‘If this isn't addiction, I don't know what is’: Light Phone's founders get real about screen time and building for the anti-smartphone generation
With the Light Phone, Kaiwei Tang and Joe Hollier have spent over a decade exploring the value of simplicity in our relationship to technology, partnering along the way with players like Andrew Yang, Kendrick Lamar, and Pete Davidson. Now, with a new flip phone and a growing wave of “attention activists” pushing back on big tech, they think the rest of the world is finally catching up to them.
On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Amanda Silberling talks with Tang and Hollier about the company's newly announced flip phone, why they think the anti-smartphone backlash is only just getting started, and what it takes to break an addiction that fits in your pocket.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
How the design lessons from the original Motorola Razr shaped the new Light Flip
What the "Summer of Ludd" attention activist movement says about Gen Z's relationship with big tech
Why Light Phone is opening up an SDK so users can build their own tools instead of opting for an app store
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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
0:51 Building Light Phone
3:10 The user shift: why people are finally ready to unplug
7:54 Designing outside the Silicon Valley bubble
9:54 Why simple tech is making a comeback (CDs, iPods, flip phones)
13:50 From the Motorola Razr to the Light Flip
17:54 Pricing and the Noble Mobile phone plan
19:44 What actually happens when you switch (and the Flip Your Life program)
23:13 Building an open-source app library for Light Phone
26:38 Outro
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Flip phones are so back
The team at Light has been working on minimalist phones for more than a decade. Its last device had a lot in common with a smartphone, but the newest model, the Light Flip, is something very different. Light CEO Kaiwei Tang explains why Light made a flip phone, how the world's opinion of smartphones is changing, and whether you can cure your tech problems with more tech.
Further reading:
Apple launches ‘Upgrade’ program to lease new devices
Apple’s reported ‘HomePad’ may launch as early as October
X Money is launching in the US starting today
The Light Flip is a minimalist flip phone with a point to prove
Light Phone III review: everything in moderation
The high hopes of the low-tech phone
There’s no perfect minimalist phone — yet
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When our phones are just phones with Kai Tang and Joe Hollier of Light
Most of us are dependent on our smartphones. In fact, Americans spend an average of three hours a day on these devices — devices that only came into existence relatively recently.
Designers Kai Tang and Joe Hollier have long believed that it’s not normal for humans to be so attached to their phones. So they launched their own company in 2014 to create an alternative...called the Light Phone.
This week on How I Built This Lab, Kai and Joe talk about their work to build a simpler mobile phone - without apps or tracking of personal data - which has been adopted by users across generations. Plus, the duo discuss the impact of society’s growing reliance on tech and their hopes for a less-connected future.
This episode was produced by Casey Herman with editing by John Isabella, research by Kerry Thompson, and music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was Neal Rauch.
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