My Smartphone Detox

Dumbing down to a basic phone after nearly a decade with smartphones.

Note: This Article is ongoing; as I continue this journey, I will be posting updates at the end of the story, so be sure to check back for updates!

I remember when I first got a smartphone; it was 2010, and T-Mobile offered me a free LG Optimus if I got a contract with them. Up until then, I’d only ever owned basic phones, like the Motorola RAZR and a Nokia candybar phone, much to my displeasure, as I window-shopped for smartphones every day I came to work; I worked at Best Buy at the time, and smartphones were the new big thing. Even my dad had a smartphone before I did.

Of course, the one I wanted was the iPhone. It was still pretty new back then, and still seemed unattainable; the price of the device and the adjacent AT&T service plan were expensive to my 20-year-old self (and even today the iPhone remains exaggeratedly expensive, even with lease plans offered by carriers). But anything to get me into the smartphone game, and so when T-Mobile offered me a free one in exchange for signing their contract, I jumped on it.