The Last Quiet Thing

I realize the purpose of the essay, and I agree with the author's sentiment that our possessions ask more of us than is necessary, and more than ever before. But I disagree that any object is finished. That Casio that the author mentions, yes it goes 7 years without a battery change, but the day the battery dies will be the day that you have to buy a new battery, figure out how to open it, and change it. Or (as many people will unfortunately do) throw it away and buy a new one because it's beat up now anyway.

Tools dull, and people neglect to sharpen them. Filters clog, and people neglect to clean them. Oil needs to be changed, guitar strings lose their brightness, lightbulbs flicker and die, rooftops gather moss. We live in a world where our possessions require maintenance, and the only solution to that is to have fewer possessions. Some people choose to rent instead of buying because they don't want to deal with property upkeep (which is undoubtedly a bad deal, but one that some choose to make regardless.)

The iPhone that the author mentions gives many tools to silence notifications from apps. The real problem is the social expectation that we are always paying attention, always ready to respond. I had a phone free week last year and now frequently will leave my phone in another room on silent for hours at a time unintentionally. It irritates my friends and my wife when I don't respond to their texts immediately. And it's frustrating that these features are being foisted on us more and more. But ultimately all things require maintenance, including relationships, and ultimately we set the standard of how much we have to give and are willing to put up with.

As far as the watch goes, personally I wear a Casio Tough Solar w/ Waveceptor because in theory they should go decades without needing a battery change or needing me to set the time, unless I travel. The WVA-M640 is reasonably stylish, and G-Shocks are virtually indestructible. As long as they keep changing the rules there's no escaping daylight saving time though.

It sure looks like the author likes webpages coming alive too!

Looks like you found the root of the problem already.

I have an iPad Mini that was supposed to replace books and notebooks, since I travel a lot and travel light. Right from the start, I decided to make it a quiet device. I've had it since 2020, and it basically never bothered me, save for a yearly software update that happens in the background. Not bad!

In the end I switched back to paper because physical media is more satisfying to write on and flip through. My iPad Mini was perfectly quiet. The only annoyance is the battery life.

The hardest problem in my opinion is separating tools from distractions when they live on the same device. Using the calculator might mean getting sidetracked by a WhatsApp notification. A boring ebook chapter is competing with algorithmic feeds a swipe away. I find that having a separate, offline device (or just a book) allows me to keep my phone a few meters away.

I personally don't want my possessions to be "done". I want new capabilities. the issue the author points are not issues to me. It sounds like they have thought through what technology means for them, and have found an approach that works for them. That is great. There is a reason that the Apple Watch outsells all other analog watches.