The Dumb Phone

Why chose a dumbphonr over a smartphone? The debate still continues. Check out some stories from 2012. And you will notice that nothing much has changed.

There are some familiar and very legitimate explanations for why some choose a dumbphone over more technologically advanced options:

Smartphones generally get all the tech press attention, but this week dumbphones and their loyal owners have popped up in two trend stories.
Both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal point out the loyal— and ever-shrinking—demographic of Americans resisting conversion to the smartphone cult.
Back when the iPhone 4S came out, we discussed those very people, noting the reasons these Luddites have failed to get with the times.
x months later those folks are still kicking it with their dumbphones, as proud as ever.

For most of their history, mobile phones have been shrinking. Small meant portable; it even, in the not too distant past, was a sort of status symbol. Remember Motorola’s runaway hit, the ultra-thin Razr?

But something funny happened on the smartphone’s way to success. Even as the phones themselves became thinner and lighter, their screens started to grow. This trend was driven by consumer demand, but what made it possible were simultaneous improvements in a handful of unrelated technologies. Chemists developed longer lasting batteries that could feed power-hungry displays. Processors became faster. Researchers also developed thinner, scratch-resistant protective glass, the latest being Gorilla Glass.

Read On: Smart, dumb, candybar, flip, and brick: a visual history of mobile phones - Quartz

Most of us are no stranger to this scenario:  A group of friends sits down to a meal together, laughing, swapping stories, and catching up on the news – but not necessarily with the people in front of them!  Nowadays, it’s not unusual to have one’s phone handy on the table, easily within reach for looking up movie times, checking e-mails, showing off photos, or taking a call or two.  It’s a rare person who doesn’t give in to a quick glance at the phone every now and then.  Today’s multifunctional phones have become an indispensable lifeline to the rest of the world.