When Tony Fadell, the man who gave us the iPod, stumbled upon an ad for his old product in a New York subway station, he saw it as both a trip down memory lane and a stark reminder of how our tech addiction has evolved.

The poster proclaimed “Zero screen time,” evoking the days when a few songs were all you could carry. Today, we’re buried under an avalanche of notifications, apps and endless scrolling — and some are seeking escape through slowtech.

Joy Howard, who masterminded the campaign, notes that consumers are increasingly desiring tech that respects their attention spans and isn’t always demanding it. “People are very oversaturated and overstimulated,” she explains.

For Murray, who once pitched the concept of mobile gaming to incredulous investors, this slowtech movement is deeply personal: his son’s addiction has led him to create an app that cuts screen time. “It’s watching what happened to my kids and the people around me that hurts my soul the most,” he laments.

Among the converts are those who have ditched smartphones for older devices like flip phones or e-ink readers, seeing freedom in such simplicity. However, complete detachment is rare — many of us now use apps to limit our tech usage, acknowledging that willpower alone isn’t enough.