- So just a couple weeks ago, Apple announced the brand new iPhone. And so I decided that I would
downgrade to a flip phone. Let me explain. (soft music) - Hello and welcome back. Welcome to the Steve Jobs theater. We've got some more huge
announcements for you today. - [Matt] These kinds of events have become more and more common over the years. Companies like Apple and
Samsung now have quarterly press conferences to promote new
products and product redesigns. It's amazing to think that this is our third major event in just the past two months. - [Matt] More often than not, it's a chance to embellish minor upgrades as technological milestones, a third camera, a new bevel, additional colors, and on and on it goes - iPhone 12 leaps ahead. - Which is our biggest leap. - Biggest leap ever. - Even more. - Even better - Much better. - [Matt] A little bit
thinner, a little bit lighter, a little bit bigger, a little bit wider. We shouldn't fool ourselves. These are companies driven by one goal and that's to sell more product
to increase their profits. - It changes everything - It's difficult not to get excited about true technological advances. I remember when the Walkman first came out with the non-skip feature
and it was just mind blowing. You had to have it. And I remember when the
iPod first came out, the few kids in my high school
that were able to afford it, we would just huddle around them and look at the amazing design and the fact that you could fit a thousand
songs on this tiny device. These advancements were truly exciting, but now we get a new
phone released every year, a new Apple or Samsung
event every quarter. It seems like there's way more hype than genuine excitement for
true advancements in tech. And when you begin to ask yourself, why? Why do I need this thing? It's difficult to come up with
a compelling argument apart from the fact that it's new and I want it. These phones were designed
to solve a problem, to fill a consumer need and they truly do. They give us greater convenience,
allow us to check email from anywhere, they replace
our digital cameras, become our music players and GPS device, but all of this convenience
comes at a cost. As each one of these
features has been added, as each problem has been solved, it's created one huge
problem in its place. These smartphones and
these social media apps that are on them have
degraded our mental health. They've increased our anxiety and they've made us feel
more alone than ever before. This is a problem that I've talked about at length on this channel, but really it's become
so much more clear ever since the pandemic hit earlier this year. Like most others around the world, I've spent a huge portion
of my year inside my home. Sure, we walk around my neighborhood, go on hikes and take trips
to the grocery store. But by and large, we stay at home. And I've noticed that
while I've been at home, the time I've spent on my
phone has actually gone up. And the more time I spend on my phone, the more miserable and hopeless I feel. The more I was inclined to look for bad news on Reddit or in the media, the more I was likely to aimlessly flick through social media for an
encouraging hit of dopamine. As I spent more and more time on my phone, two to three hours every day, I realized that these phones were truly designed to go with us. They were designed to be
used outside of the home. It was the computer that you
could fit in your pocket. And now we're spending
all of our time at home. And yet we're all still
looking down at these phones when we have so many other
tools that would be more useful. And that we'll also encourage us to not use our screens as much as we are. It became clear to me pretty quickly that I was using this as a coping device. I was using it to help
me get through the days, but you can only use a
coping device for so long. And eventually you need to figure out how to cope without it. You need to figure out a way
to not just distract yourself, but to actually live your life and focus on things
that are more productive and that are more meaningful
than idle scrolling. And so that's when I
started to think about what if I downgraded just for a
little bit, just for 30 days. What if I switched from my
iPhone to this flip phone? (upbeat music) Alrighty, so I'm about to head in and get my phone downgraded. This is the first time that I've ever downgraded my phone. Ever since I got my first flip phone, when I was 16 years old, it's been upgrade after
upgrade every two years. And so now, for the first time, I'm taking a big step backwards. I'm taking a step about 16 years backwards to use a phone that is much less capable, but that might actually make me happier. So we'll see how it goes. This is the iPhone I
currently have and I actually wanted to get it downgraded
to the flip phone. - Okay. - I don't know, is that possible? - Yeah, should be able to. - Okay, cool. Now downgrading to a flip phone. It's it's gonna come with its challenges. I know, living like it's 2003. I don't know if I'm ready for it. There are so many things that
I find value in, in my phone. There will be a certain
amount of deprivation. I won't be able to listen to audio books, to listen to music, to
use my GPS to get around, but I'm excited to see what
the actual benefits are, if I miss my phone, if I
feel deprived without it, if I eventually get over that deprivation if I find myself more productive or if I find myself just
simply doom scrolling on my computer instead. I'm truly interested to track this, to see the progress, to see, oh there's a notification on my phone now. See son of a bitch. I'm I'm not gonna miss that. There are serious tools that
are helpful in a smartphone. And I just wanna see if I can get by without it, if I can find alternatives, if I can figure out how to reduce that stress and the anxiety that I feel like my phone is bringing
me, to be more mindful. And I'm going to be
doing this for 30 days. I'm gonna be trying this
flip phone experiment for the next month. And I'm going to be making a video recapping everything that I
learned in about 30 or 40 days. So stay tuned for that. Why don't we give this phone a shot? Let's see if this works. Let me turn the speakerphone on. Hey mom, he, can you hear me? Hold on one second. My YouTube channel's watching right now. What? - [Mom] Ha, ha, ha, no. - Yeah, inspiring words of wisdom. You got anything for me? - [Mom] Just do your best
and everything will be okay. I know that. It was like, you know, when you worry about taking tests and stuff like that, you would be stressing about it. And I said, just do your best. That's all you can do, you know? - Do your best. I do remember you saying
that all the time. That's really nice. - [Mom] And I would never get
mad at you for failing a test, as long as I know you
gave a hundred percent. - Aw, that's really nice mom. Okay, well, I'm gonna definitely put this in the video so you'll have to watch it. I know you watch all my videos. - [Mom] Yes, I sure do
watch your videos, yes. Alright, Matt. - Alright, love you. - [Mom] I love you. - Okay
- [Mom] Bye, bye. - Bye. See ya.
