Some Americans are saying no to smart devices and embracing digital minimalism

<p>Americans have intimate relationships with their cellphones. A recent report found <a href="https://www.reviews.org/mobile/cell-phone-addiction/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">89% of Americans say they check their phones within the first 10 minutes of waking up,</a> and 60% sleep with their phone at night. </p> <p>And during the day, nearly one-third of American adults reported being online "<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/03/26/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-say-they-are-almost-constantly-online/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">almost constantly</a>" in 2021, up from 21% in 2015.</p> <p>"I remember being attached to [my phone] and when I was texting my girlfriend, I remember the screen just kind of came alive," said Jose Briones, an advocate of digital minimalism. "I get this rush of, 'Wow, like, somebody cares about me.' And I put a lot of my value not on the person necessarily or the notification that I got, but also on the phone, because the phone is the medium through which I receive this amazing, loving text."</p> <p>But its not just phones holding our gaze. Watches, doorbells, even many refrigerators are now "<a href="https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/refrigerator-reviews/g39784846/smart-refrigerators/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">smart</a>." </p> <p>Partly in response to how ubiquitous this technology has become in the fabric of modern life, Joe Hollier co-founded Light, a company that sells minimalist cellphones.</p> <p>"There's no social media, no infinite feed of any kind, clickbait news, and there's no email," Hollier told <em>Under the Radar</em>. "So, really all of the things the phone does — calling, texting, setting an alarm — are just really utilitarian based. And the idea is that you're not pulling out the phone. So, we like to say it's a phone designed to be used as little as possible, because it's about the time and the space that it gives you to not be staring at a screen."</p> <p>Hollier is one of a number of Americans attempting to separa