"My downward passage was non-negotiable." Your trajectory upward is inevitable. Love your guts Lamm, and will certainly find myself internally chanting the mantra death death death next time I've gotta be brave in real life. Edit: Just realised it sure sounds like I'm agreeing through metaphor you'll die one day but I just meant: you're never gonna just be the phone girl :')
I did see the interview. You did well. I am only sorry that you has to deal with that clueless smiling zerk. And, you are right, it is time to get away from my smartphone.
I too wear men’s dress shoes and live in Bklyn, but, I’m also a dude so I’m not sure we have much in common. Personally I hate the French as a nyer and visiting often, you can’t be that bitchy about your city if it is in the shape of a snail. My humble opinion. Good luck and look at minimal phone. It’s like a smart dumb phone with function and no color.
I’m a little confused as to how not using a smartphone is seen as groundbreaking and news worthy … it’s entirely possible, loads of people use a dumb phone instead. And so many are also deleting social media. My sister worked at vogue and her boss didn’t own a single phone and never had…
Then I thought about it more, and I suspect it’s a safer middle ground for addressing digital addiction, especially among people who are addicted yet my only on a subconscious level all fine that it’s so socially normative these days that it’s a form of permission for them to also go a little further than they may be comfortable with in their addictions the smart phones- my peers do, can’t be that bad.
That does speak to a need for having a moderate example.
From a studio perspective, it’s almost a prank: she can’t check an up-to-the-minute call sheet on her smartphone. Ironically, I got my first smartphone because I worked in that industry—it was essential.
From a security standpoint, even a dull phone provides enough GPS and geolocation to vet her as safe. Someone with no phone and a tech-use pattern just above Ted Kaczynski isn’t the best fit for a show on tech moderation. She’s a safe, non-threatening choice.
No tech-reliant, tech-addicted network wants to fully confront their addiction. Acknowledging it would have massive implications. Most societies are only now reaching a “maybe this isn’t ideal” phase—mild awareness, not deep accountability.
The host would probably fall apart if you took his phone away for two hours. Even the U.S. administration is glued to theirs. I watched the inauguration just to see people twitching, patting their pockets, showing early signs of withdrawal. After an hour, they couldn’t wait for a photo op to pull out their phones.
The illusion of control is fragile—even for the powerful.
What’s offered here and presented on mainstream news is a non-threatening, achievable middle ground that some people unhappily glued to their phones can imagine doing.
I often sit with friends whose phones beep and buzz, and none of us break stride. We can ignore them all day, but that’s perhaps not something that most can do.
Digital addiction isn’t so different from alcohol. Some can manage a dry January—white-knuckle the discomfort or swap beer for a non-alcoholic version. Maybe the dumb phone is that substitution.
Not a lifetime ban, just a reset. Some need it for their health some don’t bother and can regulate their own drinking just fine and others need a lot more help and just simply can’t drink. It’s widely variable yet advisable to take a very middle ground approach to begin with a very moderate form of damage limitation.
A piece I wrote, to be published later after some editing and thrashing about, sparked by this includes a case of digital addiction led to death.
It’s a hardcore problem for some, yet maybe this soft approach can get people thinking, offer a way out without forcing them to confront the horror of the sheer scale of digital disembodiment.
It’s just digestible enough for the mainstream.
You’re right, more people are switching to dumb phones. I’ve been told that representation matters, apparently seeing someone confidently use a dull phone helps others feel they can belong too. I hope those of whom you are aware who do so are representing it with pride, it just may catch on…. Although there is a spanner in the works down the line where most of the network coverage for dull phones is about to be pulled, at this point having a basic phone is essentially an act of rebellion. I am in Britain and it is so extremely hard to go anywhere or do anything without a smart phone it can be done but necessitate printing off tickets and printing QR codes and a binder full of plans and Digital tickets instead of a wallet, conveniently in your phone, I’ve encountered more and more people over 70 who are having to learn to use a smart phone because they can’t otherwise catch a train or get into an Airbnb or a hotel without one- if there are not some people who are resisting that push and who do not get forced into smart phones then it shouldn’t become a normality whereby they can justify the call and acquainted phones absolute and force a position of mandatory digitisation. I suspect we may be more than a decade late- so I also get the sense that these small steps just may not be enough and that the question is to why so newsworthy is laden with dystopian avenues!
There are many reasons to value being pro real life over living through and via disembodying tech, but society and the media aren’t ready to confront that directly.
A substitution phone is as far as they- the mainstream average ‘User’- will go, at this time.
A few steps in the right direction may be a lot better than trying to encourage a giant leap or people taking no steps at all.
Thanks for reading - comment so so much longer than intended -although your comment mirrored my own set of thoughts before I’d let it mull around in mind and this is a platform for writing and sharing ideas. 🙏
Scarcity is a vital catalyst for generating sustained deep interest in something, and with the smartphone, cheaply available abundance has dulled our novelty circuits to a mere crawl. I respect the path you are walking August!
I saw your prior article about dropping the smartphone and it was actually the catalyst for me getting a flip phone (after considering it for ages), and it's been a pretty fun experiment, albeit I still have my smartphone once in the evening. So... thanks for that motivation August!
Also, I love how you captured those glimpses of the cut-throat conscientiousness needed to survive a television career, as you took a spin through one of those three-lettered live action laundromats. And the bit about hating expectations definitely hit close to home. Those moments where you know the script, you've seen it played out a million times, but you're sick of the tropes and want to see a different ending. Ugh.
Hope you have a good time here in the beautifully crazy NYC!
This was such a glorious read, August. I was gripped. Thank you for sharing your life and insights so poetically.
"My downward passage was non-negotiable." Your trajectory upward is inevitable. Love your guts Lamm, and will certainly find myself internally chanting the mantra death death death next time I've gotta be brave in real life. Edit: Just realised it sure sounds like I'm agreeing through metaphor you'll die one day but I just meant: you're never gonna just be the phone girl :')
This was HILARIOUS and the end sentence ran over my chest like a boulder.
I did see the interview. You did well. I am only sorry that you has to deal with that clueless smiling zerk. And, you are right, it is time to get away from my smartphone.
Beautiful. And yes, those conversations without phones are sometimes positively electric.
felt.
I too wear men’s dress shoes and live in Bklyn, but, I’m also a dude so I’m not sure we have much in common. Personally I hate the French as a nyer and visiting often, you can’t be that bitchy about your city if it is in the shape of a snail. My humble opinion. Good luck and look at minimal phone. It’s like a smart dumb phone with function and no color.
I’m a little confused as to how not using a smartphone is seen as groundbreaking and news worthy … it’s entirely possible, loads of people use a dumb phone instead. And so many are also deleting social media. My sister worked at vogue and her boss didn’t own a single phone and never had…
That was my initial impression.
Then I thought about it more, and I suspect it’s a safer middle ground for addressing digital addiction, especially among people who are addicted yet my only on a subconscious level all fine that it’s so socially normative these days that it’s a form of permission for them to also go a little further than they may be comfortable with in their addictions the smart phones- my peers do, can’t be that bad.
That does speak to a need for having a moderate example.
From a studio perspective, it’s almost a prank: she can’t check an up-to-the-minute call sheet on her smartphone. Ironically, I got my first smartphone because I worked in that industry—it was essential.
From a security standpoint, even a dull phone provides enough GPS and geolocation to vet her as safe. Someone with no phone and a tech-use pattern just above Ted Kaczynski isn’t the best fit for a show on tech moderation. She’s a safe, non-threatening choice.
No tech-reliant, tech-addicted network wants to fully confront their addiction. Acknowledging it would have massive implications. Most societies are only now reaching a “maybe this isn’t ideal” phase—mild awareness, not deep accountability.
The host would probably fall apart if you took his phone away for two hours. Even the U.S. administration is glued to theirs. I watched the inauguration just to see people twitching, patting their pockets, showing early signs of withdrawal. After an hour, they couldn’t wait for a photo op to pull out their phones.
The illusion of control is fragile—even for the powerful.
What’s offered here and presented on mainstream news is a non-threatening, achievable middle ground that some people unhappily glued to their phones can imagine doing.
I often sit with friends whose phones beep and buzz, and none of us break stride. We can ignore them all day, but that’s perhaps not something that most can do.
Digital addiction isn’t so different from alcohol. Some can manage a dry January—white-knuckle the discomfort or swap beer for a non-alcoholic version. Maybe the dumb phone is that substitution.
Not a lifetime ban, just a reset. Some need it for their health some don’t bother and can regulate their own drinking just fine and others need a lot more help and just simply can’t drink. It’s widely variable yet advisable to take a very middle ground approach to begin with a very moderate form of damage limitation.
A piece I wrote, to be published later after some editing and thrashing about, sparked by this includes a case of digital addiction led to death.
It’s a hardcore problem for some, yet maybe this soft approach can get people thinking, offer a way out without forcing them to confront the horror of the sheer scale of digital disembodiment.
It’s just digestible enough for the mainstream.
You’re right, more people are switching to dumb phones. I’ve been told that representation matters, apparently seeing someone confidently use a dull phone helps others feel they can belong too. I hope those of whom you are aware who do so are representing it with pride, it just may catch on…. Although there is a spanner in the works down the line where most of the network coverage for dull phones is about to be pulled, at this point having a basic phone is essentially an act of rebellion. I am in Britain and it is so extremely hard to go anywhere or do anything without a smart phone it can be done but necessitate printing off tickets and printing QR codes and a binder full of plans and Digital tickets instead of a wallet, conveniently in your phone, I’ve encountered more and more people over 70 who are having to learn to use a smart phone because they can’t otherwise catch a train or get into an Airbnb or a hotel without one- if there are not some people who are resisting that push and who do not get forced into smart phones then it shouldn’t become a normality whereby they can justify the call and acquainted phones absolute and force a position of mandatory digitisation. I suspect we may be more than a decade late- so I also get the sense that these small steps just may not be enough and that the question is to why so newsworthy is laden with dystopian avenues!
There are many reasons to value being pro real life over living through and via disembodying tech, but society and the media aren’t ready to confront that directly.
A substitution phone is as far as they- the mainstream average ‘User’- will go, at this time.
A few steps in the right direction may be a lot better than trying to encourage a giant leap or people taking no steps at all.
Thanks for reading - comment so so much longer than intended -although your comment mirrored my own set of thoughts before I’d let it mull around in mind and this is a platform for writing and sharing ideas. 🙏
Scarcity is a vital catalyst for generating sustained deep interest in something, and with the smartphone, cheaply available abundance has dulled our novelty circuits to a mere crawl. I respect the path you are walking August!
Beautifully written. Thank you for sharing this. I enjoyed reading this so much. You inspire me!
Me and my daughter we enjoyed how well written this article was. ❤️
Wow. This hits like a truck. 💜 that ending
your writing is so gripping !!
F those apathetic losers 🔥🔥
what a great read. For once I sat and read (I wish I could say page to page). Glad I found this in my inbox today.
I saw your prior article about dropping the smartphone and it was actually the catalyst for me getting a flip phone (after considering it for ages), and it's been a pretty fun experiment, albeit I still have my smartphone once in the evening. So... thanks for that motivation August!
Also, I love how you captured those glimpses of the cut-throat conscientiousness needed to survive a television career, as you took a spin through one of those three-lettered live action laundromats. And the bit about hating expectations definitely hit close to home. Those moments where you know the script, you've seen it played out a million times, but you're sick of the tropes and want to see a different ending. Ugh.
Hope you have a good time here in the beautifully crazy NYC!