COULD I DITCH MY DIGITAL LIFE FOR A WEEK?
Signing up to Scroll-free September by swapping my smartphone for a very basic handset with no apps or internet connection seemed like a good idea … until I was left waiting in a pub for a latecoming friend. I hadn’t copied his number across to my “new” Nokia, so I was stuck. And not only was I stuck, I was stuck without anything to occupy myself.
Like any smartphone user, I’m usually beset by a steady drip of push notifications from triggerhappy friends weighing into group Whatsapp conversations. Typing SMS texts on the Nokia felt like carving a sermon into a cliff face. “Pls stick 2 th plan!”, I requested. “I dnt have maps on fne – cnt navig8!”
Heading home later, there was no music I could listen to. But I enjoyed watching TV more than usual because I didn’t have an eye on Twitter. Instead, I opened my laptop to keep up-to-date with news, emails and social media.
Work was a sterner test. Many workplaces, including The Telegraph, don’t allow you to log into your email in-box unless you provide some additional authentication, which usually involves interacting in some way with a registered smartphone. I’d had to print out a set of verification codes. A few days later, I had to print out directions and a map for a meeting.
There was a whole gamut of little inconveniences I hadn’t foreseen, such as not being able to use my 16-25 Railcard on the train because it’s enshrined in an app, rather than on paper. I also refused to go running that week because doing it without a podcast seemed like unendurable torture – and I wouldn’t be able to check the Fitbit analytics afterwards.
By the end of my week without a smartphone, I had been bored out of my tech-withered mind with only Snake to play in emergencies. I’d have been screwed if
I’d needed to get anywhere unfamiliar, take a photograph or remember a birthday. But, untethered to modern technology, I did feel noticeably more relaxed.
And not once did I worry about low battery. In fact, I didn’t have to recharge the Nokia all week.