By this stage in my little iPhone-free month long experiment, I’m pretty well adjusted to my old school, not-so-smartphone. It has been rather freeing to be without constant nagging notifications from various social media; I get to control when I log in, rather than being perpetually receptive on my iPhone.
There are a couple of things I do miss about my phone; the first being my portable music library, and the second being my internet banking application. The latter is easily fixed by accessing my banking through my computer at home, and generally being more organised with my finances. The former is a bit trickier, but I’m looking for ways around it. My phone does have the capacity to store and play music, but it isn’t straightforward. If I so choose to permanently get rid of my iPhone, I might look at getting an old iPod or MP3 player. Like the old days. Pity I sold my MP3 player really.
Genuinely though, I feel so much happier. I can’t pin point exactly why; perhaps it frees up more of my time to do things I actually enjoy doing, rather than being a slave to the internet. I have swapped internet browsing before bed to reading before bed, like I used to. This is far more interesting; it apparently just takes removing the distraction before I actually bite the bullet and open a book. Consequently, I’m usually off the internet by 10pm on weeknights, if not earlier.
I did feel frustrating in receiving an image via text earlier this week, and not being able to open it. I guess I’ll never know what it was…
I like how this phone is so much sturdier, and the predictive text (somehow) actually has a New Zealand dictionary, complete with Maori words like pounamu…that I…frequently…make use of.
If this phone went missing, unlike my iPhone, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It wouldn’t have access to my bank accounts, emails, or anything else important, and no one would bother to sell it. On that note, no one wants to steal a Huawei HB5A2. Frankly, I see all these things as advantages, particularly as I’ll be moving into a university hall full of strangers early next year.
I won’t lie; in the back of my mind is the “financial pay-off” that comes with selling a new(ish) Apple product… but that really isn’t my motive for doing all of this. It’s more about the benefits of being out of the loop. It’s better for my soul, to put it melodramatically. And really it’s no sacrifice – it’s just reverting back to the way I lived pre-smartphone – though takes a bit of adjusting.
bohemianhumanist.com 