Some may question the nobility of Mr. Silberbauer’s intentions — and he admitted that he would “love” to be able to integrate a messaging platform like WhatsApp into Barbie’s phone.
But I spent a day using it and so far there is no doubt that it was definitely effective as a digital detoxifier given its extremely limited functionality.
It’s a foldable front phone with no app store or touchscreen. I had no social media and the phone couldn’t accept anything better than text messages.
This means no “read notifications” or text messages with the ability to know if someone is typing This is the default setting on many smartphones – so I didn’t receive many text messages.
Even with predictive text enabled, I found the numeric and letter pad much slower than the touchscreen keyboard, meaning I called more people than usual, which probably wasn’t so bad.
And I found out that you can only play Nokia’s old Snake game for a limited time, even if it’s called Malibu Snake and it’s pink.
But the phone certainly attracted a lot of attention, especially from girls and young women, when I visited Glasgow city centre.
Of course, there is a risk that parents will be harassed not by a smartphone, but by a Barbie product – which would also be undesirable.
The phone will cost £99 when it launches in the UK – double what you’d pay for a feature phone from any brand other than Nokia. There are many other phones in the market that offer the same limited functionality but no connection with the big companies
“I imagine a lot of people will be tempted to buy this phone as a form of entertainment,” says Ben Wood, a phone expert whose own museum of devices has been published over the years, “but the reality is that everyone is so addicted. “Between their smartphones, that multiple weird detox days would be too much.”
However, he says there is a market for what he sometimes calls “smartphones.” His company CCS Insight estimates that around 400,000 such devices will be sold in the UK this year.
“This represents an interesting niche for a company like HMD,” he says.
Some experts point out that taking away smartphones is not a practical solution – they are, after all, part of our lives – and instead children should be taught to use them in healthy and safe ways.
“Instead it’s how do we develop really good digital skills in our generation that are sustainable in the long term,” says Pete Etchells, professor of psychology and science communication at Bath Spa University. the time
“I think we can all use our phones more healthily and flexibly,” he said.
HMD is also working on a separate project, developing a new device in collaboration with parents. According to the company, more than 1,000 people have registered to work on the device so far.
Mr. Silberbaum acknowledged that the resulting phone could be somewhere between a Boca phone and a smartphone.
“Do I want a smartphone with all the bells and whistles or do I want something that actually helps me find more thoughtful ways to deal with the digital world? That’s the choice we want to provide,” he said.
