While children of today engage themselves with electronics, something extraordinary has just hit the markets–a phone that has just awarded a dose of nostalgia with a touch of Barbie. The makers of Nokia have launched a new Barbie ‘brick’ phone at £99 that is intended to assist children to cut down on screen time. Anticipate a phone with voice and SMS calling features but devoid of social networking and hours of surfing the internet.
A Phone That Can Reply to Social Media with ‘No’
Just like the other Barbie products, it is simple to the extent of appearing plain. Social networking is now over and the annoying notifications which take your attention every five minutes. Specifically, this device allows children to perform the essentials, which are calls and messaging without the curiosity to venture into the world wide web. It’s like gifting them a walkie talkie but with a barbie twist, just simple and fun without much interference.
Contemporary Hints of the Past
The phone known as the Nokia 3310, restored by Human Mobile Devices (HMD), is pink in color. It’s a flip phone, similar to those in the 90s and up to 2000, but with certain modern novelties. Imagine fashioning it to accommodate personalized covers, an incorporated camera for occasional selfies, and Barbie logo stickers to suit children’s taste.
The Growing Importance of Taking a Break from Electronics
We are living in an era when even babies can navigate a smartphone just by swiping. But is that really a good thing? Studies indicate that increasing numbers of young people are experiencing pressure resulting from the culture of ‘always being connected’. Indeed, today’s youth are welcome to stop watching screens and adopt a slower pace of life that was characteristic of the past generation. And that is exactly where this Barbie phone comes in.
As HMD has noted, this new phone should suit those children and, as far as I am concerned, grown-ups too, who do not want to be entangled in the social media hype and simply want to take the real world by the horns.
What Do Parents Think?
Remarkably, a majority of the parents are now questioning whether children need smartphones at all. A poll of 10,000 parents across the world that included 2000 parents in the UK established that more than half of the parents regretted giving their child a smartphone. Respondents reported that it interfered with family time, affected their children’s sleep cycle and decreased their physical activity and interactions. It is like providing your child with a remote control to the world but failing to explain to him how to press the pause button.
The Bigger Picture
This act from Nokia makers is not just an effort of marketing their phones-it is a way of initiating discussion. While many of the online campaigners and politicians are demanding even more stringent measures to limit the children’s usage of smartphones, the Barbie “brick” phone is much more than simply a gadget; it is a message. While some parents have called for a complete ban on the possession of smartphones among children under the age of sixteen, others, including Sir Keir Starmer, have advocated for improving the regulation of the materials available to children on the internet.
Looking Ahead
However, HMD has already started planning on new handsets that are going to fill the gap between those so-called smart phones and these basic ‘brick’ like phones. A phone with a locator for parents to always know where their child is or simple text messaging and possibly even a video call – just enough to communicate without all the interference.
A few features which are frequently requested by parents include educational applications, songs, map services, and, to some extent, cartoons—they want their children to be occupied but not too much so they lose control over them. It’s all about balance.
