Like most people, I use my smartphone for all types of activities.
One that I like most is to use the GPS feature that allows us to get to any place I wish. This is important in a new city where we do not have memory of direction built in. I remember the good old days when I travelled to different cities for client work. All I had were maps from AAA and sometimes direction of how to get to the place I wanted to. This was quite complex in new cities at night. Rent a car, either memorize the direction or pull over to get bearing every now and then. I am truly happy; I don’t need to do that anymore. This is truly a blessing provided by smartphones (and other connected devices).
However, there are so many other applications enabled by the smartphones that are both blessing and curse. Let me provide some examples.
A great capability provided by the smartphone is taking pictures. You don’t have to lug expensive and heavy camera equipment anymore; the photos taken by the smartphones are good enough. Of course, this also creates legions of selfie-takers. Go to any touristy place in the world and you would be mobbed by people with smart phones taking pictures. Are they really enjoying the place of merely want to post the photos to prove they were at that exotic place?
I see younger folks who are glued to their phones every moment in a day. At tables in restaurants, I see couples engrossed in their phones instead of talking to each other. At my gym, no one talks or even make eye contact. Everyone is glued to the phone when not pulling weights. The same situation is evident in a social get together. Some folks need to periodically check the phone and disengage from conversation. Doesn’t that diminish the importance of communicating with someone right in front of you?
Now, when they are using their phones, they may not be communicating with other folks, but what is called “consuming content”. Yes, thanks to the smart phone, you can get downloads from all kinds of places and people, you can watch videos and movies wherever you are, you can be alerted by breaking news, or listen to any music you want. Does that however impact enjoying the moment? Also, don’t you feel inundated with content?
Now, especially with prevalence of AI, you can get an answer to any question right away, using your smart phone. However, does that mean that you don’t need to read and remember anything? Will that impact the long-term functioning of our brains?
My phone is keeping track of how many steps I have taken each day. However, am I becoming obsessive in keeping such statistics? Am I enjoying the process of walking or just want to get beyond my goal of 10,000 steps every day?
Maybe I am grouchy because I belong to the previous generation. Perhaps the current generation will find nothing wrong in what the smartphones have wrought.
Hey, the future belongs to them, so why should I complain?
