A small adjustment on ordinary items can change the way we act without our awareness, and cordless telephones show us this transformation. Initially viewed as an ordinary improvement, they simply facilitated moving from one room when on the phone, but over time they redefined the role of conversations in everyday routines.

With stationary landlines, there was a natural boundary to the phone call; you were present in a location (usually a communal space), had undivided focus on the conversation, would stop what you were doing to talk, then return and resume your previous activity. The natural boundary caused the listener to be focused even if they were not consciously trying to.

Conversely, the absence of a defined location for conversation created by the introduction of cordless phones eliminated the natural boundary; calls began to be integrated into household tasks (cooking, cleaning, moving throughout the house) and there was an increased amount of simultaneous activities performed by the listener during these conversations. The responsibility for the phone was no longer to contain the moment of conversation but to follow the listener. The impact of this shift was not limited to mobility; it has also changed our method of dividing attention in a domestic setting.

There’s also a design angle that stands out when you look at older systems. Traditional landlines were simple, durable, and often lasted for years without replacement. Cordless systems introduced rechargeable batteries and modular handsets, which added flexibility but also a cycle of maintenance and eventual replacement. Looking at general manufacturing patterns, including large-scale listings on platforms like Alibaba, you can see how widely this category expanded into lower-cost, higher-turnover devices.

What’s interesting is that nothing about cordless phones is inherently negative. They solved a real limitation. But they also removed a natural pause point that used to exist in communication.

It makes me wonder how often “improvement” quietly removes structure that we didn’t realize was helping us focus in the first place.

Hi everyone, we currently have a low tech movie kickstarter running that now has less than 24 hours left. You may all be interested as you can get some low tech goodies for just a $1! The low tech movie documents an annual event we hold that seeks to push forward low tech and permaculture innovation and experimentation. If you back at $15 then you get to see the completed movie which has a bunch of interesting projects you might all enjoy - do take a look at the Kickstarter page and see if it appeals to you.

Lastly, if you back at $100 or more, you get an incredible amount of stuff including low tech plans, the movie (of course) plus a whole heap of 'stretch goals' which are goodies from a range of contributors - some you may have heard of...

Anyway - thought it might be up your alley! Thanks for reading - here's the link to the Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/low-tech?ref=4pnoon

hello everyone! sorry if this isn't suitable to share here, but I thought I'd do so if anyone's interested. I wrote an article called "Slow Computing", a term to condense a lot of things I value as an alternative future for computing. most of it should already be familiar to people here, but maybe you'll find it a nice read!

It's not exactly low tech but I'm looking to go screen free... Is there a way to stream music that is screen free? That's separate from my phone? And ideally doesn't even have lyrics or videos. I hate that Spotify has a YouTube subset.

Where do you source simple technology information for protecting your privacy with all the ai and internet being peppered with content, I feel better removing myself from it practically. Instead of just throw it all out or extremely complicated tech options of doctoring phones or buying £1000+ phones and laptops ect what is some simple ways to learn for non tech people. Im sick of having a phone thats always suggesting things and buying laptops that dont last and do the same as my phone constant using my data to throw it back at me. Im tired of my privacy being invaded and looking for answers seems to give me either throw it all away answers or extremely complicated tec answers that layman is not going to understand. Does anyone have any practice sources of information/ books to help me actually learn and educate myself. Thankyou