No, I am not talking about folks who steal cellphones but about whether these gadgets steal our time. Consider these arguments for and against from a ZDNet article titled "Are smartphones stealing away our lives?" ...
I love social networks like Facebook and Blogger but I do think that all sorts of technological gadgets often rob us of human interaction - television being the foremost thief. That said, I have to admit to sometimes checking my email when in the company of others. Even so I pray that I will never value electronic interactions over the human flavor.People fall into two camps in this argument. One camp -- my camp -- is that digital relationships and real-life relationships are levelling off and becoming the same. The other camp is that there is an inherent *specialness* in real-life that digital life can never replace.
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I'm certainly not advocating that we eschew mobile technology. As much as they steal moments from us, they also provide us with the ability to save time so we can live our lives more efficiently. However, as a culture we need to learn how to recognize what the high-value experiences in our lives actually are, what we should really be paying attention to, and when we should be paying attention to them.
Lately I've been neglecting Facebook. I find that smartphones really only "steal" a lot of my time when I first get them. I recently bought the latest Nexus 7 tablet, and love it, but spent very little time "playing" with it, and now I just use it when I need it. If I take my phone out around others I'm usually looking something up that is relevant to the conversation, or I'm entering my daily food into MyFitnessPal.
ReplyDeleteFinding new uses for our Nexus 4 and 7 Mike. Been using both to Chromecast to the TV. Soon will be using them plus a new Nexus 7 to control our Google Fiber.
DeleteI used my Galaxy S3 as a XBMC media center remote for a while. It worked over the wi-fi. My Dad's LG TV works with his Galaxy S4 and his Galaxy Note II, as well as his Nexus 7, so he can show pictures or stream content to his TV. He was complaining the other day that the Nebraska game wasn't on Time Warner locally, but that he could watch it on his Android devices, I asked him why he didn't just show it from his device to the TV, and he had forgotten he could do that.
DeleteGotta love that Mike!
DeleteI don't actually have a smartphone, so when I'm away from home, I'm fully engaged with the world. I wouldn't say I wouldn't want one though:)
ReplyDeleteGot my Google Nexus phone for free from Sprint. The data plan costs a bit more but not too bad as I am on an employee friend's plan.
DeleteI would say what Alice G wouldn't say: I haven't one, don't want one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by vanilla! I have had a smartphone since the Moto Q came out in 2005 but I do understand that not everyone is as geeky as me. ツ
DeleteI have never had and can not afford a smartphone.
ReplyDeleteCost is definitely an issue Michelle.
DeleteHave you had the chance to watch the TED talk by Sherry Turkle called "Connected But Alone"? It forever changed the way I see social media and it's affect on me and the world.
ReplyDeleteHave not seen it Stephanie. What was the main takeaway from it?
DeleteThere are so many... she reflects on what the smart phone has done to us. Here is the jist:
ReplyDelete-We are getting used to being alone "together"... you want to go to that meeting, but only pay attention to the bits that are of interest to you.
-Texting, email, social media... doesn't happen in "real time". We get to edit our lives... we get to delete and retouch what others see. We clean up our messy lives with technology.
-We sacrifice conversation for connection. We aren't really learning about the other person by only communicating this way. We are so used to being shortchanged out of real conversation that we are almost willing to dispense with people altogether.
-We except more from technology than we do from each other. Technology appeals to us where we are most vulnerable... we are lonely but we're afraid of intimacy.
It is well worth the 20 minutes. I watch it on a regular basis to snap me back into reality.
This speaks to me Stephanie:
Delete"we get to delete and retouch what others see"
I will try to catch the video this week!