While everyone chases AI, these startups are begging you to put your phone down

It's more than a passing fad: Brynn Putnam, the founder behind Mirror (that fitness app that makes you sweat in your living room), just raised cash for Board — a startup dedicated to dragging you back into the real world through actual board games and in-person experiences. This isn't a failed Kickstarter joke; real money is talking here.

But gaming isn't the only sector showing signs of life. Cyberdecks — those DIY mini-computers that look straight out of an '80s cyberpunk comic — are going viral online. The best part? They're completely offline, minimalist design, and they make «touch grass» sound less like a Reddit meme and more like a genuine feature. Suddenly, hardware designers became as interesting as doomscrolling for two hours straight.

What makes this trend genuinely compelling isn't just the contrarian cool factor (though it helps). It's that these founders spotted a real need: we don't want technology to vanish, we want it to stop controlling us. That's the difference between a smartphone that lets you do things and one that turns you into a thing.

Unlike the "AI-free browser" movement, which feels more like ironic posturing, these projects offer concrete alternatives. Board isn't a list of digital good intentions; it's an actual game you play. Cyberdecks aren't a manifesto against modernity; they're objects you can actually use — and oddly enough, they're more "tech" than a gray smartphone identical to everyone else's.

The real kicker is the timing. When every startup is slapping AI onto something just because, there's an underground of founders making real money by offering the opposite. It's not Hollywood's vision of the future, but it might be what people who are tired of notifications actually want.