| I really disagree with the sentiments here. Like many of you, I'm on the internet quite literally 14-16
out of every 24 hours, actively using it for about 13 of those. I've had a smartphone continuously since the palm treo 600 in 2003. But never once have I felt powerless against it. I have one simple rule: don't use it when I'm talking to people. (Unless we want to look something up on Wikipedia, in which case we do it together). This is enough. Maybe I just don't know what all you other people are doing with your phones that make them so irresistible, but I am able to move fluidly between online and offline action in the world with no second thought. If I get a notification, I take the phone out for a second to read it and put it right back away. Many times, the phone could be anything: If I have a magazine nearby instead, I read that. Or subway map. Or shampoo bottle. What's the real complaint here? I've seen articles like this 100 times and frankly none of them ever brings anything original to the table. I actually think this is because they derive their clickability through their vagueness. Everyone knows some jackass who brings his phone out during thanksgiving dinner with grandma, and everyone has almost run into someone who has been looking at their phone instead if the street. Is this really all you're complaining about? I'd call these minor inconveniences at best, rude behavior at worst. Predictably, In an effort to fill the void left by actual specific examples and details, these arguments/videos take on some sort of mystical "not enjoying the world" vibe. How do they make this leap so readily? It's easy to do because everyone loves to think the rest of the world is made up of zombies. But does it even logically follow?! That video he references has come up everywhere and seems to resonate with a lot of people. It seems to focus on the idea of savoring the moment, whatever that means. Our Galtian heroine can do it, no one else can. I see this woman as desperately and reactionarily clinging to a past that never existed, or at best an artisan-crafted inconvenience-sporting charming paradise. Let's get to specifics. Let's discuss specific times when we think it's not ok to talk on the phone -- at dinner, when walking on a crowded street, with grandma -- and let's give up on this high-blown pretentious rhetoric about connecting with the world and savoring the moment. It's frankly counterproductive--instead of discussing the new norms that always-connected technology dictates in specific detail, these articles have wandered into mystical, unrefutable territory that is usually the subject of religious belief, not pragmatic policy-setting. |
There's a weird kind of "back in the idealistic days of yore" element to this. Texting during meals, for example, isn't something I regularly do. But. I can think of many situations where it's been important in solving a social problem. For example, if someone got lost en route and needs a little help. Or is running late and just wants to politely let you know to go ahead and order. To ignore those messages would be kind of an asshole move.
Remember when not everyone carried mobile phones? Basic communication when people were out-and-about was wildly inconvenient if not completely impossible. Tons of time and energy got wasted doing basic tasks we now completely take for granted.