It’s time to bring back the dumb phone
theverge.com
theverge.com
Voila, a device with as many notifications as a dumb phone but the capability of being a gps, music player and camera. You'll be calmer and happier.
I hear about people freaking out about the current state of things but I'm feeling just dandy. It actually kind of feels like an episode of the twilight zone.
It still stresses me out, though, because glass keyboards just suck. I miss my Blackberry.
This speaks to something I find myself missing more and more: tactile user interfaces.
Think of an old flip phone. It starts ringing. How do you answer the call? You snap the phone open. How do you hang up? Snap it closed.
That is a really beautifully usable interface! It's made up entirely of actions you can do with your eyes closed. Those actions are big and broad, not subtle at all, so they don't require much of your attention. They map directly to our intuitive understanding of how things work (open = in use, closed = not in use). You can teach them to someone without using a single word.
Now we've replaced that (and everything else) with a new interface: tapping at a smooth sheet of glass. And that interface has none of the appealing qualities the old flip phone did: it's fiddly and fussy, you have to give it your full attention to avoid hitting the wrong button, it requires learning a bunch of new metaphors, and so forth. Technologically it's much more advanced, but none of that technology actually goes towards making the user's life easier.
We replaced a pickup truck with a moon rocket. The moon rocket may be a marvel, but which would you rather use to haul your groceries home?
But why wouldn't the goal of controlling a starship be best put into physical buttons with lighted indicators? The physicality of the interface limits the complexity of the system. The physical movements of interacting with the interface is something that can be taught, observed, and coached. One look at a bridge full of panels could tell an experienced eye the entire state of the system, including what people were currently working on. These are all seismically important improvements over the same bridge with 15 officers staring at their smart phone.
The old 60s TV set designers got it right, though probably by accident. :)
I really believe with modern interface design we've went down a bit of a rat hole here.
[1] http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Samsung-SCH-i760_id1897
I love me some chocolate chip cookies, and if there are any in the house I might ignore them when I'm rested, or full, or energized. But at some point I'm going to be tired and hungry and feeling lazy, and those cookies will begin to disappear.
Set up your environment to help you make good decisions.
I completely agree that turning of notifications is incredibly valuable, and I do this myself. That being said, it's not that easy for many people who are tied to email or Slack or anything else.
If self control were as simple as throwing a switch, we'd all be Olympian heroes of might and mind, and apps/smart phones are just another example of a "utility" that preys on human weaknesses.
But then I think...
What if I notice a wild looking tree on a routine walk and would like a picture? Now I have to carry a camera with me.
I get an urge to listen to a podcast about the history of the Korean War, or how the Federal Reserve works. Now I need an iPod too.
In the sake of being minimal and less distracted, I have to carry around additional devices, even if its for activities that aren't necessarily mindless and attention robbing.
That sound like you are distracted pretty often.
What we're seeing in tech is that multi-purpose devices aren't being built because consumers have some dire need for a tiny thing that has super powers, no matter what the ads say. They're being built because it provides one target and a walled garden to deploy addictive content to in order to make money. Tactically it's a great deal for the consumer, but strategically and over the long-run this is not in the interests of the consumer at all. It's in the interests of the industry.
Again, chips are cheap. If I want to take a picture I'll pick up a camera. If I really, really need to make myself look like a clown while I record a video to a social feed, I'll use a smartphone.
Guess which of those is more productive. (In general and over the entire population. Of course there are dozens of examples of these same ingredients being used in a productive manner, but even then, after a proof-of-concept, if it really has economic value I think I'd rather separate it from all of that other stuff)
Further, the form factor for a ultra tiny phone does not really work out. A cellphones the size of a pencil is easy to build, but they would be far less user friendly when making phone calls.
Finally, you can get a smartphone for 60$ with all this stuff so I don't see the advantage to skipping it as you want something around that size anyway.
A win is having a decent quality camera, audio player and mapping device in one slim and light unit in my pocket, rather than having to make a mental effort to remember which one I need when, and have more pockets, charge more devices etc etc
At first I felt some Internet withdrawal symptoms, but those are dissipating rapidly. I'm hoping to get to a state of existence by spring where the only time I go online is when I absolutely must (for email or to pay certain paperless bills, for example).
I am already feeling much calmer and more focused. I do not feel as though I am missing out on anything. Family and friends can still reach me with a phone call or an SMS text (no multimedia on this phone!).
I highly recommend it for anyone who is feeling the urge to unclutter their mind.
https://www.punkt.ch/en/products/mp01-mobile-phone/
There are two features that would be very hard for me to give up though: maps and streaming music.
Unfortunately I have a feeling that "must haves" are different enough from person to person to make a semi-smart phone impossible.
Indeed, my "must haves" are pretty different -- I can live without maps (I can get around NYC pretty easily without looking at a map) and I don't even use streaming music as it is (I wouldn't mind carrying around an MP3 player). Hell, I could even go without a camera and it'd be fine.
What I'd want, though, is Facebook Messenger in addition to text messaging. Too much of my communication is based around it to have to go back to text messaging.
Also, as much as I hate to admit it, apps like Venmo really do make my life easier, and apps like Tinder seem to have become tragic necessities for 20-somethings in the modern world...
Edit: As a matter of fact, I have been wondering why we still have old SMS and not something like SMS 2.0 messenger worldwide.
Not sure if Multiple Numbers is a thing in US or EU. My guess is that most company are sane / clever enough to have a mobile number for their Employees. But here in Asia, it is common to have more then one mobile numbers, 1 for Work and 1 for Personal. ( Hence the Dual Sim phone popularity in China )
And it should be as slim as possible. It should be Appliance like Dump Phone and iPod instead of Smartphone or iPod touch.
No fixed-function phone will gain enough market share to compete.
Does that still work?
The customer loses as usual.