As a professional extreme minimalist, I’ve made the decision to revert from a convenient smartphone to a dumb phone, a new minimalist trend where we are reverting technology in an effort to seem more in control of our lives.
The idea is that by reducing the amount of stuff we have, we will gain more. But when you think about it, this narrative makes no sense. How can having less give you more? It’s completely illogical.
But despite this, I’ve chosen to embrace the dumb phone because it fits my minimalist lifestyle. It makes calls, texts, and that’s about it. No GPS to tell you where you are on the planet, no multimedia messaging to keep in touch with more than one friend (because who needs more than one friend when you’re a minimalist?), and no Bluetooth to connect to other devices.
Basically, we’ve taken all the innovation since the year 2000 and stripped it away. And as a minimalist, I really appreciate this. They call it a dumb phone, but I think you’re smart for having one.
In fact, if I were a true minimalist, I would stop talking right now because I’m maximizing the amount of words I’m saying. So for the rest of this review of the dumb phone, let me just look at you.
So if you want to embrace the minimalist lifestyle and seem more in control of your life, consider getting a dumb phone. It may not do much, but it’s a small step towards a more minimal existence.