There's An App For That
Trust the old ways.
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I was thrilled to be a guest on
’s podcast where we talked about how to handle being a content creator while practicing digital minimalism, amongst other topics. Give it a listen!After recording the episode, Jose and I were talking more about his philosophy of ‘moving offline.’ He said something that stuck with me: “We have to learn how to trust some of the old ways again.” He was talking about calling taxis (on the phone) instead of using rideshare apps.
The concept of taxis dates back to the 17th century; back then, they used horse-drawn carriages. In 1897, we saw the invention of the first gas-powered taxi with a meter.
Uber was started in 2009.
I’m currently reading Eula Biss’ book, Having and Being Had, which examines “our assumptions about class and property and the ways we internalize the demands of capitalism.”
In a chapter about the precariat (a term derived from the word precarious), Biss writes: “Uber drivers don’t know their employers or their fellow employees. They lack, among other forms of security, the security of working with people they know, and people who know them.”
Putting aside the social calamity that is the gig economy, we have grown to distrust many of the old ways that have existed much longer than the apps that are replacing them — or trying to.
Talking with friends about our dreams and challenges, I’d often say jokingly — “There’s an app for that!” That’s how it’s felt over the course of this past decade — anything you want to do, there’s an app for that! It’s gotten to the point that we often feel like we can’t do simple things without an app.
The idea that you can only eat at a restaurant after reading all the reviews on Yelp, or that you must use the app to order your pizza instead of making a quick phone call, or that your grocery list can only exist in the TickTick app. A grocery list is a grocery list, whether it’s written with pen and paper or typed into an app. Digital has become the default. But I’m asking you to question that.
Is this default working for you?
What Jose mentioned about “trusting” the old ways made me think about the work I did in my twenties as a farm and garden educator. I remember gardening with elementary-aged kids in a lower-income school district who regarded the carrots we pulled out of the ground with a lot of suspicion. Carrots came from the supermarket; not from the dirt.
In order to free ourselves from the hold that our smartphone has on us, we have to re-establish our trust in the old ways. The grocery list is a good example. My husband and I used to share a grocery list on the TickTick app. We could both add to it from our devices. Now, we have a pad of paper in the kitchen. We can both add to it whenever we realize we’re low on something or needing an ingredient for a recipe. When I go to the grocery store, I take the list with me. Instead of pinging an item off the digital list, I cross it off with a pen.
There’s nothing earth-shattering about this concept. And yet, we have come to rely on our digital devices for all kinds of simple tasks that could easily be done in an analog way.
Hailing a taxi, ordering a pizza, writing a grocery list, making an appointment at the hair salon, meditating, keeping a journal, taking notes, tracking your menstrual cycle, checking your bank statement, seeing pictures of your kid’s day, going to a music festival, setting an alarm — there’s an app for that.
While the modern world wants you to think that digital is the default, that’s a fallacy. There is nothing inherently wrong with having a digital grocery list. It’s convenient and handy. And yet, it’s just one more thing that beholdens us to our smartphone.
A digital grocery list wouldn’t be a problem if it didn’t have digital addiction as a pesky side effect.
All hail convenience and efficiency; just be prepared to lose your sanity along the way.
Great suggestions, thanks!
I'd add another crucial "old way" to trust again: printed maps for navigation. We're so used to Waze or Google Maps that we can journey through life while never knowing where we are, which means we'll miss the core of human life: moving from "here" to "there."
I wrote about this and offered solutions a little while back on my Substack here:
https://thehealthyjew.substack.com/p/maps-and-apps
You make some interesting points.
I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't acknowledge that the only reason I'm able to live half a world away, while not completely uprooting myself from Europe is because of these apps. The banking apps, invoicing apps and all of the tech gears turning in the backend that make modern life work are super convenient, no doubt.
Without touching into the gig economy issue, because that's a monster problem in and of itself. My generalized problem with apps is that they're addictive.
I don't have any social media apps on my phone anymore. I still have my social accounts, and can check them on my browser on my laptop should I want to (as it turns out, I don't really care to.) My phone use has been reduced to direct messages with friends and family, and other apps aimed at solving a straightforward problem (banking, other bills, maps, etc.)