When Tony Fadell, the father of the iPod, entered New York City's 28th Street Subway Station, he was shocked to see an advertisement for the iPod Shuffle he designed over 20 years ago. The poster promoted "Zero screen time." Fadell told TechCrunch it was like seeing his child's picture. That ad, bought by Back Market, an online marketplace for refurbished tech, was no mistake. It capitalized on a growing movement called slowtech.
We have built smartphones that can do almost anything, but we have also created constant connectedness that is more exhausting than enriching. About 53% of American adults want to reduce screen time. Joy Howard, CMO of Back Market, notes that people are oversaturated and overstimulated. Slowtech reintroduces friction as a tool to create boundaries. Younger generations, who never knew a world without social media, crave experiences that do not monopolize attention: wired headphones, retro consoles, and point-and-shoot cameras. These devices cannot upload to Instagram or show gambling ads.
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The Rise of Screenless Devices
Austin Murray, founder of early mobile gaming company JAMDAT, now develops MOQA, a screen-time reduction app. "It is a product design problem, not a willpower problem," he says, watching his kids. Calvin Kasulke, author of a novel about Slack, pays for Opal and Freedom to limit his screen time. Some users switch to flip phones or e-ink devices like the Light Phone. Kaiwei Tang, co-founder of Light, says many users aged 20-35 feel freer after switching. However, Murray warns that dumb phones make banking and hotel check-ins difficult. Fadell himself prefers less screens: "I want less, not more." Spending on screenless wearables like Oura and Whoop grew 88% year-over-year, according to Circana.
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Innovation in Slowtech
Not everyone wants a flip phone. Tools like Mark, a $159 AI bookmark, help users avoid pulling out their phone to take notes. Eason Tang, founder of Mark, calls it an analog tool integrated with design and literature. Even in the U.S., demand for screenless audio devices is high, as seen with the AirPods Pro 3 hitting a record low price. The challenge is balancing digital convenience with disconnection. As Fadell says, "People want the convenience of digital but not the annoyance of always being connected."
For more, visit Wikipedia's Digital Detox page.
