Smartphone and foolish people
With the pending release of the iPhone 4s/5 which has set the technology world into a frenzy I figured a smartphone posting was appropriate. As I look at my life (or at least my professional life) there is nothing and I mean nothing that has been at my side as much as a smartphone.
From the tender age of 16 I started to connect myself to the world through technology. At 16 I started using my first cell phone (Motorola flip phone) in conjunction with a pager. That was nearly 17 years ago now which just makes me shake my head. Since then, technology has come a long way. Pagers have all but disappeared and that phone which used to cut out, drop calls and require a small U-Haul to carry around has become small, compact and a complete communications tool.
The question is, are we better off for it? Looking at the past 17 years there are few instances that I can remember that a phone hasn’t been attached to my hip. My phone has been there on birthdays, my wedding day and yes sadly, even on my honeymoon. My phone has spent more time with me than my parents, my family, my wife and even my dog. Can that be right? Has it become that integrated into my daily life that it receives more attention than those most important to me? Sadly, it may be the case.
Understanding how bad it can get I can examine my own home life. In recent history my wife asked me a simply question. Can you just put it down? We were sitting on the couch one weekday just watching the TV and doing what husbands and wives do (or at least what I think they do) updating each other on the daily grind. The difference is I was surrounded and distracted by a laptop, iPhone, and my tablet.
Technology can be a great and at the same time a damaging thing in many lives. A balance to everything is required and as phones become more “smart” I see that balance shifting more and more to the wrong side of the equation. Maybe people would become more “smart” and less “foolish” if we just decided to put the technology down once in a while.
Easier said than done.
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