DOES anyone remember how they got along without a mobile phone before owning one? How would you cope if you had to give yours up?
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I know if it were me I’d probably miss a lot of appointments, discover my landline phone still works and better yet my near sightedness (brought on by staring into a small two by four inch screen) may get better.
Our mobile phones do so much more than just make calls, they connect to the Internet, games, diaries, Facebook, maps, you name it there is an app (application) for that.
I think at some point that I need to disconnect for a while, as this can’t be good for me, just look at my aforementioned square eyes.
Everyone is so very connected these days, you need not have someone’s phone number to reach them. Fast moving mobile technology makes this possible, even as I type, 10 more ways to connect to your friends via your Smartphone were invented.
I wonder how much more hustle and bustle we add to our lives by being so connected, with our emails, texts, pokes, blogs, photos, alerts, comments and voice messages right there in the palm of our hands, all vying for attention.
Being connected in some form is a given in these times, it makes the world smaller, information obtainable and spare time filled.
I’m always pulling my phone out when standing in a queue, when really I should just be enjoying the quiet moment or engaging someone in conversation.
If something happens in the world, odds are you’ll hear about it on a social network on your mobile phone, before it hits the news. I have to admit I check my phone before I get out of bed in the morning, a bit like reading the morning paper, checking out what going on, except it is my family and friends.
And that’s the other side of it. These technologies are keeping me in touch with those that I love, bringing me a sense of being part of their everyday that you wouldn’t ordinarily have, due to distance etc.
Keeping up with how my relatives are doing with the touch of a button, but how much depth can you really give a relationship maintained online?
I can hop online and tell Aunty Jen I’ve made that recipe of hers and it went well in one quick short message, ordinarily you may not have picked up the phone and called someone to share the little things like this.
Being in touch all the time does have it good and bad points.
It does make it easier to find like-minded people that we are compatible with and share interests, but we still need physical contact away from the little screen with our family and friends. Using our smartphones to stay in touch is starting to change what we see as acceptable social behaviour.
I think we all know at least one person, who always has their phone in their hand tapping away during a dinner with friends. Most likely to be updating their Facebook status to say “I’m having dinner with friends!”
Where do we draw the line?
So before I become that dinner guest I’m putting down the smartphone for a few hours each day, and getting away from the information overload.
The kettle is on, it’s time to sit down, look at each other and actually chat, without the help of my little technological friend.