My Flip Phone Experience: Trying to escape the matrix
Since January of 2022 I have been using a flip phone as my main cell phone in an attempt to get off social media and produce more than I consume. Here is how it went.
I got the SunBeam F1 because it is a modern flip phone made for the exact purpose of getting off smart phones, while still having smart features. It has maps, voice to text, touch screen, Bluetooth, just no App Store or way to access the Internet. I also liked it because it is American made.
The Benefits:
My experience with it was GREAT. Within weeks I felt the benefits. Stronger social skills such as eye contact and being in the moment. Better sense of direction being focused on the road. More peace and calm, being still, and allowing myself to just pray or talk to people during downtime I could be scrolling (standing in line, awkward silences at events, eating, ECT). Not having the Internet in my pocket made my ability to quit porn completely, easier. It allowed my critical thinking to be more effective as I couldn’t just look up the answer. My memory and mental math got stronger. I felt my relationship with Christ strengthened as I talked with Him all day in my mind. It has a music feature so I downloaded my favorite worship songs, allowing that to be my only option. TONS of benefits. If you are wanting these outcomes I would highly recommend switching.
The downside:
Battery life stinks so it would need to be charged daily, or If I was calling people, multiple times a day. People would tell me “oh I wish I could do that, but my job couldn’t let me” or “I use Apple Pay” or “I like my music” or “I can’t live without maps” and I must say… many of these things are true. Everybody says they envy the flip, yet I felt like a social outcast in many ways. Nobody likes green texts.
I would get lost a good bit, wasting valuable time. The maps worked, but I would need to know the EXACT address so if I didn’t have it by the time I left my computer I was on my own. Not being able to click links or communicate with iMessage did make my business suffer. I would really need to plan out events before I went and couldn’t really deviate from the plan whist everybody else WOULD deviate on the fly leaving me in the dust.
At the end of this year, 2022, I felt like I needed to switch back to the iPhone, because my social life and business were suffering. My flip phone was unreliable dropping calls and not sending texts when I thought it did. People were feeling ghosted when I did text them back.
I pray that the habits I picked up during this year stick and I’m able to use self control to not scroll or watch YouTube for hours on end. The smart phone is a blessing and curse in so many ways. I feel like I’m going back to slavery, Luckily the extent of it is going to be up to me. I’m not going back to social media because it is a cancer on my life personally.
Over all it was a great experience to set new habits for my life, but we live in the modern era. Smart phones are just apart of life and I need to accept this reality. If I live in the past, I’ll get left behind. Like anything I must use this as a tool, not let it use me.
