Light Reading Extra: Smartphones v. dumb phones

Light Reading's editors discuss a new market of digital detox enthusiasts (and at least one company) striving to give up smartphones for something lighter.

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Phil Harvey, Nicole Ferraroand 2 more

October 13, 2023

At a Glance

  • When you delete your social media apps, text messaging becomes the next big intrusion (03:17)
  • How the Light Phone is tackling the smartphone bloat problem (18:38)
  • What are some things you'd change about today's smartphones? (22:10)

Smartphones are everywhere and here to stay, but a small and growing part of the US population says they don't want or need all that computing power, all those apps and all that distracting stuff weighing down their pockets. 

Many are going the digital detox route and buying phones with fewer features, tiny screens and lower prices. In this episode of the Light Reading Extra, the editors discuss the trend and why some feel the "dumb phone" market is on the rise. 

We discuss a company splitting the difference between today's smartphone and yesterday's Motorola Razr. (Jeff Baumgartner reveals that he still has a vintage Moto Razr and refuses to say whether he'll part with it on eBay.)

Finally, we also list a few things we do with our smartphones that make it incredibly tough to return to the glory days of the Nokia feature phones, where we had one game to pass the time (Snake!) and a battery that lasted for days. 

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About the Author(s)

Phil Harvey

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Phil Harvey has been a Light Reading writer and editor for more than 18 years combined. He began his second tour as the site's chief editor in April 2020.

His interest in speed and scale means he often covers optical networking and the foundational technologies powering the modern Internet.

Harvey covered networking, Internet infrastructure and dot-com mania in the late 90s for Silicon Valley magazines like UPSIDE and Red Herring before joining Light Reading (for the first time) in late 2000.

After moving to the Republic of Texas, Harvey spent eight years as a contributing tech writer for D CEO magazine, producing columns about tech advances in everything from supercomputing to cellphone recycling.

Harvey is an avid photographer and camera collector – if you accept that compulsive shopping and "collecting" are the same.

Nicole Ferraro

Editor, host of 'The Divide' podcast, Light Reading

Nicole covers broadband, policy and the digital divide. She hosts The Divide on the Light Reading Podcast and tracks broadband builds in The Buildout column. Some* call her the Broadband Broad (*nobody).

Jeff Baumgartner

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X and LinkedIn.

Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers.

Mike Dano

Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading

Mike Dano is Light Reading's Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies. Mike can be reached at [email protected], @mikeddano or on LinkedIn.

Based in Denver, Mike has covered the wireless industry as a journalist for almost two decades, first at RCR Wireless News and then at FierceWireless and recalls once writing a story about the transition from black and white to color screens on cell phones.

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