A few years later, the original iPhone improved drastically and became the iPhone 4. During that time I also graduated high school and became a busy college student juggling multiple responsibilities and crazy schedules as most collegiettes(TM) do these days. I was starting to see more of a need for a smartphone; however, I wasn’t convinced that I absolutely needed or wanted one. Sure, it would make life easier, I didn’t doubt that. Isn’t that what technology is kind of about? Making life easier. Convenience. Encouraging more instant gratification.
Long story short, my parents got me an iPhone for my birthday/Christmas. A bunch of my friends also got super nice smartphones over break for Christmas including the MyTouch, HTC, and others. Suddenly, everyone’s phones are getting bigger, especially after you put on a nice bulky case.
1. I feel no need to turn on my computer. After downloading all of my apps, I realize I can do everything I normally do on my computer… on my phone. And now suddenly, I feel no urge to turn on my computer.
2. Emails. They follow you everywhere. Before, you can leave all your unanswered emails for later when you get to your computer. Now, I can answer them as they come… but is that always a good thing? Then again, you can choose to answer them as they come or let them sit and ignore the red notification number.
3. You’ve got the world (wide web) at your fingertips. Want to look up a random word or fact? Wikipedia it! Need to know where to go? Map it! Does your friend absolutely need you to watch a funny video? YouTube it! It’s revolutionary, what phones can do these days.
4. Bye Bye battery! If you rely pretty heavily on your new smartphone, you’ll be charging your phone every night for sure! I was a noob and thought my phone would survive overnight with over 50% battery left. Little did I know, I had almost every application running on my phone when I went to sleep and woke up to a dead iPhone the next morning. Oops! But even if I hadn’t made that mistake, there’s lots of things that drain your batteries – playing games for instance. Fastest. Battery. Killer.
A few observations just from this past week lead me to personally believe that future generations will have to be en garde when it comes to the way we build and maintain relationships.
Scenario 1: Two of my friends are visiting Houston and are sleeping over at my house. The three of us had gotten iPhones this semester. I come out of the shower and both of them are sitting on the couch on their respective iPhones. If this was before the smartphone era, or if neither of them owned a smartphone, I believe they probably would have been talking to each other and not playing on their phones.
Scenario 2: I’m eating lunch with someone in the dining hall on campus when I spot a familiar face eating by herself… but on her phone the whole time. I don’t blame her for being on her phone since she’s eating by herself, but isn’t it amazing how it’s possible to have lunch with your phone now?
Scenario 3: Coming home for break, my friends and I like to meet up regularly at our hometown Tapioca House (Asian pearl milk tea/bubble tea place). We’re all sitting down, enjoying our drinks and having some conversation, but there’s always a few people constantly on their phones and even moments when pretty much everyone is looking down intensely at a phone. Didn’t we all drive out just to meet up and hang out? Yet at some point or another we can’t seem to pry our eyes away from our phones long enough to hold a full conversation.
I’m definitely guilty of being absorbed with something on my phone instead of being in the moment with friends, but the idea that technology can and will make relationships grow cold is alarming. The thought that maybe someday when I’m married and have a family, we’ll all be sitting under the same roof, but each person on a different computer or phone or whatever cool new gadget there is, not talking to each other…. is disconcerting.
Perhaps, I’m being a little pessimistic in my thoughts about technology, but how do you think technology is affecting your relationships with people?