People are sick of smartphones. Increased awareness about the addictive nature of social media, concerns regarding the impact of smartphone usage on mental health and a curious case of nostalgia have fueled a growing movement among Gen Z to ditch their phones in favor of a more analog life. However, the trend’s flagrant price tag makes going offline a luxury not everyone can afford.
A dumbphone is a phone, like a classic Nokia flipphone or the specialized “Light Phones,” aimed at removing the negative aspects of a smartphone. Without scrolling feeds or other specialized apps, dumbphones are praised for their reversal of society’s increased digital demands, and have become an online trend in their own right.
Videos like “a notebook to replace doomscrolling” and guides on how to dumb-ify your smartphone garner hundreds of thousands of views, praising the positive effects of the trend. These include promoting intentionality, connection with others and improved attention spans. Going offline becomes idealistic, and a luxury.
The accessories of this growing movement were captured in a New York Times photo essay in which the notebooks, iPods, maps and digital cameras various offline New Yorkers who ditched their phones in favor of the analog, carried. Posted on instagram, the photos pointed to Gen Z’s unique nostalgia for a time before smartphones.
The peculiar nature of nostalgia for a time one has personally never experienced, or anemoia, was coined by John Koenig in “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.” Gen Z, favoring the assumed simplicity in the pre-digital age of the 90’s and y2k eras, explores seemingly more innocent analog options.
As Gen Z ditches digital, analog businesses like bookstores and record stores are experiencing a strong resurgence. However, this sours as the analog trend is co-opted by brands looking to capitalize on Gen Z’s turning away from digital spaces. Luxury brand Miu Miu began a literary club in Milan. Influencers touted the newest “must buy” Louise Carmen notebooks, selling for upwards of 150 dollars. Creators showcase digital camera collections, refurbished iPods and vintage records. The analog trend’s foothold on online spaces presents a unique kind of contradiction that asks who actually gets to go offline.
At a point where 63% of Gen Z intentionally unplugs, at higher rates than any other generation, and are increasingly turning to physical media and analog options, it’s important to consider where the offline trend meets its limits. Intentionally downgrading our technology in an effort to avoid the negative effects associated with doomscrolling doesn’t actually solve the problem. Trading in a perfectly working phone for something with fewer capabilities, and in the case of specialized dumbphones which can be on par in terms of price, seems wasteful and unnecessary. This is compounded when considering the irony of those who purchase dumbphones or other analog accessories to post in digital spaces. Rather than mindful or intentional, it becomes another consumerist microtrend proliferated by influencers and brands.
The financial cost that can be associated with unplugging is staggering. The Light Phone, a popular dumbphone, has an initial price point of 800 dollars, plus the 45 dollar once a month service plan. Considering it doesn’t have tap to pay or many of the other conveniences of a smartphone, this price seems outrageous. Plus, all the fun record collections, Gameboy devices, Casio watches and expensive notebooks associated with the trend don’t come cheap.
For a USF student, switching to a dumbphone would mean they could no longer access campus buildings without a specialized wristband. MUNI and BART would necessitate the physical transportation cards. Those whose laundry machines or apartment entrances are connected to apps are out of luck. Our modern world has made the smartphone seem impossible to live without, and in many ways it can be.
But the allure for a life without the smartphone still stands. Going analog is possible, but difficult and likely expensive. Those interested in low-cost alternatives should ditch the influencer recommended products and utilize alternative physical media sources like public libraries and secondhand options. However, it’s important to recognize how this trend shows symptoms of overconsumption, as it stresses purchasing new items rather than utilizing old ones. The issue with the smartphone isn’t always the device itself, but rather how we use it. Instead of going out and buying “dumber” technology to replace it, the answer could lie in practicing more responsible smartphone use.
