The Flip Phone in 2026: A Return to Presence
An Intentional Digital Age
In the vastness of it all, and ever interconnected universe of human beings, never have I felt so detached from yours. Our beings are edited down to online portrayals, where a digital void gladly sits between us. An arms length away, yet no one breaches the gap. My very being, that trace the ebbs of the river, embraces my loved ones, and pulls the edge of the paper over begging for more of the story has grown tired. Of swiping through, of being told technology is in the name of progress, of not getting to fully feel like I’m here. Always in a dance between what was, and less immersed in what is because the rectangle in our hands holds more weight than our own breath, rising and falling next to each other.
Perhaps we'll become a product of it, where natural evolution pushes our necks into a c shape, curving to look down. They'll say this species was too scared to look up, ridden with social anxiety. Of course, our thumbs will become enlarged, and our hearts too numb from overstimulation will shrink to become three times smaller. All becoming Grinches of our own story, hiding away from the very world our feet stand upon.
I was born in the fall of 2003, a product of this digital age. A little over a year later, Mark Zurcherberg among friends created Facebook in his Harvard dormitory. And by 2007, the first iPhone had hit every billboard within a radius of my San Francisco home. A revolution was upon us, and I had just learned to walk, using my hands to guide me across the hardwood floor. Although I wasn’t fully conscious of it, my being, my memories, remember a different time. One where neighbors stopped to chat, streets were rambunctious with children and magazines decorated the waiting places of life. The pulse of humanity was right outside one’s door, real genuine human connection. And maybe I’m still trying to get back to that, with an AT&T navy blue flip phone in hand, and a whole lot to say.
Since getting a flip phone the questions that come up have routinely been the same for the past year and a half. It’s funny what curiosities push themselves to the mind first. The order is often as follows, so I'll start there.“Oh my god, you have a flip phone! Why do you have that? Do you like it? What about music and maps? I’ve been thinking about getting one.” After gladly having this conversation several times I’ve realized there is a lack of information surrounding this technological shift in our modern digital age. So consider this a pit stop, a one stop shop to gather what you need for your journey ahead. There is never pressure or a right snack to get at the gas station, merely options and information.
The Shift
During August 2024, while on a roadtrip up the PNW to British Columbia my yellow iPhone 11, randomly stopped charging. I swore to my friend Dani while on a mushroom trip in Mount Baker, that if something happened to my phone I’d join her and get a flip phone as well. Between visuals of dancing trees and mandalas on my skin, an overwhelming amount of love filled my being. I just wanted to feel it all, to have more moments fully present in the gifts of life. And for the rest of the trip, with a broken phone, and no ties to the rest of the world, but the one in front of us I was. My mind was made up. I got my flip phone that following week.
Prior to leaping into this technological shift I tried everything. I deleted Instagram, put time limits on my phone, and would attempt charging my phone in a different room to prevent the nightly doom scroll. I felt at odds, defeated by the very thing that was supposed to help me feel connected to my friends, community, and family. At stop lights, on the toilet, in waiting rooms, whenever I had a second to breathe I was using it to respond, scroll, and swipe. I’m not sure if I was even fully conscious of this. At some point it became the new normal to not talk to strangers in the coffee line. Instead one anxiously checks their phone, even though seven minutes ago they didn't have any notifications then either. Indeed, according to a survey of approximately 1,000 US adults ages 18 and older, Americans pick up their phones about 200 times a day, spending about five hours and twenty four minutes on their phones daily, which amounts to about 83 days per year (Wheelwright).
The first thing I noticed was the brain fog dissipating. With my chin raised to the September sun, toes barren pressed into the flourishing green grass. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, nor within my mind. The laughter of children chasing their dog around, carried to my hillside spot on Lindley park bringing my pen to the paper and I wrote. A stream of creativity flew right before me. American sociologist, Sherry Turkle author of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each other found that constant connectivity can prevent individuals from processing their own thoughts and feelings, noting that “we fill out days with ongoing connection, denying ourselves time to think and dream” (Turkle 203). Whether that be through walking to class with headphones to mute the sounds of the natural world, people are often disengaged from their surroundings and themselves. How little, do we fully feel the sun and sit in gratitude free from the constant pull of our smart phone. Through its design, the flip phone opens up affordances for solitude, reflection, and intentional expression. Instead of feeling compelled to perform for multiple digital spheres and document moments, the user gains the autonomy to simply be. One’s time is reclaimed, and the permission to inhabit space in places like Lindley park is fully granted.
Repurposing the iPhone
I’m not sure how else to put it into words, other than saying my being feels lighter since this shift. A beacon of love. The conversations with strangers are richer, my art more inspired, and my perspective on the unfolding of this life journey is more positive. By losing some features I’ve gained more of what truly matters, but one doesn’t have to lose things like maps, spotify, and the genuine pleasures of living in 2026.
Growing up, my brothers and I were obsessed with my moms Apple iPod. With a circular arrow navigation system one had hundreds of albums at their fingertips. The revolution of music access was upon us. In 2007, the iPod touch was released, building off the concept to incorporate features such as text, facetime, and app store games as long as one had connection to WiFi. I recall using any birthday money I had to purchase albums in the Apple Store. From Adedle, Katy Perry, Eminem, to Demi Lovato these artists became the soundtrack to my childhood. With my tiny body not yet taking up my twin sized bed, I’d listen to their music until my mom called me for dinner. It was a good life. Unfortunately every year that passed these portable music players became more irrelevant, and were officially discontinued in May of 2022, marking the end of the dedicated portable music player era as functionality shifted to iPhones and Apple Music. This was the first form of technology I owned, and in some way still do.
When I got my flip phone, AT&T removed the physical sim card from the iPhone tray desk, put it into my new device, and viola I had a functioning flip phone. However my iPhone didn’t just turn off, it looked like nothing changed. I quickly noticed that an iPhone without a sim card functions just as my dated iPod touch used to. Without cellular network to connect to through the sim, the iPhone is unable to receive notifications or perform any feature without previously being downloaded. All it requires is Wifi to function as a regular device and download Spotify songs and offline maps. With the entirety of my Spotify liked songs downloaded and the whole offline maps of Montana this device can live in my car alongside my CDs. It doesn’t beep, or beacon for my attention. Its agency has been stripped, and mine has been gained. So no, one doesn’t have to say goodbye to their beloved curated music collections or audible maps we’ve all grown dependent on. There are always work-arounds in this life.
Limitations
With anything there are inherent limitations to a choice. In the business world, this concept is referred to as an opportunity cost. The potential benefit an individual misses out on when choosing one alternative over the other. The same goes for the choice to have a flip phone over the ladder of an iPhone, Android, or any device with a touch screen interface and a plethora of apps. The primary limitation for my life is the lack of a quality camera. While I did purchase a Sony powershot camera and a camcorder off Amazon I often forget these items at home or forget to rotate them in the cycle of charging time. As a photographer I find great joy in getting to capture little moments of life's unfoldings around me. Even if it’s just shoes hanging on an electrical pole, a darling outfit, or my friend's candid smile.
To be fully transparent I’ve been wrestling for some time now whether to go back. All I want for my life is to create. To create a life where I am free to wonder, free to create, and boldly be me. Photography has become a medium that connects with me and my life goals. To have my own business but to be in a career that fosters connection. A primary way to gain clientele is through social media. Heck, I have friends who make 20k a month from simply posting videos of themselves outside their vans with a matcha in hand. If this is where our society is going, am I a fool to not compile? To perhaps be delaying the success of my photography business out of reverence for my peace of mind and solitude. Or can both exist? I’d like to think so.
Beyond my own personal turmoil the limitations include: slow texting ability that prompts you to call more often than not, email solely on computer, a shitty pixelated camera, and friends who will refer to you as the friend they can never seem to get in contact with. Oh well.
Conclusion
In the vastness of it all, the choice of what telephone is in your pants pocket does not matter. What does is how you show up in this world. I hope you, my friend, continue to tread through this life with an open heart and with eyes that yearn to see. To see the beauty in the stranger sitting next to you or the twirling dance of snow. I hope you feel the love, lighting up your being, and realize you are worthy of the bountifuls of love around every corner. For everything you yearn for already exists within you. May this world be kind to the soft animal you are, and you kind to it.
All my love,
Olive Jeffry
