Freedom is the ultimate luxury. Most people don’t have it, even the wealthy.

Most people don’t have it because they’re addicted to technology. Their time isn’t free. Their choice isn’t free. Their mind isn’t free.

There’s been a lot written and discussed about tech addiction, but relatively less done about it. We‘ve been a part of writing about tech addiction, including the importance of movements — how small groups with non-consensus views can spark action that ignites change for rest of the world.

Today we’re taking action by seeding a movement: the Good Phone movement.

A Good Phone is a minimalist smartphone designed to break the cycle of tech addiction. It doesn’t have social media, news apps, games, a browser, or even email. You can learn how to make your own Good Phone at our dedicated site here.

Eliminating content and many of the “core” services on your device, including email, will seem like an extreme step to many, but the Good Phone isn’t for everybody. It’s for superhumans who want an edge. The Good Phone is the best brain and mental health supplement you can buy because it reduces the depressive, anxious, and distracting effects of too much tech. And it’s free to create your own, assuming you already have a smartphone. 

You might wonder why not just use a flip phone? We’ve tested the Good Phone over the past month and believe it sits on the efficient frontier of connectivity. Completely giving up our smartphones and the benefits they provide is almost as bad as using them to common excess. The world isn’t built for people who are completely disconnected. A Good Phone that minimizes addictive features lets users recognize the benefits of connection without the downsides of distraction, depression, and constriction of thought that come from overconsumption.

A Good Phone that minimizes addictive features lets users recognize the benefits of connection without the downsides of distraction, depression, and constriction of thought that come from overconsumption.

Our goal with launching the Good Phone movement is to generate awareness that there’s an alternative to living as an automaton serving our technology. We hope to encourage a bold group to take back their freedom from the devices and apps that control us. Hopefully, as others see the power of a minimalist smartphone, they’re inspired to take action to reduce their own technology consumption. It’s more than OK to leave social media, to ignore the news, to turn off your email — it’s superhuman.

In 1984, Apple inspired a movement through a famous commercial depicting a renegade crashing through the control of a totalitarian PC regime. This was the introduction of the Macintosh. The irony isn’t lost on us that we now need to free ourselves from a device pioneered by Apple.

The Good Phone is the movement that breaks the modern technological chains that control us so that 2019 won’t be like 1984.

Disclaimer: We actively write about the themes in which we invest or may invest: virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and robotics. From time to time, we may write about companies that are in our portfolio. As managers of the portfolio, we may earn carried interest, management fees or other compensation from such portfolio. Content on this site including opinions on specific themes in technology, market estimates, and estimates and commentary regarding publicly traded or private companies is not intended for use in making any investment decisions and provided solely for informational purposes. We hold no obligation to update any of our projections and the content on this site should not be relied upon. We express no warranties about any estimates or opinions we make.