Seventeen-year-old Robin West is an anomaly among her peers – she doesn’t have a smartphone.
Instead of scrolling through apps like TikTok and Instagram all day, she uses a so-called “dumbphone”.
These are basic handsets, or feature phones, with very limited functionality compared to say an iPhone. You can typically only make and receive calls and SMS text messages. And, if you are lucky – listen to radio and take very basic photos, but definitely not connect to the internet or apps.
These devices are similar to some of the first handsets that people bought back in the late 1990s.
Dumbphones are continuing to enjoy a revival. Google searches for them jumped by 89% between 2018 and 2021, according to a report by software firm SEMrush.
I – Word Understanding
Anomaly – something or someone who is different than what is expected or normal
Peers – those who belong to the same social group (age, grade, status, etc)
II – Have Your Say
1, What was the last “dumbphone” you had and what was it like?
When did you decide to switch to a smartphone and why?
2, Why do you think people are interested again in “old/traditional” phones?
3, What do you think future phones would be like? What features or improvements do you hope will be part of future phones?
