IOT
“ AFTER THE INITIAL WITHDRAWAL , THE [ LIGHT PHONE ] EXPERIENCE BECOMES A PROFOUND ONE , ESPECIALLY IN A TIME IN WHICH WE EXPERIENCE SO MUCH OF OUR LIVES THROUGH HYPER- CONNECTIVITY ”
JOE
HOLLIER CEO , LIGHT
crutch ” - something we turn to reflexively , even when they ’ re not actively trying to get our attention . Just seeing your smartphone , says Hollier , is enough to distract us - it ’ s very presence reminding us of everything that lies beyond a dormant screen . Somewhat ironically , he adds , “ screen time features have been effective in some cases at exposing in a tangible way just how ‘ addicted ’ we have become .”
The smartphone , says Hollier , “ is an infinite hole ” with a “ dazzling , colourful screen .” With just about every facet of our phones and the software they contain designed to have this effect on us , he says it ’ s “ really hard to imagine a real change coming from within the smartphone itself .”
This is where the Light Phone - soon to be replaced by the Light Phone 2 , which is currently available for pre-order - comes in .
It ’ s a small , remarkably sleek little piece of tech about the size of a credit card with a black and white ( by design , the company ’ s website is keen to stress ) e-ink screen like an e-reader . Hollier explains that , in addition to eliminating the candy-shop aesthetic that most smartphone home screens embrace , the Light
Phone ’ s e-ink screen also “ does not emit the same stimulating blue light of smartphones .”
The whole experience sounds , to be honest , a little weird . I clung on to my Nokia brick for years before finally biting the smartphone bullet . But , whereas feature phones are holdovers from a time before phones were smart , the Light Phone emphatically isn ’ t some feature phone with a fancy shell . “ Using a Light Phone feels radically different than using a smartphone , on purpose . It ’ s a slower cadence and a true digital detox when coming from a smartphone ,” explains Hollier .
The Light Phone has no third party apps , no web browser - “ it will never have
130 November 2021