workplace ever. "Put your phone down!" and etc. I'll be demoted very quickly.

I'll never forget when one of my supervisor is lecturing the entire crew at our morning meeting. And it's about looking down at their personal phones ... yeah. If only the supervisor would look at the mirror some day and realize that leading by example is crucial. The whole thing is a joke to me. The irony.

And that's the thing. I really do miss the days of workplace and schools banning phones. But I guess we are back to slowly allowing these devices to come back.

Okay, what about family?

So I do have at least one who did not like that I cannot answer the call but that was because of how awful Nokia phone is. After that, when I switched to Light Phone II, everything is fine. Well except the lack of camera but that is a minor trade off I can take. I did purchase a cheap flip-phone that has a camera from AGM so I'll see how that works out.

But what about their reaction? Some are still in disbelief, one of my closest family members want to gift me one of the fancy iPhones/Samsung phone even though I will never need it ever again. Maybe they think I'm being "cheap" but no, the Light Phone II is an expensive device to own. Another family member still thinks I have to provide inconvenience when that is still not true at all, I am more available than ever.

As for my families overseas, they are super happy to see me even though I cannot speak their language. Sure I'd like to know what it feels to have someone giving 100% attention and being present ... rather than looking down at the phone? But I guess I'll never know until I learn their language. Don't worry, I still take the time to draw on my tablet whenever there is down time for me.

I believe I do have one family member oversea who really wants to chat with me. But because I don't use WhatsApp unless it's vacation time for me, it'll be a challenge. I don't know if it's always a good idea for me to be the person who is "hard to reach."

There is another family member who is close to me who is impressed, and hope someday to achieve the same "level" or-whatever-word-I-can-think-of ... as me. There are times I would taunt this member "oh! You watchin' Ticky-Tokkaty again?!" And he would answer "nah it's YouTube shorts." (Or Facebook reels.)

Identity

I want to talk more about this family member I just mentioned. My identity. He would tell his friends and peers on how I "use a dumbphone, basic watch, and a typewriter."

And that is a problem right there.

I believe a digital minimalists is not identified by devices. They are identified by having complete control over technology.

By the way it's fine if he keep pushing the narrative of me and my choices of tech. I just hope more and more users will understand that there is more beyond the choice of tech.

I believe YouTube and Reddit is to be blamed for this. Consumerism is way too normalized now. You'll just see endless amount of posts showcasing on what they have purchased, their collection, and and their reviews of the products in exchange for attention.

Instead of teaching methods, tips & tricks, suggesting an online article/blog post to read ... it's just "buy these gadgets to improve your life."

I'll make a whole separate blog post about "analog goods, low-tech devices, and microtrends." Because there is something so funny about users on TikTok preaching about "going offline" but they are posting a lot content "online." If you want to prove that you are "offline" then stop posting ... oh right, that's not possible because people are still obsessed with attention and view count.

When I can't use a dumbphone in Vacations

Yeah, you read that right. I struggle to use dumbphones at overseas when it's vacation time for me.

At first it was Nokia 6300 4G, it had dual-sim so I figured it is an international device. But because of the lack of network bands not being completely compatible in Thailand, it hardly works. I had someone in the family claiming that they tried to call me more than 5 times within a hour.

It get worse from here. I do not have a easy access to Maps, Translate, and even Pay apps. Cannot imagine airports demanding certain apps in the future.

After my first vacation over there, I have no choice but to purchase a smartphone. This time, it'll have an e-sim ... uhh yeah it didn't work sadly. The app 3rd party security had a hard time scanning my face and documents, so it was back to classic physical sims.

If you are curious on what the phone is, I believe it was Moto G54 or something like that. It's has really weak specs but I don't care about having that anymore since I am back to using dumbphones 24/7. I think the weaker the specs, the more I am likely to focus on the most important aspects such as family and the environment.

Whenever I'm outside with the family, I either take photos (not video) with Camp Snap or just ... enjoying the world's gift, nature.

Question: Can you come back to using smartphones again?

I could. Oddly if you ever had the chance to watch a video of Andrew Huberman and his guest Cal Newport (who is responsible for writing the book "Digital Minimalism,") you'll learn that Cal Newport is back to using a Smartphone. In that video you'll learn that even owning a smartphone, he'll hardly be active on texting etc. And if he is busy reading and writing, his phone will be nowhere near him.

(By the way, I understand there are controversies around Andrew Huberman. Just understand I only watch videos based on guests I really like to hear, in this case it was Cal Newport.)

Even now, my work device, which happens to be a smartphone, is modified. It has a custom launcher (from F-Droid) that is minimal/boring and blocks out distracting apps. There is never a moment when I want to share something funny by pulling up a YouTube video in a very long time. Because I blocked YouTube in that device.

I still cannot understand the idea of giving out these work/school devices but with little to no restraints. It's so easy for someone to download distracting apps. I don't know how many times I have to deal with co-works who have permanently damaged their batteries because they kept stressing the device by playing too many games/apps.

It's clear I am in the minority. I know what needs to be done. But what about others? And you reading this blog post? I really don't know.

Argument about smartphones being "addicting"

There is something funny about specific content creators on YouTube that creates a lot of technology type of videos. Usually the nickname for these creators are called "TechTubers."

There are two so far who claimed that "if you are addicted to your smartphone, then you lack self-control." Then they would start to suggest low-tech devices such as a watch with alarm and suggest to modify your current smartphone.

You want to know what is funny? The "here are the 20 plus steps to regain control over your iPhone." Seriously? The video is a joke to me. The fact that Apple has made it hard to have a distraction free experience on the iPhone speaks for itself! He really didn't think much about this? I understand I've never used iPhones before which allows me to see how insane the process is ... but come on now. It's a 15 minute video and the 1/3 of it, which is 5 minutes, teaches you how to gain control of your iPhone (if you are an Android user? Too bad, he didn't cover that.) I can't make this up.

(The video in question is called "Dumb Smartphones are Stupid" by Snazzy Labs. I don't see the point of linking it as it is important for you to approach the video with your own thoughts and opinion, rather than going straight to the "dislike" button. Watch the video from start to finish, and then do whatever you think is right.)

There is a huge disconnect between a content creators who is blessed with so much free goods and the audience who have no choice but to buy the goods. These content creators has put themselves in a position where it is hard to waste time with existing devices, they have to move on with the next latest piece of tech. And that's the problem here, if they start preaching about needing just "one device that'll last you for 5 years," then what is the point of making videos/coverage for the next upcoming smartphones per year?

Mind you I don't mind different opinions between owning a smartphone vs dumbphones. I think it's great that we are having a discussion about this. Just like the whole Windows vs Linux OSes as well.

The problem is that I cannot take certain content creators very seriously when their channel is all things consumerism. "Buy this, buy that." I'll repeat again, buying XYZ cannot help all of your issues, you'll need to plan around it.

Okay, pushing aside content creators. The question still remains "do I think smartphones are still designed to be addicting?" If I have to be black-and-white about it, my answer is yes. Remember that these devices are designed to have pre-installed apps, the apps will always have ads, and lots of dark patterns in the social media apps. In Cal Newport words "they are designed to be sticky."