Re-read this book and it has made me question even devices such as the Kompakt. Yes texting will be a breeze now with the Kompakt but is this a good thing? Cal Newport argues that even texting can turn into an addiction with the added danger that you are having conversations with people over text that would be more ideal if they were face to face. He argues that you should consolidate texting into certain periods of the day where you respond to people but these responses are more logistical (where to meet up for coffee etc)
I know for myself over the past week or so I have found such freedom in actively following these recommendations. I just got my blue bird today and although I hate flip phones I think this is what I need, it decreases my chances of texting because it is cumbersome to do, yes there is speech to text and its excellent on the blue bird but I have found I have been very diligent in making sure I am not having deep conversations with anyone over text. I have a friend I use to text a lot back and forth during the day and now we are able to meet face to face once a week because our daughters are in the same ballet class and I find our conversations just so much better and I value them even more because we now rarely text back and forth like we use to.
I don’t know ultimately if I will keep the blue bird or stay with the Kompakt. I am confident by the time the Kompakt comes out using my flip phone the way I intend to use it will help keep those same habits in check when the Kompakt gets here. We shall see what I decide but I can say I really enjoy the new relationship I have with my phone. Now when I am at the library the phone is away out of sight in my book bag as I work and I only check it here and there way less than I use to.
I think even with dumb phones we should still strive to save our best conversations with people over the phone or face to face. Texting has made us lazy, whether you have a smartphone or dumbphone real conversations need to happen over the phone or in person
I agree. Plus, there is a privacy aspect to this here in the USA, where text messages and telephone calls (POTS, VoIP, and cellular) travel over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The U.S. federal government, through its PRISM program, captures every text message as well as meta data about every PSTN-traversing call.
So, among the three in the USA,
texting is the least private (because PRISM captures both meta data and content of each message),
phone calls are more private (because PRISM captures meta data about each call but not the content of each call), and
face-to-face conversations are the most private.
I now keep the text messages that I create as vague as possible (such as “I will see you next week!”). And, even if a friend or relative sends a privacy-abusing text message to me (such as “Congratulations on your frontal lobotomy!”), I now prefer to respond with a telephone call or a face-to-face conversation.
@minimalist4lifeMudita Kompakt is designed to offer flexibility, so it can serve as a simple, distraction-free communication tool while still being user-friendly enough to avoid frustrations like T9 texting. I love Mudita Pure as much as you do, but the texting was frustrating.
The goal is to strike a balance: giving you the tools to communicate efficiently while encouraging healthier habits, like saving meaningful conversations for face-to-face or voice interactions, just as you’ve described.
It’s wonderful to hear how intentionally using your current phone has reshaped your habits and relationships. That’s exactly the type of freedom we hope Mudita Kompakt can support, which is helping users stay connected without falling into the trap of constant engagement. It’s all about finding the right balance that works for you, and it sounds like you’re already well on your way to achieving that.
As you know, we do offer a 14 day return policy, so if Mudita Kompakt is not what you hoped it would be when it arrives, you can send it back.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts once the Kompakt arrives!
^ I plan to use a first-person variation of this brilliant phrase when friends and relatives ask me why my daily driver is a Mudita Kompakt instead of a traditional smartphone, or even a deGoogled one. – such as “My Kompakt helps me to stay connected without falling into the trap of constant engagement!”
I can see why you stuck with the Orchid for as long as you have, It honestly is the best dumbphone on the market, for the digital minimalist it is perfect. What I love about the Bluebird is it has waze on it, I love that directions app because unlike the directions app on the Light phone or the kompakt it does not help you avoid traffic. I know I will end up keeping the Kompakt and I am confident I will be able to use it intentionally because I have so many months to continue my disciplined use of the Blue bird
Another fantastic thing about the Sunbeam is how you can create custom music playlists, Light phone 2 has been out forever and it has never been able to create custom playlists, and the pure had a TERRIBLE music player, even though I am not a fan of flip phones I can honestly say my first 24 hours with this phone I have been more present then I have ever been. I barely use the phone and my online time today total has been less than 30 mins
Another fantastic thing about Sunbeam is you can add custom ringtones etc. I added the Mudita Pure ringtone from their you tube commercials as my ringtone
I am really hoping the Kompakt has that same ringtone, that ringtone is literally my fav ringtone of all time lol
Returning my sunbeam after really poor customer service, nothing irks me more than that, so when I got the phone the phone dock it comes with did not work, so they sent me another one and again it did not work, not when I asked them to send me the dock I offered to buy a case but asked them to not charge me for shipping since they were sending me replacement dock anyways, they responded :
’ We have better things to do than to argue the matter, if going half way is not good enough we can take it away very soon and charge full price.’
Basically threatening me, now they did end up apologizing for speaking to me like that and sent me the case for free along with the replacement dock, but even that dock did not work properly, so then they said it must be the phone and I should try using an eraser to clean the contacts at the bottom of the phone thinking that would allow the phone to be charged on the dock, that again did not work, So after this experience I am DONE with Sunbeam.
Customer service is huge and when you respond with comments like that and then send me a phone that does not work it tarnished the brand, whereas with Mudita I have never had these issues, customer support has always been friendly.
So I am going back to the light phone until my Kompakt gets here, just need to find a good price for one on reddit, good thing is they are very easy to sell again once the Kompakt came out.
Yeah honestly they are really good, for me when I have a bad experience with a company via support and then via the product I am done with that company, that has never been an issue with Mudita thats why I support them, and will gladly put down my money for their phones, clocks, and clothing
Done just got a brand new light phone 2 off reddit for 200 american flat! Will tide me over till the Kompakt gets here, but I have to say time is moving to slow lol, is it May yet!?! Sure doesn’t feel like it today in Canada its -24 lol
I am grateful that I have NOT had horrible customer service from Sunbeam Wireless. The worst thing that happened was a bad pixel in my initial Orchid.
Sunbeam suggested that the bad pixel could have been due to water damage that I caused. I had to send a photo of the battery to Sunbeam to prove that there was no water damage. Sunbeam then shipped a second Orchid to me and paid for return shipping of the initial Orchid.
My impression, which you have confirmed, is that Sunbeam Wireless does not hire the best customer-support people.
They don’t at all but sometimes you are speaking to the direct owner Sterling, I am not sure if it was him that threatened me with having to pay full shipping, regardless I am done with Sunbeam
I will give them this, the owner I am assuming called me and left a message apologizing, so I give them credit for that, not many companies would have the owner call and apologize and offer to make things right, but I already bought the Light phone 2 on reddit so that ship has sailed, but just wanted to mention that they did reach out to apologize via the phone.
Awesome read!
I’d say it was better in that regard when writing SMS wasn’t swift, oftentimes there was a hard limit of (1-6)*160 characters and it was a visible cost to send a message.
Under such circumstances, texting was not possible to become a substitute but a tool to arrange meetings.
On the other hand, even with good phone you have to withdraw any PC-based messengers to really get back to the roots, and make sure your peers follow as well.
Hard work but it can be done, let’s embrace the process so we can hopefully revert at least some of the overall damage consumer electronics inflicted upon us and/or our children.
In the EU, texting is the least private if we talk about SMS (practically no encryption), but things like Signal/Session might be worth a shot. By the end of the day, face to face offline, ideally without electronics like smartphones or smart TVs or anything else with a mic nearby.
I don’t remember if it was Kerckhoff’s rule or someone else’s, apply security relevant to the sensitivity of the information that is to be exchanged.
(sorry, this was meant to be a reply to a particular message, I’m still learning how to use the forum)
We’re not really proud of that