Key Takeaways
- The Boring Phone is a throwback to simpler times when cell phones were just tools, not distractions filled with apps and social media.
- Heineken and Bodega have created a smartphone that aims to bring back the focus on real-life experiences by limiting features like search engines and app stores.
- The Boring Phone may lack modern functionality, but it still offers a simple game of “Quick Snake” and a grainy camera for those looking to disconnect from the digital world.
Smartphones have slowly but surely taken over our attention spans. Once upon a time, they were only good for sending SMS messages and playing Snake; now, they’re essentially miniature computers that you may take a call on from time to time. Whether or not this is a good thing depends on who you ask; people who were around before the smartphone revolution may lament how dates at restaurants and patrons at the cinema spend more time on their phones than living in the situation. However, give a younger person a Nokia 3210 and they’ll find it totally useless for modern-day use. For those who miss easier times, Heineken and Bodega have teamed up to make the Boring Phone that brings the smartphone all the way to the 90s when things weren’t so smart.
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Heineken and Bodega’s new Boring Phone
As reported on the Heineken website, the Boring Phone wasn’t named that in akin to the Boring Company, which is a smart play on how its business revolves around making (boring) holes. No, this is legitimately a phone that is no fun; an actually boring phone.
Why is it boring? Well, it’s less about what it doesn’t do than what it does. Heineken and Bodega are pleased to announce that the phone can do very little that a current smartphone can; no search engine, no app stores, not even a weather app. The goal is to make a phone that stops detracting from social experiences and puts the device back into its place as a tool in your daily life, and not the main attraction.
It does have “Quick Snake,” which we guess is an even shorter version of the mobile phone classic so it doesn’t use up your time. And it does have a camera, but don’t think you’ll be getting any high-quality snaps out of it; even the website states that the end result will look a little grainy. And if you use your phone for GPS, Heineken is pleased to announce that the Boring Phone can do that, too; you just need to text your friends for directions.
Right now, the Boring Phone doesn’t have a price tag, but you can submit your details if you’re interested in it and Heineken will get back to you once you’re ready to send your phone back to the stone age.