The replacement phone I asked my husband to get for me was this AT&T phone. I know what you're thinking... But, the reasoning going into getting this phone is not the issue at-hand. My experience of switching to one after years of being spoiled by a smart phone is.
It was... well, BASIC: no camera, no social media on-the-go, no traffic, no maps/GPS, no games, no smart web-browsing, and no e-mail among many other spiffy apps. But it does take and make calls or text messages (side note: even my technologically-challenged dad uses a cell-phone more advanced than this)! For many people, the only time they are "off the grid" is when they're sleeping. For me, once I shutdown my work computer, I'm basically "off the grid."
For the first month, I felt like I was like a drug addict going through terrible withdrawal symptoms. On numerous occasions, I find myself pulling my hair out in the car when I forgot that I didn't have google maps on my phone to figure out the traffic or find the number to a restaurant to call in my order in advance. On another instance, I wanted to take a photo to post on Facebook and tweet about it, but the phone nonchalantly said, "Sorry, no can't do!" to my highly disappointed face.
I'm now two months off the grid. I've been sharing my personal life less in cyberspace. I suppose I have less to worry about Internet Privacy and a target for Online Behavior Advertising. Essentially, I have become e-marketers' biggest challenge: The un-reachable "Adult 18-34" customer in mobile marketing.
I've learned to get back to living like the days before Steve Jobs enlightened us with gadgets we didn't know we needed. Am I happier off the grid? I think I have more time to focus on the things happening around me, rather than trying to find out what's happening elsewhere with my friends.
If you want to give more focus to the present, the here, and the now... getting off your smart phone might be a smart thing to do. Or not?
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