A Phone is no longer just a phone but a series of other devices that now all seamlessly fit together. Photography, Videography, Sound Recording, Telegram, Telephone, Email, Novels, Newspapers, and even This Website (if you don't mind the terrible formatting) fitting snuggly into your pocket or the palm of your hand. Truly a miracle of modern technology. But, with the miracle comes Doom-Scrolling, Social Engineering, Surveillance, Constant Connectivity, An Expanding Prevalence of Mindlessness (in antithesis to Mindfulness), The Algorithm, Targeted Advertisement Induced Paranoia, AI Fueled Psychosis, Social Media Inspired Violence, and a Diluge of Information so great that one feels truly weary and mentally drained after coming out of a multi-hour session scrolling a infinite feed of short videos concerning every topic deemed it interest the specific user.

Comment sections are displayed based on what comments the algorithm feels the user would most agree with. This is not bringing us closer together, it's driving us further and further apart. Isolating us amongst a faceless bubble of others who feel the same we do about any given topic or subject, or worse, how we are supposed to feel. Filling in the gaps of human connectivity with language models that only mimic human speech and feelings and whose sycophancy poses a highly dangerous risk to the mentally ill and those around them.

Would it be possible to deconstruct such a device into its core components in-order to give oneself more control, encourage mindfulness, and break free from algorithmic isolation? That is the question I asked myself which lead to an experimental endeavor that I underwent over the course of the last year and a half and I would like to share my experiences and advice here for anyone else who wishes to undergo the same technological shedding process.

First, The Phone part of the Smart-Phone is, I think, the part that most feel would be impossible to replace. But, "Dumb-Phones", "Track-Phones", and "Burner-Phones", all basically the same thing offer a surprising amount of usability and features. Google Maps, YouTube, Internet Search / Browser, Texting, Even a Built-In Radio with Headphone-Jack (This is important because the headphone wires act as the antenna for the Radio to work.) Iphone don't even have full radio, now you can listen to local sports games for free! I think some dumb phones even allow you to connect email addresses. There are a few setbacks, the screen quality is much worse than an i-phone, the keyboard is numbers based meaning you will have to work out typing quickly again, and over all it's a slower experience to use. But honestly, that just makes me use it less and only when I REALLY need to, not to mention it also takes PHONE CALLS, I know that's the last thing all of us think about when it comes to our phones these days, but experiencing how nice it is to throw on a headset and chat and gossip with a friend while cooking / cleaning was something I had missed since texting became the main way we all communicated.

Secondly, Music and Podcast Streaming and how it is effected by dumb-phone ownership and what you can do about it. You cannot stream Spotify to a dumb-phone to my knowledge. You can listen to a podcast if it cross-posts to Youtube. Youtube sponsors SELDOM ever buy ad-time for The YouTube Mobile Phone App so my listening has been ad-free for free without using an add blocker even during the election except for when that Neil Young movie / retrospective came out. But music is the spice of life. We need music. It makes us happy. Well there are options for downloading many podcasts as MP3s and loading them onto an MP3 player, burning them onto disc, or even recording them onto a blank cassette tape to listen to at a later date. Similarly music can be made into a mixtape via CD burning or MP3 downloading.

Third, Print's Not Dead, yet. Even The Onion can be subscribed to and delivered via physical media. Clark's World isn't JUST a digital magazine it too can be subscribed to and delivered. Libraries and Tiny Libraries exist and can be started almost anywhere. Newspaper's haven't all gone out of business, although the state of legacy media is another thing altogether. There are also ZINES! Comic books, so much fantastic Indie Print Media that does not get enough eyes on it.

Finally, Social Media. Without trying to sound like a boomer or some sort of "Social Media BAAAD" digital flesh-golem... Having social media on you at all times is not the best thing you can do for yourself. It's much better and more effective to utilize the internet as a "place" and have a "battle station" setup at home where you physically go to in-order to access social media, with a PC this is practically obligatory, but you can do this even if your "battle station" is an iPad tethered to the living room coffee table. If the device can follow you to another room, then its use will follow you to another room. Having a battle station can be an effective tool to curbing screen-time and encouraging mindful technology use even if you have a laptop. Having a designated "no drinks" surface in my space for my laptop to live has been a rule for me since the 79 cent polar pop incident of 2011.

There are naturally some setbacks and blind spots in my experiences. I haven't experimented with or found a replacement for having an HD camera on me at all times. The Miracle of the Smart Phone is how little space all of this takes up on your person, needing a bag or fanny pack to carry everything down it's a bit of a drain but if the thought of a utility belt with cool technology built in ever sounded cool to you as a kid maybe it's time to give it a shot.

A final setback, QR codes cannot be easily read via dumb-phones for some reason. Photos of them can be uploaded to a computer and be read/opened via certain websites or programs, or even your webcam, but, sadly you will have to ask to view a physical menu in places that use the QR code menu. Not having a smart phone will also not save you from ordering on a dirty touch pad from a food truck. But will save you from target ads during election season, I seriously heard zero.

So, there it is, a years worth of advice for living without a smartphone. I couldn't recommend it enough. There have been times when I was in a bind like being at the Drs. office without all my paperwork, where having my partner's smart-phone as an option was a real lifesaver to look up insurance information. So, while I would recommend nixing the smart phone entirely, it's still good to have in an emergency situation, like in a glovebox with a charger or handbag you bring with you. But living without one will encourage and teach you to be better prepared, self-sufficient, and ready to display autonomy around your peers in ways they may not be ready to accept or understand.