The other day, I realized that my new smartphone has a pedometer app. I thought about how we all carry our smartphones everywhere we go, so it makes sense that it could easily track my every step. Truth be told, however, there are instances when I don’t have my phone on me because it makes for one too many items in my pockets. Still, like most people, I use my smartphone for pretty much everything.
When smartphones were developed, apps quickly followed. The smartphone reshaped the way we think about cellphones in general. They used to be primarily phones, providing us with an opportunity to make calls on the go. Yet over time, they became much more than that, and the actual phone feature is used much less often these days.
How many phone calls do you make in one day? Texting was popular well before the first iPhone was developed. Yet it was smartphones in general that made texting much easier. And then there is Face Time and the other popular video chat apps. Some people make more video calls than they do regular phone calls.
World of smartphones
Younger generations are growing up in a world where they don’t know anything but the smartphone. Source
And let me tell you something else. An electronic device used that often can quickly take on human characteristics in a person’s mind. That may sound a little ridiculous, but allow me to explain.
I purchased a car recently, and I nicknamed him Optimus. I went into my phone’s settings so that I could nickname my phone Optimus. Why did I do that? Well, since my phone is connected to my car via Bluetooth, it now displays ‘Optimus’ on the LCD screen. I actually talk to my car, too.
Now I say all of that lightheartedly and in a joking way, but think about how tech dependent our society is as a whole. We have much less face to face interaction than we used to in days past. Young people are growing up into a world where they sometimes spend more time with tech gadgets than they do people.
There was even an iPhone commercial talking about how if you feel lonely, your phone is always there. Do you see what I mean? AI is real when it comes to smartphones and other gadgets. Just think about Amazon’s Alexa. That is just the tip of the iceberg in reference to what is to come in the future.
Anything tech related can hold our attention for quite some time. We often plug ourselves in for hours so to speak. I for one happen to work online. There are plenty of people out there that go about their days not noticing what is happening. That’s simply because technology has blinded us to the changes.
We are still seeing what’s real when we look at our phones, but are we?
We pay much less attention to what is going on around us? In many ways, smartphones have changed our lives for the better. But a case can definitely be made that there are detriments to their existence. It’s great to have a device in your hand that can do so much. I like apps just as much as the next person.
But what are smartphones going to be capable of doing next? We are literally giving technology power over us. And we have created a world in which everyone freely jibber jabbers about online saying whatever we feel like on social media. As long as we have our outlet, we really don’t have to contemplate coming together, do we? Smartphones are great, but what they technology is doing to use as a whole is anything but wonderful.
Technology 