The perennial appeal of Barbie is being used to encourage young people to spend less time on their smartphones – by providing them with the option of a Barbie-branded alternative with very little functionality.
The tie-in between Mattel and phone manufacturer HMD, which makes devices for Nokia, is aimed at the increasing number of people who are concerned about the negative impact of ubiquitous connectivity on our lives.
What’s the problem with smartphones?
How technology affects young people and changes their attitudes, behaviours – and even their brain chemistry or neural pathways – has long been the subject of debate and research.
Some experts say smartphones and devices are just another tool and can be effectively harnessed by educators, as long as equipping kids with digital literacy is also high on the agenda.
But other parents, campaigners and schools have concerns that constant access to gaming, messaging, entertainment, and even age-inappropriate or illegal content, is affecting young people’s mental health, reducing attention spans and damaging the ability to concentrate on learning.
The BBC has reported that Eton – a private school that is famous for educating the UK’s political leaders and royalty – is replacing students’ phones with so-called “dumb” or “brick” phones only good for texts and calls and where the “smart” tech has been removed.
Barbie features instead of smart features
Removing the problem also seems to be the inspiration behind the new Barbie phone. The device may be pink, mirrored, shiny and come in a box designed to resemble the way a Barbie doll is packaged, but it has no app store to speak of, no social media, and no touch screen.
Wired notes that it runs KaiOS 3.1, an operating system with which few apps are compatible right now and with only a handful of smartphone capabilities such as 4G connectivity, Wi-Fi, and GPS. It also has “512 megabytes of RAM and 4 gigabytes of storage with support for microSD cards up to 32 gigs in size. Yes, you can use it as an MP3 player and groove to “I’m Just Ken” via Bluetooth or the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack,” says Wired.
With its 2.8-inch display, built-in backlit keyboard for texting, and a range of Barbie-themed or “Malibu” tweaks, such as a palm tree icon around the number 7, it is trying to maintain its attractiveness while tapping into a trend where “more and more people actually want to not be having a digital experience all the time,” says Lars Silberbauer, a senior HMD executive.
That trend will see around 400,000 dumbphones sold in the UK alone by the end of 2024, consumer analysis firm CCS Insight says.
