Finally lay down in your mental hammock with this smartphone? (Image sources: NoName_13 via Pixabay; eKod Works)
At the June 29, 2007 Apple began selling the first iPhone. 16 years have passed since then. Apple founder Steve Jobs announced the device as “revolutionary and magical”. The triumph of the iPhone around the world should prove him right.
Thanks to the iPhone, Apple became one of the most successful companies in the world. But Samsung, Xiaomi and Vivo have also long since become important smartphone manufacturers.
Unfortunately, that speaks for itself psychology There are some reasons why iPhones and other smartphones are addictive – similar to smoking cigarettes.
All those who struggle with their smartphone consumption should take a look at the AcryPhone.
You can find out why exactly in this article.
What is the AcrylPhone?
Anyone who is constantly groping for the smartphone in their pocket and is addicted to the vibration of the cell phone and the associated dopamine rush deserves a closer look at their relationship to the handset.
On the one hand, the smartphone has long since become a ubiquitous tool that is not only used to obtain information online, but also to keep in touch with friends and family. On the other hand, we are all more dependent on our smartphones than is healthy, right?
While the recently introduced iPhone 15 offers new functions such as a “Portrait Mode” for photography, or new features such as a new titanium housing, the AcryPhone offers nothing that could tempt you to reach into your pocket and pull out your smartphone.
Really nothing? In other words: absolutely nothing?
Let’s take a closer look at the AcryPhone.
Is that still a smartphone or is it already art? (Image source: eKod Works)
How does the AcryPhone really work?
As the name suggests, the AcryPhone is made from acrylic. Aside from appearances, the AcryPhone has nothing that distinguishes the product as a piece of technology. It doesn’t have a display. It has no speakers. There aren’t even any appearance-preserving LEDs installed in the smartphone.
And, yes, this is a conscious design decision. After all, the AcryPhone is intended to take you away from your smartphone – and not drag you deeper into it.
If the AcryPhone is placed next to a real smartphone, the devices should be indistinguishable from one another. Because the device casing of this toy is very similar to that of an actual smartphone.
Would you have recognized it? Only the device on the far left is a real smartphone. The other two parts are AcryPhones. (Image source: (Mainichi/Yusuke Hiratsuka))
The AcryPhone is available in two versions. Once as a simple acrylic plate for the equivalent of 21 euros. Then a “luxury version” is offered. This is more realistic and more like a real smartphone. The front of the device is even covered with a protective film – although the AcryPhone does not actually have a display. The more authentic of the two acrylic plates is priced at the equivalent of 22 euros.
The fake smartphone is sized like a real smartphone. The dimensions of the fake phone are 146 mm x 71 mm x 8 mm. It is a product from the Japanese company eKod Works.
By the way, the AcryPhone is not the first product of its kind. For example »NoPhone« also serves as a replacement for a real smartphone.
Who invented the AcryPhone?
The inventor of the AcryPhone and founder of eKod Works is a 38-year-old man named Takayuki Fukusawa, which has been attracting attention with its useless products for ten years now. Fukusawa came up with the idea for his device when his smartphone battery ran out one day. He looked at his empty device. At that moment it seemed to him like a black plate – not like a piece of high-tech.
This is what Takayuki Fukusawa himself says about his invention:
»The AcryPhone can be used in a variety of ways. It can cure you of smartphone addiction, or you can use it ironically.«
By the way: The fake smartwatch from Japan is dumb as a rock and not smart at all.
What do you think of AcryPhone and similar products? In addition to the smartphone cage or cell phone detoxing, is this a useful invention for weaning yourself from excessive cell phone use? Or is this more of an art project that belongs in a modern art exhibition alongside Marcel Duchamp or Andy Warhol? Feel free to write us your opinion in the comments.
