Bring Back Single Purpose Devices

I use devices that can do so many different things that I nearly forgot the beauty in tools that do one thing and do it well. Keeping things simple pays off for me in the long run because I can focus on the goal more easily. I live in a very touristy city and in the past two years or so, I’ve been seeing lots and lots of people using standalone (digital) cameras for pictures. The cameras themselves aren’t that impressive and I bet their phones take better pictures, and yet these people are turning towards them.1

The reason why I love my e-reader is because it has one job: to let me read. When I turn it on, there is a very simple expectation and because it is simple, it is also met. I thought for a while that I didn’t need an e-reader because my phone could open epubs just fine, but it can do so many other things, too! I don’t remember the exact time this became a downside, but it definitely is one now.

  1. The same goes for rising appeal of dumbphones or so-called feature phones, although this might be the result of the digital minimalism phase everyone has to go through in our time. ↩︎

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