Google is making a big difference in its latest development of a mobile phone. While other manufacturers introduced the most exciting features and specs from cameras to accessories, Google has set some restrictions with its latest offering. One cannot take a selfie on the tech giant's newest mobile phone.
Described as "just a piece of paper," printed with a few pieces of information, the 'Paper Phone' is Google's latest in an array of offerings attempting to catch the attention of an audience tired of the strengthening presence of technology in people's lives and feeling of being hooked on the phone. This is Google's way of placing a distance between a mobile device and its user to avoid overuse of technology.
'No Tech Sundays'
Paper Phone is a product of a new package of the "Digital well-being experiments" that Google says it aimed at offering its users a 'digital detox.' This one-of-a-kind phone arrived in the same week the company launched its latest mobile phone called $800 Pixel 4. It has a built-in radar technology which a user can control by hand motion.
Advocates of wellness recommend that people put their phone in the other room while sleeping. A movement advocating 'No-Tech Sundays' was formed when participants stop using their tech gadgets for the day. Start-ups, wellness gurus, and resorts are all cashing in on the disconnected travel trend along with different digital detox activities and events. This day also serves as the advocates' 'National Day of Unplugging.'
The Paper Phone Project
Google's Paper Phone project is one of the company's open-source experiments, including a phone wallpaper that counts the number of times a user unlocks his mobile phone each day. Incidentally, Paper Phone is not the first attempt at Google at using paper products for its exploration of the digital world.
In 2014, the industry leader launched its Google Cardboard, a way of viewing virtual reality apps on a smartphone. According to Google, it shipped 5 million pairs of low-tech glasses in 19 months. Relatively, virtual reality is winning mainstream interest, and Cardboard affordability and accessibility would play a vital role in VR, carrying on to reach both new markets and audiences.
Cyber navigator Anthony Ramirez, from the Chicago Public Library, tweeted his endorsement of Google's most recent venture into the so-called two-dimensional world. He said, he is "all about minimalism," and this, he added, "is fantastic, and it feels like an art project in just the right way."
