Smart-phone-less (a wordplay)

Ok, I think I just became the last person amongst my friends and acquaintances who does not own a smartphone.

For the moment I own an old, old Nokia classics, made ages ago, which does not look too different from my first purchase about 16-17 years ago – a shiny Motorola the size of half a brick. Alright, exaggerating here…the one I have now weighs less…

I remember when it all started, maybe 10 years ago…my colleagues would be saving just to be able to buy the latest model – because they weren`t all that cheap. In the beginning I might have had my share of preconceived opinions about it. I remember thinking: “Why should I spent such an amount when I could just buy shoes instead…lots of them?”

Years have gone by, the shoes went out of fashion, so naturally, I had to keep up. But still…no smartphone. And at some point along the way I started to resent them.

Am I missing something for not having one? Should I be ashamed that I refuse to keep up with technology, or proud for trying to make a statement? To whom? I am not even sure, maybe to myself…

Nonetheless,  I am no hypocrite, I’m no minimalist. But if I were to choose, I think I would choose their side, the minimalists that is.

Now, don’t get me wrong. My household contains smartphones, laptops, tablets (yes, several) and cameras – none of them bought by me of course. Well, the laptop purchase might not have been such a bad thing, because otherwise how would I write this now…

But, I keep wondering is it just me who rides the bus looking out of the window in a crowd texting or checking the news. Is it just me who sees couples in the park, both glued to their smartphones, not even noticing they are sitting ´miles´from one another. To be fair, maybe they take the time to sit close while taking a selfie that gets posted immediately.

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How long will it take before I will finnaly give in? not sure.. Is going backwards always has to be a bad thing? To what? To reading print, to talking on the home phone, to writing actual postcards and letters, to buying the daily newspaper…and most important(for me at least) to buying books.

So what if you were to try just a tiny experiment: go for your Sunday stroll and take your other half, your music, your dog, your kid or just take yourself`and leave the ‘extension’ behind for an hour. What’s the worst thing that can happen?

Question asked by Sorana Popescu, August 2015