Well, I made it for 24 hours and through the night. This might not seem an achievement, but I've moved heaven and earth to replace a lost or damaged iPhone on the same day that it was lost or damaged! So, for me, nearly 36 hours is quite a feat!
Those few people I have actually talked to about this new adventure have expressed either curiosity or disbelief. So let me begin this post by talking a little about what made me take this step. I have noticed the addictive nature of phones as well as their potential for connecting people, long before cell phones had been invented. I am an introvert, but I've always talked on the phone. Before cellphones, I had long distance phone bills that would make your jaw drop. Because I've always traveled, I was ecstatic when phone cards came into existence. I just kept re-loading them in the same way I now re-load my Starbucks card -- only I re-loaded with a great deal more cash than I regularly put on my Starbucks card. It was how I was able to stay in touch when I was constantly moving. Yet, I also remember how my beloved mother would feel 'left out' when I came to visit her because I was always punching all my phone card numbers into the phone in order to talk to people. I realized way back then that the phone actually kept me from being fully attentive to the person right in front of me that I loved more than life itself. Still, it didn't make me change my habits. I would just say to her, "I'll be off in a minute, mom!" That scenario has been exponentially increased since cell phone usage became normative. And, the increase has multiplied, again exponentially, with the advent of smartphones. The very technology that makes it possible to connect us globally anytime,day or night, and has contributed to the development and sustenance of countless relationships, is the same technology that has the capacity to distance us from the very ones across the table from us.
In 2011 Time magazine reported that Steve Jobs said, ""You know, everybody has a cell phone, but I don't know one person who likes their cell phone. I want to make a phone that people love." I think that's part of my desire for this adventure of giving up my iPhone 7 and choosing a flip phone. I think Steve Jobs did exactly what he wanted to do, and I (along with millions of other people) may just love our phone too much.
Steve Jobs was also absolutely right about the truth that no one likes their cell phone. This is one emotion I noticed unfolding during the last 36 hours. In free moments, I'm always tempted to pick up my iPhone because there's so much I can do on it, so much I can find out, so much that will occupy me. Well, I was sitting in a chair, and was for a moment, bored. (I know, hard to imagine me being bored)! Usually, in such a situation, I would just open up my iPhone. But, I now have a flip phone. So, I looked across to my desk and saw my cute, little, black LG flip phone sitting next to my laptop. You know what? I wasn't even, for one moment, tempted to get up out of the chair and grab that flip phone to wile away the minutes. I mean, what excitement can there be with a flip phone? Clicking 15 times to get three words onto a text message? No, there's just not much allure to a flip phone. The best they offer (other than being able to talk to people) is how they feel in your hand, and that they actually fit in a woman's pocket -- in fact, even in the coin pocket of a pair of yoga pants! So, I noticed I was bored, but did not have any desire to play with my flip phone. Instead, I picked up a book and began reading. Hmmm....
More later...Stay tuned!
Those few people I have actually talked to about this new adventure have expressed either curiosity or disbelief. So let me begin this post by talking a little about what made me take this step. I have noticed the addictive nature of phones as well as their potential for connecting people, long before cell phones had been invented. I am an introvert, but I've always talked on the phone. Before cellphones, I had long distance phone bills that would make your jaw drop. Because I've always traveled, I was ecstatic when phone cards came into existence. I just kept re-loading them in the same way I now re-load my Starbucks card -- only I re-loaded with a great deal more cash than I regularly put on my Starbucks card. It was how I was able to stay in touch when I was constantly moving. Yet, I also remember how my beloved mother would feel 'left out' when I came to visit her because I was always punching all my phone card numbers into the phone in order to talk to people. I realized way back then that the phone actually kept me from being fully attentive to the person right in front of me that I loved more than life itself. Still, it didn't make me change my habits. I would just say to her, "I'll be off in a minute, mom!" That scenario has been exponentially increased since cell phone usage became normative. And, the increase has multiplied, again exponentially, with the advent of smartphones. The very technology that makes it possible to connect us globally anytime,day or night, and has contributed to the development and sustenance of countless relationships, is the same technology that has the capacity to distance us from the very ones across the table from us.
In 2011 Time magazine reported that Steve Jobs said, ""You know, everybody has a cell phone, but I don't know one person who likes their cell phone. I want to make a phone that people love." I think that's part of my desire for this adventure of giving up my iPhone 7 and choosing a flip phone. I think Steve Jobs did exactly what he wanted to do, and I (along with millions of other people) may just love our phone too much.
Steve Jobs was also absolutely right about the truth that no one likes their cell phone. This is one emotion I noticed unfolding during the last 36 hours. In free moments, I'm always tempted to pick up my iPhone because there's so much I can do on it, so much I can find out, so much that will occupy me. Well, I was sitting in a chair, and was for a moment, bored. (I know, hard to imagine me being bored)! Usually, in such a situation, I would just open up my iPhone. But, I now have a flip phone. So, I looked across to my desk and saw my cute, little, black LG flip phone sitting next to my laptop. You know what? I wasn't even, for one moment, tempted to get up out of the chair and grab that flip phone to wile away the minutes. I mean, what excitement can there be with a flip phone? Clicking 15 times to get three words onto a text message? No, there's just not much allure to a flip phone. The best they offer (other than being able to talk to people) is how they feel in your hand, and that they actually fit in a woman's pocket -- in fact, even in the coin pocket of a pair of yoga pants! So, I noticed I was bored, but did not have any desire to play with my flip phone. Instead, I picked up a book and began reading. Hmmm....
More later...Stay tuned!
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