Paris Demetriades
They are sarcastically called “dumbphones”, and lately they’ve been gaining popularity among digitally exhausted people who want less wasted time, fewer distractions, and more life away from screens. These “not-so-smart” devices offer only the basic functions of a mobile phone, good old-fashioned calls and SMS text messages, and in some cases may also include navigation maps, alarms, or a few other essential services.
Instead of touchscreens, they come with physical buttons and closely resemble the once-ubiquitous Nokia phones that dominated the early 2000s. Thanks to the rise of dumbphones, Finnish company Nokia is making a comeback in the market.
The return of these “ancient” devices didn’t come out of nowhere. It reflects a broader “going analog” trend, which has been widely discussed in recent podcasts and tech features as the new year approaches. Instead of endless, mindless scrolling and dozens of daily notifications that fry brain cells and fill our heads with useless information, the trend expected to shape 2026 encourages people to consciously choose more analog and more tangible experiences in everyday life.
Handwritten notes in journals, film cameras, printed books, handmade and manual work of all kinds, and anything that requires stepping away from a screen are slower, and ultimately more human. According to analyses published in respected media outlets, as well as lighter discussions in podcasts and vlogs, this trend isn’t just nostalgic romanticism for simpler times. It stems from a deeper collective need to reduce digital overstimulation, regain lost concentration, replace artificial intelligence with human intelligence, and start developing skills that are more practical, grounded, and rational.
That said, completely abandoning the internet or disconnecting our lives from it is neither realistic nor desirable. While the “going analog” trend for 2026, ironically analyzed mostly within the digital world, may sound out of touch to some, a more measured and balanced use of technology is not just advisable but necessary. And this applies to every aspect of our personal and professional lives.
In journalism especially, a sector deeply affected by unchecked digitalization, which often acts like a steamroller flattening ideas, institutions, and practices, it is crucial for the public and society at large to understand how important it is to support and strengthen professional media outlets that employ professional journalists. Longstanding challenges in the industry should not be used as an excuse to replace journalists with arbitrary content creators, humans or bots, who can behave unethically, clumsily, or dangerously on matters of public interest.
Between overwhelming over-information and deliberate or careless misinformation, calm, reliable, and fact-checked reporting remains the ultimate goal. In a democratic, well-governed state, access to credible and as objective as possible information is not a luxury or a theoretical wish; it is a citizen’s right, and it is the duty of the state to ensure it.
Addressing digital burnout should probably become a matter of public policy. Looking back not just on the year coming to an end but on the entire decade, it is clear that the way we use the internet has reached a critical breaking point, both for our mental health and for our political and democratic freedoms.
*Read the original Greek version here.
