The Appeal of Neo-Luddism

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I, like you, have a smartphone. Sometimes, though, I wish I didn't. 

Up until my sophomore year of college, I used a Verizon Octane, a neat little flip-phone with a horizontal keyboard. 

Verizon Octane

Being a student in 2016, however, required me to use certain apps which I was unable to access on my clunky dumb-phone. So, out of necessity, I caved and purchased an iPhone SE. I was soon addicted. I downloaded every app from Instagram and Facebook, to games like Plants v. Zombies and The Sims. I have, like so many other people my age, become tethered to my phone. 

But not everyone has capitulated.

In an article for The Lamp, a thoughtful Catholic publication, Peter Tonguette describes himself as a "proud, almost-exclusive user of landline phone-service." It is mystifying to think that, in 2024, people can function without a smartphone. Peter doesn't disdain our contemporary smartphone culture; he just finds no need to abandon what is tried and true: the ole landline. 

To be sure, there isn't much you can do with a landline: you can call, leave voicemails, and... well that's pretty much it. 

But Peter doesn't need all the frills of new technology. He is perfectly content with the reliability of the one-feature phone. 

What's more, those who choose to forego smartphones - or at least prevent their intrusion into every aspect of our daily lives - exist in the moment in a way that we, the smartphone-using masses, are not. I - again, like you - am guilty of firing off text messages or checking my email while out with friends. In fact, there is a word for this activity: phubbing. Look it up!

Peter, on the other hand, is not at his phone's every beck and call (no pun intended.) "When I am away," Peter explains, "I am truly away."

Peter's two phones are in his office and the entry way of his home. Impressive. 

Phone-tower

While it is, I think, pretty unrealistic for us all to revert to landline use only, I do think there is some merit to leaving our smartphones stowed away and out of site for prolonged periods. Maybe, during your commute to work, try reading a physical book. Or, when out to dinner with your friends, start a phone-tower. That's when everyone at the table stacks their phones on top of each other. 

It's worth a shot!


 

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