So I was going to do a hard-hitting post called "Letters from a Confused Semi-Luddite," in which I gnashed my teeth a bit about (a) nearly being run off the highway twice in the past week because of people texting while driving; (b) the charming family out for a companionable Saturday jog who, on closer inspection, didn't seem so companionable because each person turned out to be plugged into a separate iPod; and -- the pièce de résistance -- (c) the four adults waiting for a table at the International House of Pancakes on Sunday morning, each and every one texting furiously as their companion, a little girl in a tiara, clutched her stuffed animal and scowled.
HOWEVER, I try to keep this blog at least semi-uplifting, so never mind. Besides, I have my own issues (at this particular moment I am featuring the following: laziness, procrastination, disorganization, poor grooming, lack of restraint re: caffeine...and dust bunnies. Oh, and apparently Judgmentalness. Or Judgementalness, to my friends to the east).
I am also featuring a tea cozy on my head. And an unsettlingly flip-flopped map of the British Isles.
But seriously, what's your take on all this stuff? Do you love the excitement of being reachable 24 hours a day, on the road, at the restaurant, in the toilet? Is it exhilarating to carry on simultaneous conversations with the person next to you and two or three people far away, while checking movie listings, pinning a cute craft project to Pinterest and ordering a few Christmas presents?
Maybe I am a hopeless curmudgeonly freak of nature being left far behind by Progress. After all, even the Amish use (borrowed?) mobile phones. And it's not that I don't own one myself. But it's not the phones I'm worried about; it's the addictive way in which they're used.
Kind of like the addictive way I seem to be using my computer's Photo Booth feature. But I digress.
Mostly I want to know if I am overreacting. Is this the end of meaningful relationships, of civility as we know it?
I'll be interested to hear what you think.
13 comments:
It is annoying that people don't concentrate on the immediate company and continually check facebook and twitter and e-mails and text messages. I get cross about it if someone in my home ignores me for their blasted phone. As for texting whilst driving, don't get me started, especially as my OH has recently been in a road accident and was hit head on. He has no broken bones but he is hurting and all because someone was too arrogant to wait for three seconds. I think I am agreeing with you.
What was that you said about flip-flops on the map of Britain?m
It used to bother me. Now I just figure that the people who find their phones more interesting than their companions probably aren't worth talking to anyway.
I do have a smart phone (an old one) and I do find it extremely useful, and I would feel very sad if I no longer had it. It does have a saving grace: it has a ridiculously quiet ring tone so I rarely hear it ringing and so it doesn't distract me :-)
PS Last time someone in this house wore a tea cosy we all made animal noises at them as they stumbled about unable to see. Oh, yes.
I hate being reachable 24 hours a day. I don't even like old-fashioned phones much. Mobile phones are very useful though. I use mine to keep track of my teenagers and it is reassuring to know that if I break down in my ancient car then I can call for help.
People seem to be too busy communicating with buttons that they have forgotten how to communicate with their voices.
I am featuring a lack of restraint with re: caffeine intake too, but that's an improvement on lack of restraint re: cake and alcohol.
I've read a bit about the neuroscience behind technology and the impulsive desire to check and send messages, and evidently it's similar to other addictive substances like caffeine and alcohol and gambling; the little bursts of feel-good endorphins it produces keeps you going back for more, as does the need to be up on the latest news from your friends so you're not the last to know.
So, just like other things that can become addictive, it's hard to put technology away and use it in moderation. Tech industries are not unaware of this phenomenon; when you have that much cash and smarts behind product development, we mere mortals don't stand a chance of turning an indifferent eye to all that shiny, buzzing stuff, especially when there are times we really need to use these devices for "real" activities.
I do get frustrated with people for being at the least inconsiderate and at worst unsafe; I can't imagine how I would feel if a loved one was injured or killed in an accident because they were distracted by technology. But then again, distraction while driving is nothing new; I remember a friend who came across a fatal accident in which the driver crashed while reaching for a fallen cigarette lighter.
I guess this is a rambling way of saying people are gullible and the tech industry is taking advantage of that, but ultimately this, too, will die down like all fads and people will realize what boobs they're being. Or not! But I can count more times that I've been able to facilitate face-to-face meetings because I HAD a cell phone than if I wasn't able to use one at all, so that has to be a good thing! Like lunch yesterday? <:-D
I took the train home from the city one night with my husband and we realized that every single person in the train was plugged in to one devise or another. Even I, to tell the truth, was texting a daughter. The good thing is, it lets you keep in touch with teenagers and saves you when old cars break. But I do wonder what comes next. First we all plug and then what? We'll see, I guess.
My name is Tracy and I am an addict. There. I said it. I am addicted to my phone. I'm interested to read what Amy says about the neuroscience bit as I think it is completely true.
I don't think I offend anyone by using it excessively in company but I do live with one 15 year boy who doesn't really pay me much attention anymore so it is often the easy answer to a bit of loneliness when it strikes.
I get a lot of peace of mind when No2 is out and about from being contactable and wouldn't have it any other way.
eeeek now it is upside down.
Firstly I love all your photos, they did make me laugh, especially the tea cosy one :-) I am not a phone person , it takes me days to reply to a text - much to my friends amusement. I am however a pc person, i love to see what people have been up to on facebook via photos, I like pinterest so I can keep in one place a photo of things that inspire me. I am also very sorry to say that I have started jogging and when my kiddies come out with me they we wear separate ipods/music things. Now this is for a good reason - if we don't my kiddies can happily run and chat chat chat but me on the other hand can only run and pant so can't reply :-s If we all listen to music I can run better and they stop chatting ;-) x
Well as a former iPhone-aholic (who was cured of addiction temporarily when said iPhone did a dive somewhere it shouldn't) - I am increasingly frustrated by the technology obsession.
We received a letter home from school this week telling us that our 11 year old will NEED an iPad for school next year. Excuse me - that's absolutely NECESSARY for his education? Apparently so!!
THE most frustrating thing I find is meeting a friend for a coffee, only to have them spend the entire time checking their texts/emails/photos/Facebook than speaking to me!
I think I'm turning into a grumpy old woman. Could you send me a tea cosy do you think??
Fee :-)
I think that teacozy really suits you, by the way.
I'm chiming a wee bit late...guess that says something about by electronics usage. My cell phone stays home 90% or more of the time. I figure there are only three people who would contact me via the cell phone so I don't carry it with me. This drives my daughter crazy!! I don't like being "hooked up" all the time. In my business I "listen" to people all day long, plus I have music in the background. It is no wonder that on the way home I travel in complete silence to get my mind and emotions to settle down. I've found that when I sit and knit or spin on the spinning wheel I do so in complete quiet, as well.
When people come in for massages I ask if they've turned their cell phones off. Some are startled by the question but I tell them that it looks to me like they need an hour of uninterrupted peace. Their shoulders seem to melt at this statement and the phones get put away, ringer off! Then they thank me. :O)
I feel I am going backwards in a foward moving world. But then if we didn't have the internet we couldn't see Lynn's beautiful blogs.....there are always two sides.
Excuse me now whilest I go and stare at my fully loaded washer that now refuses to drain.
i keep the ringer on my phone turned off. :D
i just hate the sense of being "reachable". e-mail is so much nicer. you look at it when *you* want to look; it doesn't jangle you out of your reverie like a phone.
i love tv, but i keep it turned off unless i'm actually watching it. i love music, but i can't stand to have the radio on if i have anyone in the car with me. basically, i can't concentrate on talking to anyone unless there's nothing else going on. distractions ruin it.
i do love my iphone, though. how else would i be able to do three NYT crossword puzzles in bed right before i go to sleep?!?! ;^)
My phone is a dinosaur and does not have internet or anything so I can only text or call people. And half the time I don't hear it ring or beep when they return my calls anyway.
I also think it's important to match one's lipstick to one's tea cosy, so clearly you should ignore everything I say.
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