I used to think my old flip phone from 2007 was just a dumb brick, but finding it in a drawer last month made me realize it was the last truly private device I owned.

Seeing it powered on with no apps, no location services, and no constant data handshake made me finally understand that my current smartphone is a tracking device I pay for and carry everywhere, so has anyone else kept an old device around just to remember what that felt like?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron7401d ago

Yeah, @nancyjones is right, but man, the scale is totally different now.

logan_mitchell1d ago

My old Nokia 3310 sat in a junk drawer for years. I always called it a dumb toy. But I charged it last week and just stared at the green screen. That thing was MINE. No cloud, no updates, no little dots showing someone read my text. My new phone feels like a company town I live in.

nancyjones1d ago

Remember that old phones still connected to cell towers. They could always track your general location for calls. The difference now is how much more data gets collected and sold.