One Book Argues Smartphones Are No Longer Necessary

August Lamm says it is time to throw out your smartphone.

Lamm, who once accumulated 200,000 Instagram followers, has moved to a life with minimal technology. She carries a flashlight for light and listens to weather reports on the radio. For communication, she asks people to call her landline or write letters. She acknowledges that this setup is more complicated than using a phone. However, she claims the change has made her think more creatively and profoundly. She says she now enjoys spending time with her own thoughts instead of filling every waking hour with podcasts, social media, and cell-phone conversations with friends.

Lamm founded the Center for Archaic Networks. The organization studies and revives human networks that existed before social media. She is also the author of the new book, You Don’t Need a Smartphone. The subtitle is A Practical Guide to Downgrading Your Phone and Upgrading Your Life. The book is published by Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

She recently opened a retreat center in upstate New York. The facility hosts weeklong sessions focused on giving up technology. Lamm appeared on a broadcast with host Robin Young to discuss the whys and hows of removing technology from daily life. The excerpt from her book was originally published on WBUR.org. The copyright date for the text is 2026.