The price of the Mudita Pure buys you a lot of freedom.
- Freedom from distractions – Only call, text-message, and (presumably) voicemail-waiting alerts can distract you, and you can disable those easily on the Pure.
- Freedom from urgent obligations – When someone asks you to send a photo or email a message right away, you can reply that this will have to wait until you return to your computer.
- Freedom from unnecessary complexity – When someone wants you to use an app to get service, you can ask for a simpler solution, such as a paper checklist. When I switched from the ExxonMobil (Esso) app to the company’s card to buy gasoline, the time at the pump to get pre-authorized for the purchase fell from nearly a minute to five seconds!
- Freedom from expensive data plans – Yes, you can tether your computer to the Pure when you are away from an Internet connection via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable, but this exception-based use often does not require unlimited traffic.
- Freedom from a tiny keyboard – Tethering the Pure to your computer lets you compose longer text messages with ease, manage contacts with ease, and update your calendar with ease.
- Freedom from cold fingers while dialing outside in winter – You can dial the Pure with your gloves on.
- Freedom from misplacing apps – You cannot accidentally drag apps around on the Pure, thereby lose track of where they are, and then waste time trying to find them.
- Freedom from digging through settings to change your willingness to be disrupted – The slider on the side of the Pure lets you do this quickly.
- Freedom from blur – If blur is the opposite of focus, then smartphones enable blur (making it too easy to lose track of why we unlock them) whereas the Pure enables focus.
- Freedom from carrying a privacy threat with you – You cannot use the Pure to open a URL that some hacker text-messaged to you. You cannot install a banking app that would enable others to eavesdrop on your bank account – either over your shoulder in a crowd or upon finding your phone unlocked, opening the banking app, and using a code that the bank text-messaged back to the same phone to access your bank account.
- Freedom to see in any light who is calling or texting – Pitch black? Check! Bright sunlight? Check!
- Freedom from temptations – This may be the biggest freedom of all. Temptations include wasting time surfing the Web or flicking through social media. They also include connecting to hackers’ tempting Wi-Fi access points at airports and cafes.
- Freedom from frequent charging – Per this thread, we can expect up to two weeks between charges. Compare that to charging a smartphone twice in the same day!
I like to think of the Mudita Pure as a freedom machine.