Snippet: Hanging Up on iPhone ☇

Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels is taking some time off from his iPhone:

I — like most people I observe in waiting rooms and in line at Starbucks — kill little bits of time with my head down, the glow of my smartphone lighting up face. Twitter, App.net, Google Reader, Instagram, Email, iMessage, Tumblr and more wedge their way in to my life in little two-minute increments throughout the day.

I’m tired of it. So I’m fighting back — by retreating. I’m giving up my iPhone — my daily life partner for almost five years…

…In addition to my self-imposed 12-month timeframe, I’ve got an LTE iPad mini in the mail, set to be delivered Friday. It’s my first iPad with cellular data, and coupled with the Mini’s form factor, I think it will be a decent iPhone-replacement for the times I need data when I’m not in the office or at home.

I see where he’s coming from—there’s a lot of distraction and clutter, and going back to a very simple flip-phone with an always-connected iPad mini will limit the compulsive time wasting. This reminds me of my arrangement pre-iPhone: an iPod touch and a Motorola RAZR, but he still gets the benefit of cellular data.

Although I try not to be rude with my iPhone in public, it is easy to kill a few minutes checking on the various apps and services. This should be interesting, and I wish Hackett the best of luck with his experiment.