JEFF CAPLAN'S MY MINUTE OF NEWS
Jeff Caplan’s Minute of News: Bring back the Dumbphones!
May 9, 2024, 6:00 AM | Updated: May 10, 2024, 3:00 pm
A person wearing a yellow shirt looks at a smartphone. (Canva)
(Canva)
Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.
SALT LAKE CITY — Do you remember the ringtone of the 2005 Motorola flip-phone? You used to hear it everywhere.
It’s a noise you might hear again. The world is getting sick and tired of the negative effects of smartphones, we’re seeing companies bring back the good old dumbphone.
For those too young to know what a dumbphone is: there’s no on-screen keypad, you get only the most rudimentary apps like a calculator and if you’re a gamer — get ready to play Snake.
It’s this game where the snake gets longer and longer and if he touches his tail… never mind. The point is, sensing the public’s frustration with social media, a host of companies are unveiling dumbphones that do next to nothing.
You can text. But to get the letter “s” you’ll have to hit the 7 key four times. To type the word SLOW you’ll have to press 11 buttons. It limits your texting, plus no emojis.
A company called Dumbwireless is offering elegant and lightweight dumbphones as cheap as 50 bucks. But cutting the non-existent cord is hard. Think you could do it? Skip the surfing and rejoin the real world?
Didn’t think so. Which is why these phones are slow to catch on. But if you’re smart, Dumbwireless has a solution.
And if you’re younger than 19 and wonder what these phones are good for, in ancient times we used to have something called phone calls.
Maybe next they’ll bring back the pay phone.
Jeff Caplan is the host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on Facebook and X.
