A quiet tech trend

Author

Mark Bowley
April 16, 2026

3 min read

Would you believe it, the Casio is back. These were all the rage when I was younger!

But this time it’s a quiet trend happening, which should worry someone.

People (including those in tech) are swapping their Apple Watches for Casio digital watches. The kind that cost <$50 and tell the time. No apps.

Their reasons are practical: charging is a faff, battery life is annoying. But I don’t buy that as the whole story. People charge their phones every night without drama.

It’s not nostalgia either.

The breaking point is the relationship.

Apple Watch is a computer that lives on your body and makes demands of you. It wants you to stand, breathe, close rings, and respond to things. It’s useful, yes. But it’s also relentless in a way that adds up over time. Personally, I don’t want that.

The Casio doesn’t want anything from you.

And apparently that’s worth >$400 in savings to a growing number of people.

I think this fits into something bigger: a slow, quiet resistance to tools that expand into your attention rather than serve it. It shows up in the way people are returning to paper notebooks, pruning their apps, and yes, buying analogue watches.

It’s not anti-technology. It’s people reclaiming the terms.

I think we’re entering a phase where the interesting tech design question isn’t “how do we add more?” it’s “how do we earn the right to be in someone‘s life?”.

Which is, honestly, the whole thing I’m trying to build towards here. Simple tools that do a job and leave you alone.

Curious, have you quietly opted out of anything recently?

Talk soon,

Mark

PS I’ve recently launched or updated: