Out There: Dumbphones, David Lynch, and Plov
Online life is too much. We're switching off. Literally.
Tiktok goes dark. Donald Trump re-assumes the presidency of the United States. Masculine energy, immigration raids, long-gone scandals getting reignited by a terminally online billionaire. And in the background, screaming into the void, the UK government relaunches itself for the 34th time. It’s definitely going to be a Blue Monday tomorrow, and I already feel tired. And judging by the chats I’ve had over the past week, so do many of you.
Do you feel like life now moves super fast? That’s because it does. Moore’s law dictates that processing speed doubles every 18-24 months – which in turn means digital technology upgrades every 2 years. That no longer holds. With AI, it’s more like every 6 months. And our hunter gatherer brains cannot cope with the information overload.
The answer? Switch off. Literally.
Selfishness as survival
During Covid, there was a limited sense of collective care. Different boats, same storm. Wash your hands, keep your distance, wear a mask. We literally needed to take care of each other so that we didn’t all die. Coming into 2025, that sense of community and collective care feels like it is rapidly disappearing.
People you’d think have it sorted, making hard career choices our economic necessity. A huge influx in the freelance workforce, off the back of massive rounds of redundancies. The rapid cuts to DEI across corporates. The move away from ESG policies and funds. Returns to the five-day office week. People bringing those godawful bugs going round into work, because ‘they’re getting through it’ so you should too.
People feel like they deserve a break. And it’s reflected in their spending. According to Canvas8, “85% of consumers are looking to play more, because they’re tired and they’ve had enough.” We’re seeing it reflected across increases in luxury holidays, high-end groceries, high-end cosmetics and digital detoxes. There’s been a big reduction in spending on activism and activist-adjacent brands - because many people feel it’s futile. The tech broligarchy has won. Let us just have nice things. And make them offline where we can.
Analog life is back in a big way
I walked around Spitalfields flea market on Thursday. One stall was doing a roaring trade – in digital cameras and dumbphones. Think snake, swapping cases, 99p ringtones. Yep, the Nokia 3310 is back. Honestly, I was surprised. I’d heard about the rise of the dumbphone back in 2023, but I hadn’t actually seen it in real life until this week. Likely, this shows how long it takes a marginal Tiktok core to filter through to everyday behaviours you see on the street. And how rarely it actually does.
It does make sense though, slotting into this broader narrative of me-first survival and online fatigue. Sick of the pressure, division, loneliness and jaw-clenching headaches of digital life, people are opting out. They’re ditching screentime for real-life hobbies – pottery, drawing, needlepoint, scrap-booking, writing, improv. One of my friends, getting into embroidery, joked “I’m in my medieval craftswoman era”. She’s not wrong. In uncertain times, making is our lifeline.
David Lynch and creativity
We need creativity in our lives, because it reminds us we are alive. We are more than machines, our value determined by our economic yield. David Lynch knew that more than most. I’m seeing his words on ideas and enlightenment all over my social feeds, and there’s a good reason for that. He speaks truth without artifice, and it hits hard because it is rare.
Assorted oddments
The manosphere is here and it smells of feet.
The Essex city boys have discovered my little old lady pool hidden in Chigwell, and they’ve taken over the jacuzzi. Collectively, they smell of lynx and sweaty feet. It’s not a great combination. What IS great, and worth your time, is this essay on Zuck, Rogan, hunting boars with bows, and the trap of fragile masculinity:
A different way of looking at growth
The inimitable Zoe Scaman has released a new deck on business growth, Growth Squared, and it’s just fantastic. Based on the thinking of Kevin Kelly, one of the revolutionary technology thinkers of our time, it explores type two growth, focusing on betterment, not linear wealth acquisition. Give it a read, it will make you think: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGa4GbreCQ/f2gNd0K2SWURzkverUUSkw/view?utm_content=DAGa4GbreCQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=hd6e3ca4bd4#1
Central Asian food is hot
On the streets of east London, a new set of cuisines are tantalising tastebuds, and I could not be more delighted. Foods from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan are gracing our restaurant tables and takeaway boxes. Think lamb dumplings with spicy dipping sauce, thick, handpulled noodles in paprika-spiked dressing, punchy tomato salads, and of course, rich and fragrant plov. Street food from eastern, central europe and central asia will continue to grow in popularity, and I will be keeping a close eye.
Let me know what you’ve spotted on your jaunts in the real world. Until next time, nerds!