Once upon a time, people used cell phones to make calls.
Then one day, someone thought they should be smaller and they created a flip phone that would fold...
It sounds like the start of a children's book. And to be honest, one day soon, it will be.
When I lost my iPhone, I panicked. I'm about to close on a house and didn't have extra money to buy another one. But as a Mom of two, employee and wife, I needed to be reachable.
It dawned on me, a flip phone was just 60 bucks and it could hold me over until I could buy another smartphone.
It's amazing just how much we take things for granted in a booming technology age. It's unbelievable how much we've changed as a society in the name of convenience...mostly stemming from the advent of smartphones.
Here are my biggest takeaways after using a flip phone for a week:
PROS
-battery life never dies...like, I don't even think I EVER used the charger in the entire week. That was insane to me. Imagine how much of our time we use in a week either looking for a charger or making sure our phone is hooked up to a charger and then of course looking for our phone to see which charger it's hooked up to. (The thought of us going dark is a frightening one)
-No email access I thought would be only a CON but it was actually very much a PRO too. I had so much less to worry about when I was away from my computer. I wasn't always checking in.
-No access to social media was a Godsend. I'm a self-proclaimed social media/smartphone addict. Taking away my ability to scroll mindlessly through Instagram and Facebook and post useless updates was the most liberating feeling. I still managed to log on through my desktop quite regularly to do my obligatory work-related posts etc but it was all very confined to my time on the computer. When I was done, I was done. My attention went back to whatever I was doing in the moment ie. being a parent!
-Still had my alarm. I rely very much on phone alarms like so many of us do. I still had that on my flip phone.
-Durable. I could throw the thing in my purse without worrying about the screen or precious glass. It was essentially a plastic box.
-I fell asleep faster. Without the brightest, blue-est light in the world penetrating my poor eyeballs for 30 minutes before going to bed, my body was ready to fall asleep naturally. The whole 'blue light' thing really is true. Watching screens before bed messes with your sleep.
-Overall, the best part was getting my focus and attention back. If I had to answer a phone call or check a text, that's all I did. There was nothing else I could do on the phone. I closed it and went on with my day. With a smartphone, I'd respond to a text and then find myself checking email, scrolling through social media, adding to a 'to-do' list and checking my bank balance. It is SUCH a time sucker and you don't realize just how much until it's gone.
CONS
-no streaming music or podcasts or apps...this nearly killed me. Not gonna lie. I love FM radio. It's what I do for a living. But, I've become accustomed to also listening to podcasts and streaming new albums the same day they're released. I couldn't even so much as use my bank app to deposit a check! Oh, the humanity!
-MAPS!!! By far, out of everything, this was the hardest. My car does not have GPS and I found myself actually PRINTING OUT MAPQUEST directions before going somewhere new.
-No email access. It was a pro because I wasn't always plugged in but it was a con because when I logged on to a desktop, I had that many more emails to either delete or respond to.
-No access to social media ...this could be a pro or con but when you're sitting in a lobby waiting...your first instinct is to scroll to pass the time...not anymore!
-Texting was a nightmare. Can you believe we used to push a number several times just to find the letter we wanted to use to send a text? Having to revisit this ancient practice made me just stop responding to texts all together. I would either ignore it or just call the person back. And of course, I missed my GIFs! Group texts were also a nightmare.
-No SIRI or internet! Could you imagine not being able to google something on the spot!?
-The camera is terrible! Just look at these photos:
I mean...when did I get a green-ish hue to my skin tone? It's so blurry and I don't even know why it's so dark!
I'm only mildly happy to report I'm back in the iPhone world. I'm back to being addicted and mindlessly scrolling social media. I'm back to getting distracted with googling 'how to tell if I have a pinched nerve' and I'm back to checking my bank balance every day as if it's miraculously going to get bigger. But, I'm also back to taking great pictures and not getting lost on the road. I'm back to laughing at the GIFs my friends send me in texts and my kids are back to face-timing Grandma.
Like any advancements in this rapidly changing world, we've got to take the good WITH the bad. And we've got to make a choice if it's worth it for us.
Follow my podcast for funny stories about how living without a smartphone got me into trouble! It's coming up this week. Here's the last episode we recorded.