“Back in my day (when
dinosaurs roamed the earth) we didn’t text people we used to just show up to
their place or we’d use the land line”
(everyone over forty)
(everyone over forty)
I’ve heard this dozens of times from parents, grandparents
and elder co-workers. They would then
proceed to tell me about what the land line looked like with its spin dialer. As I
was born in ‘90s I do not remember a time without mobile devices (I also cringe
when I hear the words “back in my day…”) though as I’ve grown up mobile devices
have advanced in technology and become more prevalent in everyday life. Before the smart phone was the humble flip
phone with its push buttons as opposed to touch screens and applications. Though I do miss a good game of ‘snake’,
mobile devices have advanced combining other technologies such as the digital
camera, the mp3 player and the internet.
The smart phone is seen as a revolutionary device though it has evolved
from other technologies (Haddon, L & Green, N 2009).
My phone saves me time I can send and receive emails for
work and texts are quicker than calling.
I can connect with my friends at any hour of the day with social
networking applications such as facebook and instagram. My phone often takes better quality photos
than a digital camera and I can directly post them to social networking
sites.
In many ways my phone is also my security blanket. When I’m on a night out and I’m walking back
to my car I feel safer with my phone being there. I’ll admit that when I go to a friend’s place
I’ll text them to let me in. I’ll call
if they don’t answer but my last resort is actually knocking! To be honest knocking actually makes me feel
apprehensive.
I personally have an android smart phone that I have a
love/hate relationship with. I have
identified a pattern that whenever I’m lonely or bored that I send a text or I
connect to social networking sites and
though I’m communicating with people it often makes me feel more alone than when
I started. I was very interested
listening to psychologist, Sherry Turkle’s TED talk ‘Connected, but alone’ and
I identified strongly with a few of the points she made. Turkle (2012) mentions ‘we’re alone but we’re
afraid of intimacy’. Does this explain
my apprehension with the front door?
That knocking and greeting someone face to face is too intimate?
Turkle (2012) goes on to say that ‘being alone feels like a
problem that needs to be solved’. We connect with our devices when we’re lonely
as we don’t how to deal with solitude.
In the past I have made concerted efforts to be ‘in the moment’ with
friends having dinner, at board game nights, at parties only to be met with
their mobile device beeping away with every text, facebook comment, etc . It’s disconcerting that they are physically
in your presence but really they’re consumed in their virtual world. Our use of these devices is distancing
ourselves from others and is actually making us more alone.
So I’m putting a little challenge out there for both myself
and everyone else to live ‘in the moment’, gain a little bit of independence
and reduce the usage of mobile devices…well at least whilst we’re at
dinner.
References
'DIY Dinosaur iPhone Dock Roarr...'[image], Craziest Gadgets, viewed 1 December 2012 http://www.google.com.au/imgres?hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1920&bih=911&tbm=isch&tbnid=J19V0f2A4o9sgM:&imgrefurl=http://craziestgadgets.com/2010/01/27/nes-controller-dress/&docid=L7Q3_mM1zAW2eM&imgurl=http://craziestgadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/diy-dino-iphone-dock.jpg&w=490&h=422&ei=_pO5UKWCJ5GviQei4YGABA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=2&vpy=116&dur=1883&hovh=208&hovw=242&tx=59&ty=102&sig=111375401927617921527&page=1&tbnh=135&tbnw=153&start=0&ndsp=54&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:81
Haddon, L. and Green, N. 2009, Mobile Communications: an introduction to new media, EBL Ebook Library, Berg, viewed 30 November 2012.
Turkle, S 2012, Connected, but alone? TED Conversations, viewed 26 November 2012, http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together.html.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteNice post i have to agree with you regarding people always using mobiles in front of you when you are out. I think everyone accepts it though as everyone seems to do it these days.
Thank you. It is seen as acceptable though should it be? I think it is all about balance the odd facebook status and text is fine though when out with friends shouldn't we enjoy their company?
ReplyDeleteMY BIGGEST PET HATE IS PHONES AT DINNER! (excuse the caps lock but I am very passionate!) Im only 21 and my friends are so consumed in their phones it is getting ridiculous. On saturday night we were drinking at a friends place and I watched my girlfriend sitting next to me, check her instagram 5 times mid conversation. I am all for these mobile devices BUT they need to be banned in social situations!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. I went to a hen's night recently and everyone was taking pics with their phones then they were straight on facebook. I'm not sure where the 'fun' came in, they were too busy 'documenting' their night and not actually experiencing the night.
DeleteI agree that we should limit our usage.
ReplyDeleteMy workplace doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'don't send e-mails if you don't have to'. I receive long novel emails, an email for every person who is away sick, I get CC'd into other's conversations... People who are a desk's distance away email me to ask a question, even for social talk!
This workplace can't grasp the concept of overload. Email exists, yes, but this does not excuse people from actually speaking to each other - phone calls and face-to-face conversations are appreciated from me in the workplace.
As a child of the 80's (which obviously makes me OLD!) I remember a time without mobiles, and clearly remember the old spin dial phones - they were fun, if annoying when you entered a wrong number and had to start over again. Then again, our phone number was only 5 digits long, so even that wasn't too much of a hassle! But I am just addicted to my mobile devices as the 'digital natives' of the 90's, and admit to using it an inappropriate times, including during dinner. I am making a concerted effort to not do this, but this unit is not making it any easier.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I laugh that when our children get older we can tell them about the marvelous world of MS-DOS, dot matrix printers, cassette tapes and mobile phones that looked like bricks. They won't believe us!
Haha you're only as old as you feel! I think they'll remember cassette tapes as they appear on iPhone case designs, necklaces. I still have to use Dos programs at work & my equivalent of a spin dialer is a safe (I work in a bank). I wonder what future mobile devices will look like?
Delete