Opinion | When it comes to tech, is simpler better?

It’s no secret that within the lifetime of Gen Z alone, we have witnessed the complete progression of technology from bare bones to paper-thin phones. Gone are the days of clunky, basic, single-use gadgets and gizmos. If you don’t know what I mean by that, I urge you to go on a field trip to your nearest Goodwill. Head towards the back, and then keep going. A little more past those lamps. That mess of rubber-banded wires and translucent blue plastic. 

That is what I’m talking about. 

We’ve come so far from all of that — or so it seems — and we hold our phones in the highest possible regard as the tiny machine that does it all. But when our phones can do it all, is there any way to live life without them? 

Every morning, I woke up to my iPhone alarm, which I hated — maybe that’s why they work so well at getting us out of bed — and found I was bombarded with all of the things I just worked to erase during sleep. Ten of these celebrities are on dream vacations. New Canvas notification. You have 10,000 unread emails. 

I found that every one of my mornings started with a feeling of stress. I constantly felt rushed or out of time — like I was somehow supposed to have done it all — and had it all done by 8 a.m. But was waking up really the problem? Not really — even on the days I most looked forward to, I felt that same, doom-esque feeling. 

I began to ask myself — was it my phone? We have the ability to be reached at all times. Constantly available, able to be contacted at the drop of a hat — for better or for worse. 

But when that’s the case, were phones better when they were for just that — contact? 

My experiment began with my own phone. Constantly overwhelmed just by looking at it, I began to wonder when the thing had gone from a safe haven to a stress. I found that just opening up to my home screen was enough to provoke that same emotion felt by waking up to all of those notifications — pure overstimulation. 

One night, it bothered me enough that I took the plunge. I deleted apps left and right — is anyone really playing BitLife anymore? I decided what apps I considered not only essential, but beneficial. What did I end up with? 

Weather, calendar, iMessages, clock, camera, notes, music, Pinterest, Starbucks, Dunkin’ — both coffee chains are critical — and TikTok — which you would have to pry from my cold, dead hands.

It was like a breath of fresh air. It felt like what phones looked like to me when I was a child. It’s been that way ever since — and I have no intention of changing it. Suddenly, I began to think differently of those aisles of wires and plastic at the back of the thrift store. I couldn’t help but ask myself — did we get it right back then? When it comes to tech, have we gone too far? 

Lately, I’m wanting more and more freedom from the chaos of my phone. In simplifying my phone alone, I’ve found myself much happier and less overwhelmed. As such, I set myself on simplifying my life — and its tech — one less phone function at a time. 

My first step? A good old-fashioned alarm clock. I’m talking about a serious mid-2000s, CD-playing, AM/FM radio-having gadget, with one of its biggest selling points being MP3 line-in capability. 

Today, I wrote this having woken up to my CD of John Mayer’s “Room for Squares,” where the song “No Such Thing” started my day rather than a blaring alarm. The more I simplify the objects that make up my life, the happier I find I am with it. In terms of technology, I’ve come to find that simpler really is better — at least when it comes to waking up.  

Malia Savas writes about life — in terms of tech, trends, fashion and the joyful intersection of it all. Have something to say? You can reach her at MMS337@pitt.edu.