A couple of folks pointed me in the direction of the Light Phone and its successor, the Light Phone 2. Light Phone 2 is currently in the development stage as a crowd-funded project, but it’s already met over 300% of the stated goal of $250,000 and is expected to arrive in spring 2019.
The original Light phone was meant to do only one thing: make phone calls. The company’s tagline for the product is that it’s “designed to be used as little as possible.”
Not meant to be a replacement for a smartphone – I think the target crowd for this might have a hard time with the notion of that, it’s designed to be your second phone, used when you want to get away from distractions like apps or texts.
So how is it superior to a flip-phone? As I said, it’s not meant to be an either-or situation as it normally is choosing between a flip phone and a smartphone. It’s meant to be a “casual” phone. The original Light Phone was certainly attractive. It doesn’t really even look like a phone unless it’s lit up.
Interestingly enough, apparently just making calls wasn’t enough for everyone. The Light Phone 2 will definitely add messaging and an alarm clock. They’re also considering adding maps, a ride-sharing app, and the ability to play music. The retail price will be $400, but those who get in on the crowd-funding campaign can reserve one for $250.
So why pay that much when you can actually get an okay smartphone for that price? It’s a pretty phone with a lovely eInk display.
But what the developers are really selling is that it doesn’t offer social media, email, news, or advertising. All of which you could have on a smartphone and just not use if you didn’t want to be bothered with it. But, as I said, I think the target age group for this device may not even know that’s a possibility.
Click here to check out the page for the device. I’m not suggesting you buy one, but it’s really interesting that in just 11 years, the concept of a smartphone has become so ingrained that folks seem to have trouble understanding that you aren’t required to use it all of the time.
Let me know what you think about it.
It’s not clear from the presentation how one answers it or hangs it up. What I like about an old-fashioned dumb, flip phone is “open to answer” and “close to hang up.” You never really have to look at it unless you want to dial or access the limited menu of other options, such as calendar, calculator, address book, alarm, etc. I don’t have a smartphone and I’m not interested in one. I don’t see very well, so I really can’t see the screen. Even my tablet, which is much larger, that I carry when I really need an “away computer,” is a challenge. I don’t have any social media accounts. When my ancient, current phone ages its way into inoperable, I will look for something similar.