Smartphones, mobile devices, and constant connectivity have become dominant in everyone’s life. Try counting how many times you check your screen on an average day—the most honest answer would probably be too many. But a new trend is rising: analogue destinations. Think phone-free social clubs, no Wi-Fi cafes, restaurants offering discounts if you turn your device off, spas that block internet signals, or even the luxurious 5-star Mandarin Hotel in Las Vegas.
Jeanne Salts explains, “The Mandarin hotel is a perfect example that when you check in, you basically have to give your device over so that you can experience really what that hotel is offering. Spas are blocking the Wi-Fi, so you don’t have the temptation to actually use your device. You can enjoy and relax and have fun, and check your device later.”
While it might seem like just a clever marketing idea for bars or cafes, there’s a deeper issue at play. Technology, intended to connect us, now often dominates our lives, preventing real communication and meaningful connections.
Salts continues, “How many times have you been in a restaurant, and you watch people who are on their devices and are not even talking to each other? They’re literally looking at their devices and not really communicating, and getting to the means of what’s really important in life—and that’s being one-on-one and connecting. The movement now is to enjoy the moment and live life, not live it on your device. Bars, hotels, take your devices and say, no more. They put up big signs. So then you know that you don’t have to check it. You can just relax and enjoy the moment.”
Analogue destinations prompt us to ask: are smartphones actually enriching our lives? Does it matter what we post on social media, and who are we posting it for anyway?
As Salts observes, “After a while, people feel hollow inside because they’re not living up to the Joneses or not being like these other people they see on Facebook or Twitter. Once they realise joy really comes from within, devices will be… not a thing from the past, but they will fall by their waist side when they realize that life is more important.”
While intriguing, this trend likely won’t grow extremely fast. Smartphones, mobile technology, and apps still serve important purposes, and most people remain heavily addicted. Still, it’s refreshing to know there are places where you can effectively unplug, relax, and experience life without constant digital distractions.
