Can you imagine using a flip phone in this day and age?

Smartphones are obviously designed to have as many features and conveniences as possible so it is no wonder that we are so dependent and in some cases addicted to this small yet powerful device. Nowadays we can watch pretty much anything we want with just one click, have video calls, chat on many applications, use maps to take us anywhere, capture moments in forms of photos and videos, edit and share them on numerous amount of platforms, we can even make money using a smartphone!

With all these conveniences that we have in one place, why would we ever go back? We see all the time how companies improve their devices, there's always something better, more advanced, with new unseen features that you just "have to get". It usually goes with promises that will improve your life even more, make things easier... And while that might be true, it also means that we use or own brain capacity less with each "improved" device we get as we rely on it to "think" for us and entertain us.

I obviously knew how dependent I am on my smartphone but videos like the one I mentioned at the beginning of this post really made me think about this more and I started asking myself if I could go back to flip phone (or any kind of old school mobile phone). This Nokia I still have was one of my phones back in high school and for some reason my favorite phone I ever owned - I have no idea why. I could never get rid of it and who knows, maybe I'll go back to it.

Over the years, I went through many phases of over-suing my smartphone to trying to balance it out by deleting Social media apps and/or profiles just to get back to it with a little bit more intentional use but sooner or later, I would fall into the same old pattern and it seems like a never ending loop. Of course, I could do the same thing again - delete Social media and other apps I feel like I spend too much time on but I still wonder how I would do without things like Google maps, Bus schedule app, a decent camera to capture moments, music apps, bank app...

I am still debating if I should give flip phone a try, at least for a certain period of time... I am also thinking about cancelling my monthly phone payment and just top up when I need it as I don't use phone call minutes, text messages and other stuff I'm paying on monthly basis other than Internet when I'm out and about/not on WiFi. This is something I should have done at the beginning of the pandemic as I was spending so much time at home and it would have been a small money saver.