# ‘If this isn't addiction, I don't know what is’: Light Phone's founders get real about screen time and building for the anti-smartphone generation Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848/if-this-isn-t-addiction-i-don-t-know-what-is-light-phone-s-founders-get-real-about-screen-time-and-building-for-the-anti-smartphone-generation Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848/if-this-isn-t-addiction-i-don-t-know-what-is-light-phone-s-founders-get-real-about-screen-time-and-building-for-the-anti-smartphone-generation.md Podcast: [Equity](https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848) Published: 2026-07-29T15:40:00+00:00 Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TCML9798838780.mp3 Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TCML9798838780.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/equity-55848/episodes/if-this-isn-t-addiction-i-don-t-know-what-is-light-phone-s-founders-get-real-about-screen-time-and-building-for-the-anti-smartphone-generation Duration seconds: 1861 ## Resource With the Light Phone, Kaiwei Tang and Joe Hollier have spent over a decade exploring the value of simplicity in our relationship to technology, partnering along the way with players like Andrew Yang, Kendrick Lamar, and Pete Davidson. Now, with a new flip phone and a growing wave of “attention activists” pushing back on big tech, they think the rest of the world is finally catching up to them.    On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Amanda Silberling talks with Tang and Hollier about the company's newly announced flip phone, why they think the anti-smartphone backlash is only just getting started, and what it takes to break an addiction that fits in your pocket.  Listen to the full episode to hear more about:  How the design lessons from the original Motorola Razr shaped the new Light Flip  What the "Summer of Ludd" attention activist movement says about Gen Z's relationship with big tech  Why Light Phone is opening up an SDK so users can build their own tools instead of opting for an app store  Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.    Chapters:  00:00 Intro  0:51 Building Light Phone  3:10 The user shift: why people are finally ready to unplug  7:54 Designing outside the Silicon Valley bubble  9:54 Why simple tech is making a comeback (CDs, iPods, flip phones)  13:50 From the Motorola Razr to the Light Flip  17:54 Pricing and the Noble Mobile phone plan  19:44 What actually happens when you switch (and the Flip Your Life program)  23:13 Building an open-so… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/equity-55848/episodes/if-this-isn-t-addiction-i-don-t-know-what-is-light-phone-s-founders-get-real-about-screen-time-and-building-for-the-anti-smartphone-generation/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848/if-this-isn-t-addiction-i-don-t-know-what-is-light-phone-s-founders-get-real-about-screen-time-and-building-for-the-anti-smartphone-generation.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.