As Light Phone CEO and co-founder Kaiwei Tang explained it to me, shifting to a Light Phone is a commitment. “But like eating healthier or exercising more often, it requires you to think it through and plan for it, and then you will see the benefits,” he said. Based on my experience over the past two and a half years, I completely agree. And to put a point on it, all the individualized conveniences we’ve come to take for granted with our digitally ingrained, smartphone-enabled systems are also the same forces causing democracy to fray. Planning things out and dealing with contingencies; talking to people when we hit obstacles; troubleshooting daily puzzles that your pocket-computer can’t solve in a flash: these are the ingredients, not the impediments, of a vibrant democracy of humans.
I agree with this. While I 100% expect to have moments where I wish I had my iPhone with me, I believe the benefits of not having it far outweigh the convenience of bringing it.