You read that right.
I don't have a smart phone. No fancy Android, no rose gold iPhone 6.
What I do have is that lovely little red slide-out phone with a beautiful tiny keyboard pictured above. It is my baby and such a wonderful phone. It even has a touch screen. But it is far from a smart phone and only provides me with calls and texting — the main purpose of phones (in case your forgot).
After all, dear reader, there was a time where there wasn't Google and Snapchat and social media bubbles floating on tiny touch-screen time-suckers in your back pocket. We all used to have phones like mine — or actually "worse" than mine as with the flip phone. Of course, there was a time not too long before that when cell-phones didn't even exist!
All this to say that I while I may be weird for not being with the times and owning a smartphone like everyone else, I actually prefer not having one. I don't need a smartphone and none of you do either. Now please, don't start lecturing me on the convenience and communicative opportunities you get with your phone. Remember humans survived thousands of years without any sort of phone at all, and so I think I can manage just having a regular cell-phone without access to the Internet.
There are plenty of other benefits to non-smart phone life as well, including ...
1. A cheeper phone bill
Nearly a third of what smartphone bills cost. That's more money in my pocket, which is good news for my college kid life.
2. I get to enjoy real life with less distractions
I don't have social media and other apps buzzing at me all day while I am out and about. I have to wait until I go home to use my iPad or laptop to see how the social media world fared that day — which is a blessing, not a curse.
3. I am not addicted to a tiny screen in my pocket
When I am at a restaurant or out with friends or in a car, I don't have the option to go on YouTube or Snapchat everything. Sure that stuff can be fun, and I will do that on my iPad when I have wifi. Still, as a whole, I enjoy living in the moment with real friends, and not being preoccuiped with my smartphone.
4. Texting on a tiny keyboard rules!
I am fast at texting too. Sure there is no auto-correct, but after hearing horror stories about that "benefit," I don't think I am missing out.
Thus, a regular cell phone provides me with a much simpler life. I get to enjoy what going on around me more and make memories the old-fashioned way — which I advocate are memories that last much longer.
Of course, I don't expect you to all go out and downgrade your phones. But I do hope you will consider the benefits of at least using your smartphone more for its needed purpose — calling and texting — and less for its time-wasting purposes that leave you missing out on real life adventures.
