Man, I really relate to this big time. I have been using the Brick device that disables social media. But if I am not careful I can easily lose a couple hours scrolling on nothing. Also, you're a great writer. I look forward to hearing some new music! ✌🏻
I'm going through a similar time in my life atm, cancelling my streaming subscriptions and pouring that money into media ownership nearly halved my screentime. Single function devices are the way!
Hey, great read as always. Your descriptions really capture that wild era when phones felt like extensions of our personalities, totally get the chase for the next cool model. It makes me wonder if that frantic pursuit of tiny variations paved the way for the more unified but powerful devices we have now or if we lost a bit of that playful tech spirit somewhere along the way.
If you made a bi-weekly substack about your experiences trying to tech minimize I lowkey think it would be a banger and help others be inspired to do the same
Excellent and subscribed! I'm an old head and friend of your mom from the garage rock days (yeah Trashwomen!!) and I just dig this so much. I am hoping that this great essay has spawned your creative genius to keep writing. Please! Finally, I'd like to say that there are ton of quotable parts in your piece but this one truly stands out. This is some great word-craft! Rock on! "Here we are now. Listless shells of what we used to be. Craving what we once had. Watching reels and tiktoks about the 2000’s and 2010’s like those moments have been dead and buried. We have to succumb to our new lives. We must scroll, eat our doom and repeat. Minutes, Hours, Days, Years of our lives slipping away in a blur."
I've had my lil Jelly Star since May and absolutely love it! Wish there was a market or niche maker for old school flip or slider phones that you can dramatically close - but this is the next best thing. By August I had regained enough focus to read books cover to cover instead of putting the book down after one chapter, never to return.
Happy you've been able to find similar (re)balance away from socials and hope others will follow suit! I miss the days when you could go outside or go to a show and not see any smartphones video recording or heads pointing down at little illuminated rectangles.
P.S. please restock the Hello Crackpipe Kitty shirts (or similar!) at some point, preferably in women's small ;) <3<3
Im so glad to hear you understand the frustrations of a smartphone!! Ive been reading a lot more independent magazines and it feels good to have something physical to read 🙂↔️
This was such a good read. Can’t help but feel a bit ashamed I’m reading this on an iPhone 😭
Man, I really relate to this big time. I have been using the Brick device that disables social media. But if I am not careful I can easily lose a couple hours scrolling on nothing. Also, you're a great writer. I look forward to hearing some new music! ✌🏻
I'm going through a similar time in my life atm, cancelling my streaming subscriptions and pouring that money into media ownership nearly halved my screentime. Single function devices are the way!
Hey, great read as always. Your descriptions really capture that wild era when phones felt like extensions of our personalities, totally get the chase for the next cool model. It makes me wonder if that frantic pursuit of tiny variations paved the way for the more unified but powerful devices we have now or if we lost a bit of that playful tech spirit somewhere along the way.
If you made a bi-weekly substack about your experiences trying to tech minimize I lowkey think it would be a banger and help others be inspired to do the same
Excellent and subscribed! I'm an old head and friend of your mom from the garage rock days (yeah Trashwomen!!) and I just dig this so much. I am hoping that this great essay has spawned your creative genius to keep writing. Please! Finally, I'd like to say that there are ton of quotable parts in your piece but this one truly stands out. This is some great word-craft! Rock on! "Here we are now. Listless shells of what we used to be. Craving what we once had. Watching reels and tiktoks about the 2000’s and 2010’s like those moments have been dead and buried. We have to succumb to our new lives. We must scroll, eat our doom and repeat. Minutes, Hours, Days, Years of our lives slipping away in a blur."
I've had my lil Jelly Star since May and absolutely love it! Wish there was a market or niche maker for old school flip or slider phones that you can dramatically close - but this is the next best thing. By August I had regained enough focus to read books cover to cover instead of putting the book down after one chapter, never to return.
Happy you've been able to find similar (re)balance away from socials and hope others will follow suit! I miss the days when you could go outside or go to a show and not see any smartphones video recording or heads pointing down at little illuminated rectangles.
P.S. please restock the Hello Crackpipe Kitty shirts (or similar!) at some point, preferably in women's small ;) <3<3
Im so glad to hear you understand the frustrations of a smartphone!! Ive been reading a lot more independent magazines and it feels good to have something physical to read 🙂↔️