Stop Callin', Stop Callin', I'm Kinda Busy

The average smartphone wielding ‘murican checks his/her cell phone 46 times per day. Suddenly hoping you’re below average? There’s an app for that.

Many of the applications on our phones are designed to cause the release of endorphins; essentially creating the same response one would have after being dealt 21 in a game of blackjack. It motivates us to reach for that screen again and again in the hopes of obtaining a quick fix, but savvy smartphone users are catching on to the subconscious addiction to phone checking, as well as the anxiety that is caused by always being available to the whims of anyone with a wi-fi connection (and let’s not even get started on #FOMO).

Suddenly — like shiplap and back-of-the-elbow tattoos — disconnecting from electronic accessibility is en vogue, and now nothing is trendier than a microscopic online footprint. Still, while some of us live for a great trend and would love nothing more than to disengage, it’s too impractical. Social media has become an essential marketing tool, texting has almost entirely replaced voice calling, and Google has settled many a mealtime disagreement about the year that Big Willie Style was released. So if you’re like us (stuck with overbearing and obtrusive technology for the long haul), but are tired of being your iPhone’s bitch, take a little peek at The Light Phone.

Sleek, modern, and no larger than a credit card, The Light Phone only places calls, permitting users to completely but temporarily disconnect from the cybersphere — no rapid-fire texting, absent-minded scrolling, moment-wrecking photo-ops, or subconscious allure of a device left within reach. This little nugget of brilliance piggybacks off the iPhone, so there’s no need to change your number, sign up for a new data plan, or quit smartphoning cold turkey.

The entire point of a quiet hack down the trail is to disconnect, and The Light Phone allows one to do so while still retaining the ability to make that dreaded I’ve-fallen-and-I-can’t-get-up phone call.

Oh, and we saved you the trouble — Big Willie Style came out in ’97. You’re welcome.