The Anti-Smartphone Revolution

Minimising my internet usage felt like dropping a drug addiction. At first you feel empty or that your missing out, you feel twitchy without that dopamine hit. But after a week your mind is so much fresher, you’re mental health better and you feel just so much healthier. Great video.

There's a huge difference here in what they're actually talking about. What all of these people are getting rid of is social media and other time wasting apps. We don't need to actively move backward technologically we just need to normalize the removal of these depressing and time wasting apps.

It's not about internet connection. The anxiety comes from social media and how it's structured. You can totally learn how to use your smartphone for only smart things. First step is to delete all social media apps and mute all non-important notifications. You'll get used to it, and you can still enjoy your camera, music and educative apps etc.

I stopped all social media years ago which felt great!! But now I’m addict to YouTube 😑😑

Not only that - an anti-subscription service revolution is also getting steam, expect to hear more about CDs and Blurays/DVDs soon.

I use my smartphone as a dumb phone. But I find in certain situations having access to email, scanning ability, banking app, and a few other features are very useful when needed. You just need to delete time-wasting apps and minimise notifications and a bit of self control.

I really hate what smart phones and social media have done to my family relationships. I get ignored so often by several family members bc they keep picking up their phones while I'm trying to talk to them. When I ask them to stop using their phones while we're talking they get mad at me. Even my mom does this to me. She's one of the worst. I hate it so much. It's a constant anxiety for me whenever I'm trying to talk to them. I miss the old days when my mom and my siblings had regular phones and actually cared to talk to me properly.

I was on vacation in the Caribbean recently. I was completely without cellphone or computer. One evening, I went outside the hotel to admire the stars in the sky. When I came back in the lobby, I saw every tourist watching their smartphone and talking to nobody. I have a smartphone, but I leave it home almost all the time. When I come back home from work, I look if I didn’t receive any call, and then I leave the phone there if I don’t have any phone call to make. I take the phone with me only if I know I will absolutely need it. What I like the most to do when I queue or when I’m in the bus, it’s reading a book.

I love this concept, but I think I've just matured enough to where I actually use my smartphone like a dumb phone most of the time.

I’m 59 and am a mechanical engineer. I have used technology to create other technologies my entire career. I have been using computers since the 70s. My iPhone is a tool. I refuse to let it take over my life. When I get a new phone the first thing I do is delete the Facebook app and other time wasters. I travel a lot for work so the gps function is a huge benefit. Plus having access to monitor email is a great capability. I feel bad for the modern generations that have let this powerful tool take over their lives.

Sometimes I think about the fact that I cant remember what I had for lunch yesterday but a company in India knows my eating habits from a year ago based on scanning a QR code

This is why I’m keeping my dumb TVs. I just want a screen with the images I want to see without ads or microphones listening or updates and “calls to home”

I was born in a place and time where barely anyone had even a landline. I love the mind blowing possibilities my smartphone gives me. Searching, navigation, education and communicating with others in much better, quicker and easier ways, to name just a few. I don't have any social media apps and most notifications from other ones are muted. Never felt like my phone makes my life worse in any way. It's that simple. Keep the good stuff, get rid of bad. I knew people addicted to texting, before the smartphones were a thing. Downgrading the tech is not going to change much for them. Smartphones are just a tool. It's how you use them makes it good or bad. You can build a home with a hammer or kill people with it. Peoples' lack of self control and wrong intentions are the problem, not the tool itself.

The issue isn't smartphones, the issue is social media. I rarely check my notifications, it's typically on silent. Living in a foreign country in a city you don't know that well, navigation is incredibly valuable. Ordering food and shopping is another aspect. Never mind the banking and verification apps.

I haven't used social media in probably 10 years except for Youtube. What struck me is the fakeness of it. On Facebook I knew people who posted pictures of how great their lives were, nice cars and house, happy family etc but I knew in reality they were in debt to their eyeballs and the parents hated each others guts On another note I have my original Sony Ericsson W810i from 2006, on the original battery. I still use it when I'm hiking in bad weather as a music phone.

It is not beneficial to stop using the internet. It is beneficial to stop using social networks, forums and chats full of annoying and narcissistic people. And disable the notifications you do not need. But yes, for people mistaking social networks with "the internet", it is probably easier to just use a simple phone...

Here's a crazy idea: Delete your social media and turn off all notifications that are unnecessary. These things can actually be pretty helpful when used properly. My battery lasts for about two and a half days on a single charge, because I put it back in my pocket whenever I'm done answering a message or googling something. I actually often find myself in the situation where I don't know what to do besides from that and taking pictures.

Personal method that works for me: “The phone zone”. Whenever I’m trying to focus, I place my phone in a separate part of my apartment. It slightly raises the cost of checking it (energy to get up and the feeling I’m breaking a rule), so checking it happens a lot less often.

I remember as a child (Early 80's), in Ireland, when we were the only house on the road with a phone. When a call would come in for a neighbour, I would be sent to go get them. The phone number was 3 digits LOL. I was also responsible for buying the first ever mobile phones in the utility company I was working for back in the early 90's. They were literally bricks. I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments in this video. People are too disconnected from each other while under the delusion they are more connected.

A few weeks back i've started to put my smartphone on do not disturb mode for the entire day, this alone has increased my productivity by a long shot