Oh sorry, I didn't mean to give the impression that I was giving up my phone, or that these devices are designed to replace phones at all. I'm certainly not refusing to use my phone, in the slightest. But I have been taking slight steps to make sure I use it less. I think something like this has been great fun, I own my music, I curate it (which is fun), collect it, transfer it to a device like this one the Snowsky Echo I just had delivered, and I don't support a streaming company like Spotify!
"...these dumb devices purported to replace phones"
I guess we could make the argument that these dumb devices (like the original Sony Walkman) have existed longer than phones have been the daily carry item, too!
I don't think digital audio players will disappear in 5 years' time. It might not be the popular choice, but it is still a choice to use them. This article I wrote is just kinda part why-I-have-decided-to-look-at-music-players, and part review.