Why I'm downgrading to a flip phone. By Matt D'Avella

So, just a couple of weeks ago, apple announced the brand new iPhone, and so I decided that I would downgrade to a flip phone. Let me explain hello and welcome back welcome to the Steve Jobs. Theater we've got some more huge announcements for you today. These kinds of events have become more and more common over the years. Companies like apple and Samsung now have quarterly press conferences to promote new products and product redesigns. It's amazing to think that this is our third major event in just the past two months.

More often than not it's a chance to embellish minor upgrades as technological milestones, a third camera, a new bevel additional colors, and on and on it goes iPhone 12 leaps ahead, which is our biggest sleep ever even more, even better, much better. A little thinner, a little lighter a little bigger a little wider. We shouldn't fool ourselves. These are companies driven by one goal and that's to sell more product to increase their profits. It changes everything it's difficult, not to get excited about true technological advances.

I remember when the Walkman first came out with the non-skip feature, and it was just mind-blowing. You had to have it, and I remember when the iPod first came out the few kids in my high school that were able to afford it. We would just huddle around them and look at the amazing design and the fact that you could fit a thousand songs on this tiny device. These advancements were truly exciting, but now we get a new phone released every year, a new apple or Samsung event. Every quarter, it seems like there's way more hype than genuine excitement for true advancements in tech, and when you begin to ask yourself why, why do I need this thing? It's difficult to come up with a compelling argument, apart from the fact that it's new, and I want it, these phones were designed to solve a problem to fill a consumer need, and they truly do.

They give us greater convenience. Allow us to check email from anywhere. They replace our digital cameras become our music players and GPS device, but all of this convenience comes at a cost as each one of these features has been added, as each problem has been solved. It's created one huge problem in its place. These smartphones and the social media apps that are on them have degraded our mental health they've increased our anxiety, and they've made us feel more alone than ever before.

This is a problem that I've talked about at length on this channel, but really it's become so much more clear. Ever since the pandemic hit earlier this year, like most others around the world, I've spent a huge portion of my year inside my home sure we walk around my neighborhood, go on hikes and take trips to the grocery store, but by and large we stay at home, and I've noticed that, while I've been at home the time I've spent on my phone has actually gone up and the more time I spend on my phone, the more miserable and hopeless, I feel the more I was inclined to look for bad news on Reddit or in the media. The more I was likely to aimlessly flick through social media for an encouraging hit of dopamine, as I spent more and more time on my phone two to three hours every day. I realized that these phones were truly designed to go with us. They were designed to be used outside the home.

It was the computer that you could fit in your pocket, and now we're spending all of our time at home, and yet we're all still looking down at these phones. When we have so many other tools, that would be more useful and that will also encourage us to not use our screens as much as we are. It became clear to me pretty quickly that I was using this as a coping device. I was using it to help me get through the days, but you can only use a coping device for so long, and eventually you need to figure out how to cope without it. You need to figure out a way to not just distract yourself but to actually live your life and focus on things that are more productive and that are more meaningful than idol scrolling, and so that's when I started to think about what, if I downgraded just for a little just for 30 days, what if I switched from my iPhone to this flip phone alrighty, so I'm about to head in and get my phone downgraded.

This is the first time that I've ever downgraded my phone. Ever since I got my first flip phone when I was 16 years old, it's been upgrade after upgrade every two years, and so now, for the first time, I'm taking a big step backwards. I've taken a step about 16 years backwards to use a phone that is much less capable, but that might actually make me happier, so we'll see how it goes. This is the iPhone I currently have. I actually wanted to get it downgraded to a flip phone.

I don't know is that possible, uh yeah! It should be okay, cool now downgrading to a flip phone uh. It's its going to come with its challenges. I know living like it's 2003. I don't know if I'm ready for it. There are so many things that I find value in.

In my phone there will be a certain amount of deprivation. I won't be able to listen to audiobooks, to listen to music, to use my GPS to get around, but I'm excited to see what the actual benefits are. If I miss my phone, if I feel deprived without it, if I eventually get over that deprivation, if I find myself more productive or if I find myself just simply doom scrolling on my computer instead uh, I'm truly interested to track this to see the progress to see. Oh, there's a notification on my phone now see son of a'm, not gonna, miss that I mean there are serious tools that are helpful in a smartphone and I just want to see if I can get by without it. If I can find alternatives, if I can figure out how to reduce the that stress and the anxiety that I feel like my phone is bringing me to be more mindful, and I'm going to be doing this for 30 days, I'm going to be trying this flip phone experiment for the next month, and I'm going to be making a video recapping everything that I learned in about 30 or 40 days, so stay tuned for that.

Why don't we give this phone a shot? Let's see if this works, let me turn speakerphone on hey mom. Can you hear me hold on one? Second, my YouTube channel is watching right now what uh yeah? What inspiring words of wisdom? You got anything for me. Just do your best and everything will be okay. I know that, like you know, when you worry about taking tests and stuff like that, you would be uh stressing about it, and I said just do your best. That's all you can do your best.

I do remember you saying that all the time that's really nice, and I would never get mad at you for failing a test. As long as I know, you gave 100- oh that's, really, nice mom, okay! Well, I'm gonna definitely put this in the video, so you'll have to watch it. I know you watch all my videos. Yes, yes, okay, all right! All right, love! You! Okay, bye, bye, see ya,.

Source : Matt D'Avella