This morning I was streaming “CBS Sunday Morning” and viewed the piece on “It Had Us At Hello” ( 10th Anniversary of the iPhone) There are very few devices that have changed the world as much as the iPhone and all the smartphones that have followed in its path.It is hard to believe the iPhone sparked such change only 10 years ago.
At the same time I’m also reading a fantastic web post on the smartphone – “A Sociology Of The Smartphone“. This is a long read but well worth it.
A smartphone is often “the last thing we look at before sleep each night, and the first thing we reach for upon waking.”
“The smartphone is the signature artifact of our age. Less than a decade old, this protean object has become the universal, all-but-indispensable mediator of everyday life.”
In this blog I have written 53 posts where Smartphone is the major topic. That is 14% of my total posts over a 5 year period. Anecdotally, I personally use my smartphone 2 hours a day. My wife says “Maybe 3!” On any given day I use my Nexus 6 smartphone for the following
- email
- phone calls
- what’s app texting
- calendar
- calculations
- measuring my walking distance
- Photography/Videography
- News
- Maps
- Facebook
- Taxi rides
- Ordering Takeout Food
- Listening To International Radio Stations/Podcasts
Having a smartphone means I no longer have the following
- photographs in my wallet
- wrist watch
- digital camera
- calendar
- radio/ipod
- maps
- rolodex
- pad and pencil (in a pocket)
Very shortly smartphones may lead to the elimination of:
- corporate security passes
- boarding passes
- keys
- credit cards
- cash
I often use my smartphone when I am bored. At dinner with friends, if the conversation does not interest me, I hop on my phone. Yes, it is rude but that little device holds so many interesting possibilities. It pulls like a magnet. Sometimes it is easier than joining in conversation.The Smartphone is almost always in my hand when watching television or a movie on TV. If I am completely, honest it has become an appendage of my body.
Last week I left the house and realized too late that I had left my smartphone on my desk. My day was planned so that I could not easily return to my house for the next six hours. I wondered how I would get through the day not checking my email, checking Facebook , snapping photos and a plethora of time saving tasks.
The end result was that I made it through the day without any severe side effects. The lack of a smartphone did make me aware of how many times I escape into the ether of the Digital World to ameliorate human contact.
But that is another post for another day.
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