Digital Detox with Joe Hollier, Co-Founder of The Light Phone
The latest episode of The Side Woo inspired by Flip Phone February
In honor of Flip Phone February, which has just ended, I am sharing an episode of The Side Woo that I recorded with Joe Hollier, the co-founder and co-creator of The Light Phone.
The Light Phone is similar to a flip phone in that it’s a "dumbphone" made to not be used. The mission of the company is to get people to “go light” which means traveling without the interruptions or conveniences offered by most smartphones. It has an e-reader gray or black screen, and only a few options of what you can do - text, call, directions, music, and leave yourself voice and written memos. There’s no camera or browser window so social media and Googling are out of the question.
I have been using it most of this month and have learned a lot about when and why I pick up my phone. While I have toggled back and forth between my smartphone and my Light Phone, by using my dumbphone as a primary phone I have become much more mindful about my screen time.
Yes, I use my iPhone because I need to post on Instagram for my job as an artist and a podcaster. I have to check my email while I’m out to answer quick client questions. And I have to look at directions because I live in LA and get lost even while using Maps. But having constant access to my smartphone means I also scroll and surf mindlessly to avoid feeling bad, bored or doing something that needs doing.
The acronym HALT (hungry, angry, lonely, tired) is a shorthand used in addiction recovery that is meant to prompt you to ask, am I experiencing any of these feelings that might be triggering me to act out? I have noticed that yes, all of these things will make me want to reach for my phone and start scrolling.
My guest, Joe Hollier, is an artist and an entrepreneur who since coming up with the idea for the Light Phone with his partner Kaiwei Tang has been on a 10-year path to sharing their unique, anti-tech solution with the world. Most recently in November 2023, Light Phone did a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar that sold out almost instantly. He was listed on Forbes' 30 under 30 for the viral success of the phone when it launched.
Despite this success, he didn’t just ditch his dumbphone when he became the head of a company and manager of many employees. I honestly don’t know how he does it. The process of switching phones has been awkward and the slow pace of communication has been driving me nuts. The e-screen texting pad is slower than the iPhone’s slick haptic touch screen and doesn’t have the autocorrect that I have come to rely on heavily. This means each sentence is slow and purposeful. I often have to spell check, then painstakingly go in and correct every text before sending it out to make sure I didn’t accidentally write a swear word.
But what I have gotten back in this month has been immeasurable. The absence of notifications that I now experience has given me the space and time in my brain to be present in a way that feels unquantifiable because it is so subtle. I no longer accidentally go into Instagram and scroll for 30 minutes without intention, or do a deep dive on my spam email. Before this I would often go into my phone for something else then somehow end up on Instagram for ten minutes, or even close my phone out again before remembering what I was doing there in the first place- like going into a room and forgetting why you’re there.
Instead I have spent much of the month finding new ways to use my time creatively or in a way that will lift me up. Being present with friends. Calling people more. It has been mostly positive and rewarding, albeit with moments of frustration that I talk about in my Reddit diary for Flip Phone February.
People have been asking me if I plan to keep going with my dumbphone use and the answer is I’m not sure. The texting process has been driving me nuts, but again the mindfulness that it requires means I have to slow down to communicate. Zero angry texts have been furiously tapped out with the Light Phone, which is always a good thing.
When I think about the alternative, going back to a life of full-color, full-access smartphone-use, I worry about slipping back into my old ways and losing all the energy I have taken back from the many Apps I used to dump my time into.
A great reminder of why setting digital boundaries is important came last night in the form of a mood-spoiler email around 10:30 pm, yes on a Friday, about something that probably should have waited until Monday morning. Had I truly been going light and not juggling the shipment of my upcoming solo show and other logistics all evening, I probably wouldn’t have seen it until this morning, saving me a good night’s sleep. But alas.
This late-night digital disturbance reminded me of the ways these channels of communication, especially the bad email, can really get their hooks into our brains. You can’t avoid the shit when it hitteth the fan, but it is our responsibility to set boundaries around when and how we let ye olde shit spray unto our lives. A proposed slogan for The Light Phone: keep the shit from the fan from hitting you until you’re ready for it.
About Joe Hollier
Joe Hollier is a multi-disciplinary artist from Brooklyn. He studied design at the School of Visual Arts. He's a filmmaker, designer, director, and entrepreneur. He likes to make stop animations, collages, patterns and drawings, music videos, documentaries, and books.
Below are some of his paintings and collages. I love how some of them almost look like an analog form of static.