some French people have chosen to live without a cell phone

It is consulted an average of 210 times each day. The smartphone has become essential for many French people, even creating a situation of dependence for 70% of users, according to UFC-Que Choisir.

Jean-Noël Lafargue is one of those who are still resisting. To find him in the streets of Paris, it is better to take precautions and learn about the dress of this fifty-something. “I have to be punctual but that forces my correspondents to be punctual too”, laughs Jean-Noël Lafargue, blue cap on his head. “People with phones allow themselves to be late, notice this Parisian. It also amuses me to see people with phones lying about where they are when you are next to them and see that it is not true. “

Living without a cell phone is however a shame for this professor in new media who develops applications. “When people started to equip themselves with phones, I was already on the internet, he recalls. When the smartphone arrived, I could have paid for it without a problem, but that didn’t interest me more than that. It’s more the world that changes than me, but I don’t have the impression of being in resistance in the face of something “, he concludes.

This choice allows him to “to find oneself” with himself, assures Jean-Noël Lafargue. “When I go for a walk, I like to be with my thoughts and not be connected to something, not be able to be reached”, he explains.

It’s nice to go off the radar a bit, and maybe it’s a luxury today.

Jean-Noel Lafargue

to franceinfo

Living without a cell phone can also confront Jean-Noël Lafargue with funny everyday situations. “The first problem I had, by not having a cell phone, were the digicodes. Because when you are invited to a party in Paris, people expect you to be at their door and that we call them to ask for the digicode. It is therefore up to me to think about requesting it in advance “, he emphasizes.

Without a cell phone, the 52-year-old professor also took the opportunity to observe the behavior of phone users. “We are more and more hampered, he analyzes. A friend told me it’s the ultimate geek snobbery not to have a phone. “ In any case, Jean-Noël Lafargue still does not have the project to acquire one.