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<Caution – Rant>
Sorry, my good people of the CR, maybe I shouldn’t be the one talking, but this really got to me.
I had opportunity to work for a specific amount of time, straight, strenuous, manual labor. Alongside me was this fellow taking a break, sitting to the side, and enjoying his toy(s). So completely engrossed in his toy(s), hours upon hours totally oblivious to the world. Sorry people, I wouldn’t call such a device anything ‘smart’.
The smart phone was probably originally intended for smart people who were supposed to use the phone for talking and getting information quickly and efficiently. Problem is, we gave all the smartphones to dumbpeople. And everyone knows what happens if you give a mouse a muffin. These people find more attention and love in a metal device than anyone ever gave to them, so what is stopping them from hanging around with something that wants them/doesn’t mind if they are around? Smartphones are dangerous if used in the wrong ways – a person could become blind and deaf to the real world, and forget that it exists.
When I first got a smartphone, I told myself that I would never become one of those app-slaves. But it happened anyways. Solitaire sucked me in, amongst other silly games. They weren’t really hurting my neshama, I thought at the time. But they took up so much time that I could have spent doing other things, like studying for a test, spending time with human beings, and helping around the house. It really hit home when a close friend reproached me for constantly being in front of the little screen, and I was worried about the strength of our relationship. I was ignoring my friend, and replacing her with a phone. So, in front of her, (yes, I was crying), I deleted all my games on my phone and kept only the essentials. And I’ve been happy ever since. I now have more time; I’m on close terms with my friend again; I’m not attached to my phone. I can even go places without it!
So yes, it’s hard to stop, once you’ve started. It’s an addiction. Pity the fellow you wrote about. He’s wasting his time and his life. Hashem only gave us so much, and I’m sure He did not intend for us to spend it wastefully.
Smartphones are very handy. I’m not going to launch into a rant about addiction, but I can see why it can take a lot of focus to work one properly.
I mean, how does anyone with normal-sized fingers type on those screens? Fruit Ninja’s easy, but I would never try to write an essay on one of those things…. Although evidence suggests that some people have given up trying to deal with autocorrect’s 100% accurate (note the sarcasm) automatic suggestions, it’s a painstaking process trying to type out a coherent sentence on one of those tiny touchscreens.
And for that reason only, I believe they should be called stupid phones. Or, they’re smart phones for people who have become stupid? Or maybe smart phones make smart people feel stupid because they wrack their brains and tear our their hair in frustration due to the aforementioned reason?
LF: Someone could do the exact same without a smartphone. The phone isn’t a cause here. An enabler, maybe. But certainly not a cause.
It’s true that smartphones distract you from real life and turn you into a zombie. But what smartphone critics fail to realize is that it’s better to be a zombie than to be engaged in whatever passes for “real life” these days.
@VM – +1
Oh, and maybe I’m naive, but I’ve seen computer games that are far more exciting than app games. And while I’ll play them from time to time, I’m not addicted to computer games.
It’s true that smartphones distract you from real life and turn you into a zombie. But what smartphone critics fail to realize is that it’s better to be a zombie than to be engaged in whatever passes for “real life” these days.
I hear what you are saying but you make it sound like those are the two choices. It distracts you from a life of growth and closeness to Hashem. The fact that it pulls you away from the world of sheker and is a better choice than that “real world” isn’t overlooked by the critics, it is just an irrelevant piece. Know what I mean?
I have seen people that were never into toys until these things came out. I’m not really sure what it is about these objects, but there is something about it that pulls mature people into the wirlpool. Not just smartphones in particular, but as soon as camera phones came out you had grown ups going around snapping pictures of everything. Perhaps it is the cuteness of an all-able tiny device, and we are wired to like cute things.
“Smartphone” means the phone is supposed to be smarter than its owner.
sorry, i had to post this
come on little froggie dont tell me you dont play FROGGER all day
I think I’m the only one in the world who doesn’t have a smartphone and isn’t planning to buy one. (and not because I’m poor or something, it’s just because I don’t see what’s the difference between a smartphone and my 10 year old Nokia, if I only need a mobile phones to make and receive calls).
I don’t have a smartphone and don’t want one. I really hope I’m not eventually forced into it, though…the last time I went to upgrade my basic phone, the guy at Verizon gave me a whole lecture about how “the world is changing, cars can drive themselves and my 18 month old daughter knows how to turn on the TV” and that basic phones are becoming obsolete. It was very upsetting.
18 month olds have always been pushing buttons and turning doorknobs and locking people out. Nothing new. If anything, they’re becoming more capable if they knowingly turn on the TV set with the intention of doing so.
But that, jewishfeminist02, is a non sequitur with the claim that smartphones are the best for everyone. So keep using your regular phone. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise if that isn’t what you need!
Well, you can post with a smartphone, to be fair.
Smartphones and their games in particular are very addictive. Flappy Bird creator got rid of it for just that reason. All the games that make it are cute little games that keeps u at it just because of that- theyre just cute little games.
Point is, the phone itself is a cause. People who weren’t distracted by other things so often are now constantly iphoning.
btw the smartphone stupidphone thing is really overdone and just sounds like an old rebbe
froggie is your issue that he took a break or that he used his (seemingly lengthy) break on his smartphone btw i also work manual labor.
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