a minimalist phone called Light Phone 2, trying to help users solve mobile addiction problems.
▲ First Light Phone
You may have some impression of this name, as early as 2015, Light Phone released the first generation of products, it The function is very simple, that is, calling, not even the screen.
The two founders, Joe Holler and Kaiwei Tang, hope to bring modern people away from the harassment of mobile notifications and return to their real life.
▲ The biggest change in Light Phone 2 is the addition of an electronic ink screen.
Recently, Light Phone launched their second generation product, which is just a pure “call tool” compared to the first generation. The second generation added a 2.8-inch E-Ink e-ink screen that maintains 78g. Compact body, like a miniature version of the Kindle.
At the same time, the addition of the display also brings more basic functions to Light Phone 2, such as sending and receiving text messages, as well as gadgets such as calculators and alarm clocks. It is reported that music, navigation and car service will be added later. And other functions.
But since the goal is to get rid of mobile addiction, Light Phone 2 isn’t going to do much fancy stuff, it doesn’t have a camera, it can’t install Android apps, it can’t watch videos and accept all kinds of news.
Interestingly, I also saw that it has a built-in Wi-Fi module in the spec sheet, but this device does not allow users to browse any Internet content.
Like this, Light Phone 2 is no different from the Nokia 1100, which seems to be more than a decade old. The latter will at least allow you to play two games of Snake or Space War.
Not to mention that its price is not cheap, it is $350, enough to get you started with a good Android light flagship.
The question is coming, who will buy such a mobile phone?
Some people may look at its minimalist design, which is obviously one of the selling points of Light Phone 2 – the square body, black and white, the size of the card can be easily held in the hand, the electronic ink screen is not It will show too much complicated content, and you can feel a high cold and abstinence when you look at the styling.
even founder Joe Holler said , they will put the aesthetic appeal of the product at the highest priority, which is a kind of spiritual temperament that Light Phone users hope to have.
The Verge, Digital Trends also said that Light Phone has a unique appeal after experiencing the real machine. It is reminiscent of a hundred flowers. In the era of functional machines, the mobile phones used by everyone at that time were different.
There is no hard and fast rule in this industry. All mobile phones can only use narrow borders and full screens. Plam was launched last year. A miniature mobile phone with a 3.3-inch screen.
Differential design gives Light Phone the key to unlocking market segments to reach potential users, such as camping out often, hoping to stay away from embarrassing explorers, or designers who like great products, and A budget-rich, maverick gamer.
“We also saw the need for mobile addiction, like some users who don’t want to reveal their personal privacy. The Broken Light Phone can also meet their requirements.”p>
Light Phone really won: The first generation of Light Phone after Kickstarter ended crowdfunding, team A total of about 50,000 people received orders, raised $400,000, and eventually sold a total of 15,000 mobile phones.
This number may be just a day’s sales of mainstream mobile phone manufacturers, but in fact, start-ups like Light Phone can hardly rely on millions of scales to achieve economies of scale, which is why they set product prices higher. Only in this way can they smooth out R&D, production and sales costs.
When Light Phone 2 arrived, the company began to move toward formality, and the amount of crowdfunding increased further to $3.5 million. The team also received $8.4 million in investments from companies including Foxconn and Lyft, initially expected to produce 20,000 units.
But it looks like the part that Light Phone wants to emphasize. What it really wants to achieve is to solve the “long-term dependence on smartphones.”
In the beginning, many people did not understand this means and method.
The main question is whether we can cut off the potentially addictive parts of the phone and leave the most basic functions to get rid of the shackles of the Internet and social media and reduce the time spent on mobile phones. ?
Mobile addiction is also a common problem. In addition to Light Phone, users can also block social software by using services such as “screen time” or third-party applications to limit their usage time.
After all, the mobile phone is just a tool for carrying content. We all know that what is really addictive is the thing inside the mobile phone. It is really unreasonable to point the finger at the mobile phone.
But Light Phone wants to go a step further and let people use only the “necessary” features and tools to isolate content from the source that may be immersive:
“What features are really valuable, we have our own metrics. Originally we felt that the camera was a good tool, but it was “inductive”, that is, people would get used to taking pictures of themselves. Things spread to the social network, and then went to see the number of points they got, so we decided to remove.
In contrast, even if Light Phone is only used as a backup machine, it is mandatory at the physical level, and it will also create a healthier relationship with smartphones:
“It’s like going to the gym to do yoga, it will change your lifestyle and affect your eating habits.”
Of course, if the fee can be a little lower, I would like to be more willing to do the membership card.
Source of the title: Light Phone