My ‘dumbphone’ suits me fine
Cellphones with very limited features, much like the first ones many of us used back in the 1990s, are enjoying a revival, particularly In the U.K., where sales are booming.
They are cynically referred to as ‘dumbphones’, limited to the making and receiving of telephone calls; and, depending on the model, listening to the local radio, and taking photos, but not connecting to the internet and its many social media attractions.
Some time ago I purchased my ‘dumbphone’ from Rogers to keep in my vehicle as an emergency device. It’s a flipphone design that gives me free local calling and long distance at cheap per-minute rates for an annual prepaid fee of $160 a year.
I could afford a more expensive phone, but just having that simple phone close by avoids the temptation to keep checking for e-mails / internet and so on. And that is the very reason for their increasing popularity, along with no expensive monthly data bills to worry about, since all that the internet offers can be more cheaply and less stressfully carried out at home through the home-based internet link.
Tech expert, Prof Sandra Wachter, a senior research fellow in artificial intelligence at Oxford University, says it is understandable that some of us are looking for simpler mobile phones.
"One can reasonably say that nowadays a smart phone's ability to make and receive calls has become almost a side feature," she explains. "Your smart phone is now your entertainment centre, your news generator, your navigation system, your diary, your dictionary, and your wallet."
She adds that modern smartphones always "want to grab your attention" with notifications, updates, and breaking news constantly disrupting your day. "This can keep you on edge, might even be agitating. It can be overwhelming."
She understands that some people feel overwhelmed by their smartphones adding that "It makes sense that some of us are now looking for simpler technologies and think that dumbphones might offer a return to simpler times. It might also leave more time to fully concentrate on a single task and engage with it more purposefully. It might even calm people down. Studies have shown that too much choice in life can create unhappiness.”
It appears that it was the 2017 relaunch of Nokia's 3310 handset - first released way back in 2000, and one of the biggest-selling mobiles of all time - that really sparked the revival.
Przemek Olejniczak, a psychologist, swapped his smartphone for one of the relaunched Nokia 3310 models, initially because of the longerlasting battery. However, he soon realised that there were other benefits.
"Before I would always be stuck to the phone, checking anything and everything, browsing Facebook or the news, or other facts I really didn't need to know," he says.
He added "Now I have more time for my family and me. A huge benefit is that I'm no longer addicted to ‘liking’, ‘sharing’, ‘commenting’, or describing my life to other people. Now I have more privacy."