| Not so long ago, the ability to carry a pocket-sized phone with you everywhere and call anyone in the world with it seemed like a stunning technological breakthrough, the realization of the most fanciful sci-fi daydreams. We’d finally made a real-life version of the impossibly advanced communicator gadget in the old Star Trek TV show. Everyone rushed to get one and step into a new, futuristic age.
But soon, this wonder machine itself became obsolete, as flip phones were quickly outpaced by smartphones—which we really ought to call miniature computers instead of phones, since calling is used far less than their social media apps, web browsing, games, and texting features.
By the mid-2010s, anyone still using a flip phone was seen as frightfully out of date. People still lugging around those antiques were either hopeless Luddites or criminals using them as burner phones.
But now, cellphones are following the cycle of hairstyles and fashion: What was once cool, then uncool, has become cool again. The “dumbphone” may have been knocked down, but it never left the fight. Today, it’s coming back with a vengeance.
The moniker “dumbphone” isn’t really fair, although it’s useful shorthand for any cellphone that isn’t a smartphone. Many people have begun to wonder whether returning to dumbphones might actually be a smart move in our technology-saturated, dopamine-addled world. Dumbphones—better defined as “minimalist” or “feature” phones—provide the opportunity to disconnect a little, break an addictive relationship to technology, and be more present in the moment.
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