I do not have a “smart” phone. A shocking, and almost heretical, thing to say in this modern age. People without the latest smart phones are looked down upon as backwards or just weird (or as hipsters, which probably are a bit of both). Having a flip-phone just doesn’t cut it now, but examining the impulse that has made this miracle technology the defining accoutrements to this generation’s ensemble could help us better understand the times in which we live.
The easiest way to begin thinking about this is to ask, “What is the purpose of having a phone?” Obviously, to be able to communicate with people at a distance. Why then is a flip-phone considered unsuitable? It can make calls, thus performing the primary task that is expected of a phone. The reason it is unacceptable is because there is something “better,” the phone is no longer just a means of communication, but a status symbol, and perhaps more.
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People who use smart phones use them for everything. Their whole lives are based off of their phones: they can access the internet, talk with people on Facebook, send pictures of themselves with Snapchat, and generally be entirely occupied with the little screen in front of them. This is good in many ways, being able to figure out where you are using a navigation app is pretty useful, but most people become so absorbed in their phones that they don’t pay attention to anything else, which can be both annoying (having dinner with someone who is too busy with their phone) and dangerous (when people drive while texting or using Snapchat).
Even the term “smart” phone is a means of hooking people, it implies that the opposite must be a “stupid” phone, and who would want to use that (or even worse, be seen using that)? Apple and the other “smart” phone creators are able to make so many different (but completely the same) models because people continue to buy them, because people feel that they need them. A few generations ago no one had cell-phones, and before that they didn’t have phones at all, and yet they all survived. Why has it become such a necessity for our generation to have smart phones?
In the end, as with all things, it boils down to control. We have put ourselves in a position where we have the ability to control almost every aspect of our lives, and that power (as illusory as it may be) is addictive. Knowing that at any moment we have a handheld means of contacting anyone we want, that we can watch videos on Youtube or play Angry Birds, or that we can record or take pictures of every single second of our day has made us incapable of being able to entertain ourselves or even just tolerate being without stimulation for a short time.
Our craving for stimulation and our ability to control a constant supply of it has put us in the same place that lab-rats are in when they’re purposefully addicted to heroin and allowed unlimited access to the source. I’m not trying to say that smart phone use is addictive--nor am I trying to compare it to a drug--however, I do believe that the unbridled use of smart phones is not a good thing. It dulls our mental faculties through constant inane stimulation, and discourages us from quiet uninterrupted thought.
This will have severe effects upon our generation. A nation that will be unable to concentrate on anything for long periods of time will certainly be incapable of maintaining a republic, much less be able to face new threats and come up with innovative solutions for solving them.
