Trying out a “dumb phone” - Light Phone II first impressions
I posted a story on Instagram that got the most replies I’ve had in a while… “What is it?” “How does it work?” “Why are you using that?” The photo? It was of the Light Phone II, a “dumb” phone that I hope will simplify my life. Before I jump into all the what’s, let’s start with the why.
The Light Phone and the “dumb phone movement” is something I’ve followed for a long time. I’m a person who loves technology. I’ve had dozens of smart phones, I had a 2-way pager before most people even had email, I can’t even unlock my front door or open the garage without using technology (touch pad and phone). But I’ve been feeling like my relationship with my phone went from me using it on my terms to the phone kind of hooking me into checking it. Now I 100% believe in personal responsibility. I was too focused on my phone because I let it be too frequent a distraction. Enter the Light Phone II.
The Light Phone II is a dumb phone for lack of a better term. It’s a small, e-ink screened phone that does the bare minimum. It will text, call, and if you turn on some add ons, let you listen to music/podcasts and give you directions. You can’t even see images in your texts with the LP2, those get emailed to you. It’s incredibly simple. Which is good and bad. I wish there were some small additions. I would like to be able to see my calendar for example. But for what it is, it’s been interesting.
For me, it’s not about getting rid of my iPhone, it’s about choosing when I use it. For my business, I can’t give up the iPhone. There are just times I need email and better GPS and such. But outside of those times, I can just leave the iPhone on my desk and switch to the Light Phone II. A few select people that I would need to hear from immediately have gotten the number. For that, I just started a new text group with them and added both my numbers in. Then I can text from the Light Phone or from my computer, where I do most of my texting anyways. Everyone else I can get back to when I’m sitting at my desk, in my office.
Everyone who’s seen it asks “why?” Ultimately there was one moment that switched something for me. The whole family had covid and it as 11pm. Everyone else was asleep and I was mindlessly scrolling Reddit and a work email popped up. A client was up late and made some changes to a video. Now one of the reasons I have been successful is because I can make anything a client needs happen. But at 11pm they were not expecting me to be up to make the change immediately. But, I hopped out of bed, went down to my office, made the changes, fired off a new version and went back to sleep the covid away. The client didn’t expect that, I didn’t have to do that, but because I saw the email in the middle of the night, I felt compelled to get up and make the changes. I’m hoping the Light Phone helps me break that feeling.