Making phones better

(stop using them so damn much)

This post is a collection of three short essays on making smartphones better:

1. In-person Instagram

2. Killing Google

3. Cranium over calculator 

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In-person Instagram

Show your pictures to actual people

I have a vision. 

A future for our camera rolls.

Imagine this…

What if we didn’t post Instagram pics to impress peripheral people? What if we didn’t need to present an image on Instagram to influence how others perceive us?

What if, instead, we did in-person Instagram?

We could come home from a trip or notable event, gather our families and real friends around the table at the end of a slow meal, and show them the pictures on our phones while telling them about the neat experience we had.

It would probably lead to laughter and conversation. It could even draw out memories and stories from your loved ones you had never heard before.

There would be no emoji replies nor fake comments that sound suave on the Internet. We’d eliminate the hollow feeling we get when something we post doesn’t hit the same number of likes and comments as our last post. 

Plus we could start snapping photos quickly instead of squandering the experience trying to take a perfectly postable pic.

Walking in Toronto a few weeks ago, I stopped when I saw this mural: “I’ve been there!” While in Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam this January, I ate dinner there, at Bến Thành Market, every day. I later shared this pic with my family in real life which brought up stories from other travels we’ve done together.

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Killing Google

Do stuff without checking Google first

I’m sick of googling everything before I do it.

Rather than just trying things and figuring things out, I consult Google on everything I do. There was a time when we didn’t have it and we used our brains to think things through. We experimented to figure out what works. We failed sometimes. But we learned from it. And we didn’t need to read blogs, how-to posts, and reviews for every little thing we did.

Instead of consulting Google, I’m going back to trying things in a way that makes sense to me.

Here’s a silly example…

Last week I had a bunch of bird’s eye chili peppers in the fridge that were about to go bad. Rather than letting them rot, I decided to turn them into chili flakes. I picked up my phone and started to Google how to do it. Then I paused, put down my phone in disgust, and thought “Are you really asking Google how to do this? Isn’t this something you could figure out by yourself?” 

So I experimented by following my intuition. I washed and minced the chilis, put them in the oven for a long time at a low temperature to dry them out, and checked them every fifteen minutes to make sure they didn’t burn. 

They turned out wonderfully…

My homemade, no-Google-consult, chili flakes.

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Cranium over calculator

Use the body’s innate capabilities 

I noticed myself reaching for my phone too quickly for simple tasks that I’m capable of doing if I slow down and challenge myself to do them. 

Take basic mental math.

I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide most whole numbers if I stop and think for a moment. When I rely on my calculator too much, I start to lose my math abilities. Now I challenge my brain instead of reaching for my phone right away and I’m slowly getting sharper with numbers.

We can do the same with other tools on our phones like maps.

If I’m going somewhere, I’ll look at the directions once, try to memorize where the place is, and then find my way there without consulting the map at every intersection. 

I’ve even started using my flashlight less by taking a minute to let my vision become dark adapted.

All these things take a few more moments than reaching for the simple solution on my phone, but using my body’s faculties makes me feel more human and like I’m engaged with the real world, not a fake digital one.

Plus slowing down is one of the few real luxuries left in the modern world.

With love,

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