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40-year-old with a flip phone doesn't plan to ever switch to a smartphone: 'I'm not tempted to waste time on it'

Cnbc · · 968 words · By Sarah Jackson
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What to know about 40-year-old with a flip phone doesn't plan to ever switch to a smartphone: 'I'm not tempted to waste time on it'

Cheryl Geliebter gets a lot of looks when she pulls out her phone.

Claims checked 7
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center88%
Right12%

8 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Cheryl Geliebter gets a lot of looks when she pulls out her phone.

Why it matters

"Most people are blown away," she tells CNBC Make It.

Common ground

The 40-year-old New Yorker has only ever used a "dumb phone" — or a phone with basic calling and texting features but minimal, if any, internet access or other "smart" features — as her cell phone.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/40-year-old-with-dumb-phone-says-its-not-easy-bu…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 7 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 4
check_circle Corroborated 3
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Claim 1: “The 40-year-old New Yorker has only ever used a "dumb phone"”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm that Cheryl Geliebter is a 40-year-old New Yorker who has only ever used a flip phone.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — SummaryCheryl Geliebter, 40, of New York has only ever used a flip phone.She spends about an hour a day on it, while the average US adult spends closer to four.The 40-year-old New Yorker has never own…
https://www.briefs.co/news/average-american-4-hours-on-phone…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A 40-year-old New York teacher has used only a flip phone her whole life and says the trade-offs are worth it. One analysis found dumb phone sales among 18-to-24-year-olds jumped about 148% from 2021 …
https://www.briefs.co/news/dumb-phone-sales-rising-young-use…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — All Phone Subscriptions. How Many Phones Are In The World? (Smart & Old Feature Phones).For instance, when analyzing PEW Research data from India, they found that 40% of people own a feature phone (no…
https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/how-many-phones-are-in-the-w…
info
Claim 2: “Geliebter got her first mobile phone at 15”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of Wikipedia entries for a singer named Cheryl and general name origins, which are irrelevant to Cheryl Geliebter. No evidence mentions the age she received her first phone.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Cheryl Ann Tweedy [1][2] was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 30 June 1983, [3] and grew up on council estates in the suburbs of Walker [4] and Heaton. She is the fourth of five children of Joan Callagh…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheryl_(singer)
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Cheryl is a feminine given name with multiple origins. The name might have originated as a combination of the name Beryl with the prefix Cher- from the French chérie, meaning darling (from the past pa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheryl
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 4M Followers, 199 Following, 187 Posts - Cheryl (@cherylofficial) on Instagram: ""
https://www.instagram.com/cherylofficial/
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Claim 3: “her work as an elementary school academic support teacher”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources identify her as a teacher in New York, and one specific source mentions 'elementary school classroom teaching' in the context of her education/catalog, while news summaries refer to her as a 'New York teacher'.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Education ; The New School. Master's degree Creative Writing. 2012 · 2014 ; Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York. Bachelor's Degree Creative ...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryl-geliebter-259210b7
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Cheryl Geliebter is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Cheryl Geliebter and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and...
https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.geliebter/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — May 16, 2019 ... ... elementary school classroom teaching ... Degree Works is a sophisticated and comprehensive academic advising, transfer articulation, and degree ...
https://sle.touro.edu/media/schools-and-colleges/sle/documen…
info
Claim 4: “Geliebter won a smartphone years ago but didn't want to use it and never added cell service for it”
SINGLE SOURCE
One source ('Dumb Phone Sales Rise as Young Users Quit Smartphones') mentions she won a smartphone but never turned on service for it. No other independent source corroborates this specific detail.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Cheryl Geliebter is a 40-year-old teacher in New York. She has only ever carried a flip phone. She keeps it to dodge the pull of alerts and the open web.She even won a smartphone once. But she never t…
https://www.briefs.co/news/dumb-phone-sales-rising-young-use…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Publications. Log in or register. Cheryl Geliebter. Author, Librarian.
https://www.scbwi.org/members/cheryl-geliebter
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Comcast Customer Service is here to provide Help and Support for your Xfinity Internet, TV, Voice, Home and other services.
https://www.xfinity.com/support/
info
Claim 5: “her father got a smartphone in 2016 to help plan his commute based on real-time traffic conditions”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results provide a LinkedIn profile for a Darren Geliebter and general smartphone ads, but none of the evidence mentions Cheryl Geliebter's father acquiring a smartphone in 2016 for traffic reasons.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — destroying the advertisement Smartphone Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra or Apple Iphone 16 Pro MaxПольза NET115K views • 1 year agoLivePlaylist ()Mix (50+). 57:31. В окружении Путина спорят о военных действи…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6beiw7FIOQ
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — · Experience: Lombard Geliebter & Cohen · Location: New York · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Darren Geliebter’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.Darren can intro…
https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmg
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Cheryl Geliebter pulls out her phone and people stare. It is a flip phone. The 40-year-old New Yorker has never owned a smartphone. She is not planning to start.
https://www.briefs.co/news/average-american-4-hours-on-phone…
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Claim 6: “Geliebter and her younger brother remain on flip phones”
CORROBORATED
Both CNBC and another report on dumb phone sales explicitly state that Geliebter and her younger brother remain on flip phones.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 9, 2026 ... Cheryl Geliebter says the benefits of using her flip phone ... Geliebter and her younger brother remain on flip phones. "I decided ...
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/09/40-year-old-with-dumb-phone-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 10, 2026 ... Cheryl Geliebter is a 40-year-old teacher in New York. She has only ever carried a flip phone. She keeps it to dodge the pull of alerts and the ...
https://www.briefs.co/news/dumb-phone-sales-rising-young-use…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sep 13, 2021 ... ... use of a sample of young children which provides a better ... both hippocampal volume and its functional response to pleasant tastes in children.
https://escholarship.org/content/qt3686t08s/qt3686t08s.pdf
info
Claim 7: “about five years ago, when Verizon stopped offering the 3G service their old devices needed, she says, her mother got one”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided contains general information about Verizon and Samsung phones, but does not mention Cheryl Geliebter's mother acquiring a phone due to 3G service discontinuation.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Bug Fixes Completed Samsung Galaxy S26 vs. Vivo X300 and 6 More Compacts. Польза NET. 60K 3mo ago. TOP AFTER HALF A YEAR SMARTPHONE SAMSUNG GALAXY S24 ULTRA 5G AFTER ALL UPDATES!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6beiw7FIOQ
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Shop Verizon smartphone deals and wireless plans on the largest 4G LTE network. First to 5G. Get Fios for the fastest internet, TV and phone service.
https://www.verizon.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Yagona portal fuqarolar, tadbirkorlar va tashkilotlar uchun davlat xizmatlari, hayotiy vaziyatlarga yechimlar va qo‘llab-quvvatlash imkoniyatlarini taqdim etadi.
https://my.gov.uz/uz
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.