Are our smartphones making us stupid?

[mfcorey1]

[LuckyCharms]

1. This is why even though I own a smartphone and find it useful...

it is only powered up when I need to to be, and always in my pocket when in public. I realize that in this day and age, this is not posiible for everyone to do (work requirements, etc.).

[ret5hd]

4. Well how (exactly please)...

Do you inform all your casual acquantances/frenemies etc of your opinions "du minute" or send them pictures of that "wonderful kimchi...simply the best I've ever had"???

Huh? Huh? Got you there didn't I?!?!

[LuckyCharms]

10. LOL...I am not on social media anymore, and I consistently

get yelled at by my friends "I SENT YOU A TEXT ON SATURDAY, WHY DIDN'T YOU REPLY" ?

I tell them... "you know my phone is almost never on and you have my landline number".

[ret5hd]

11. I've never signed on to social media (unless you include du)...

i use my smartphone for business, online maps/directions, and keeping in touch with the wife.

The longest phone call (landline or cell) other than being "on hold" in my entire post-adolescent life was probably less than 2 minutes long. I hate phones in general.

on edit: my pre-adolescent/adolescent idea of a mobile phone:

[LuckyCharms]

12. I send/receive maybe 2 text a day on average...

and maybe one phone call a day on it.

I love it for GPS navigation.

If I am not expecting an important call, it is usually turned off.

I encourage people to call my landline and leave a message first.

[LuckyCharms]

14. 25 foot cord? n/t

[ret5hd]

15. Well, long enough to reach the hall closet...

where you could get SOME PRIVACY!!! Sis, I'm looking at you!!!

[LuckyCharms]

16. I had a cord like that too. I think it was 25 ft...

My dog always got tangled in it.

[essme]

2. Yes

nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Dark music, urgent lectures from motivational speakers, reliance on emotion-based anecdotes.

Plus a promo for online-based therapy at the end! Huh.

[dalton99a]

5. The idea of a smartphone is to make Google smart, not you

So Google knows who you are and where you are and what you do at all times

[Blue_Adept]

6. No

They provide a lifeline for many.

They opened up new avenues of work, employment, and success for many.

They connect many.

But like everything, it won't be good for everyone. That's simple reality with anything. You saw the same kinds of conversations when computers started moving into the household.

[RKP5637]

7. I just keep mine in a belt clip/holster. I generally keep it in airplane mode.

It's there if I need it. Most people don't even know I have one since I never tuck my shit in. It's very handy for navigation, email, phone calls, etc., etc. Plus I use a lot of networking apps on it. I always have it with me, but not on display. I like direct human interfaces.

[csziggy]

23. My phone is usually in my purse

When traveling I might use it for texting and calling to keep in touch with family. Locally I use it for a calendar app (NOT Google calendar) and shopping list (included in the calendar app).

At home I basically get no signal - just enough that it might ring but will not connect.

The major reason I have a cell phone is if I need to make emergency calls when away from home. The first two times I needed it after I got a cell phone (ran out of gas and flat tire) it was at home on the charger.

[RKP5637]

25. Yep, I've gotten so I carry mine all the time, pay phones are scarce these days! n/t

[csziggy]

35. I live in the country - no pay phones within five miles

It's better than when we moved here in 1979. Then there was nothing within ten miles, except for the little country store further out than we are. Now "civilization" is closer but I still feel better having a way to call for help when needed.

[gulliver]

8. We're turning into something like a different species

[Blue_Adept]

19. Sorta like with every technological achievement among others?

Fire

The wheel

Boats

Written language

Printed language

Cars

Planes

Phones

Cars

[gulliver]

24. Yep

[hlthe2b]

9. I don't think we need any help with that...

sigh....

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

13. Yes, I believe so.

My daughter in law has a 15 year old niece and a 13 year old nephew. They see school as as a unnecessary annoyance. They think, rather than actually learn and remember things, it's better to Google it. That way they have no need for actual thinking.

According to their Mom, that is the prevailing sentiment among the kids friends.

Why know it when you can just look it up on your phone in seconds? No need to retain any memory of it since, if needed, they can look it up again.

Another couple of generations, we'll be back to the stone ages.

[RKP5637]

27. Yep, back to the stone ages, and probably none of them have any idea how the technology

they are using works. I saw a scifi movie like that way back. One day the machines stopped and none knew how they worked to fix them and also they did not know how to live/survive without them. Maybe it was on Star Trek. Captain Kirk and Spock saved them.

[KentuckyWoman]

17. I don't need a video to tell me YES

It isn't the phone itself. Those are wonderful tools.

Trouble is we don't use it as a tool. We drive and text, work and netflix, stick our nosed in the thing instead of engage with the people in front of our face... etcetera etcetera We can't keep our face out of the toy...

One we collectively get over all the excitement of the new toy in our pocket, and put the phone in it's correct place in our lives, then we'll be fine.

[RKP5637]

28. Yep!!! n/t

[Coventina]

18. I guess that makes me smart. I don't have one!

[shockey80]

20. I have never owned one.

I always thought smart phones were kind of creepy. Like mind control. I was at the doctors office the other day and everyone in the waiting room was on their smart phone except for myself. They were all oblivious to their surroundings. It was strange.

[Blue_Adept]

22. I call bullshit

Seriously. Read what you said and see how superior you come off as.

I've been in the same situation, especially with taking my elderly mother to lots of appointments. I'm plenty of aware of what's going on while dealing with work issues, scheduling stuff with my teenagers for the afternoon with activities, chores, and meals, and even doing some basic shopping for necessities or more.

Hell, half the time I'm reading a book.

Or DU.

I guess DU makes me stupid now.

The elitism on this place has always been bad but as the membership thins it's getting so much worse.

[RKP5637]

29. Eons ago I carried a pager 7x24 for work, then later a cell phone, then a palm pilot,

then a Motorola calm type communicator w/small k/b, then many iterations of cell phones, then many many heavy laptops, etc., then a Google Chromebook, finally a smartphone. What a difference. It's lightweight and I have the world at my fingertips and not all the stuff I used to have to carry/use. And those laptops were heavy, all the traveling/flying I used to do. I welcome the smartphone. I have a need for it and it works well. ... but I don't stumble down the street with it in front of my nose. LOL!

[Blue_Adept]

32. Such fond memories of the palm pilot with work!

I hated the pager though since it forced me to call in instead of providing actual information. I hated being on-call for work like that when it was my turn two weeks out of the month.

But I've mostly done what you've done, lugging around lots of equipment over the years. Now it's all in one condensed place and it makes me smarter and allows me to be a whole lot more mobile.

[RKP5637]

33. I forgot, I also had a Sharp Zarus. It was supposed to be the PDA to end all competition. It worked

well, but as I heard the 3rd party app developers Sharp was counting on never really came along at least in the US. It did quite well in Japan. It was neat, but was expensive. I had one of the early ones with no backlight. The Palm Pilot was just amazing. I loved it. I had all of my complicated and over-lapping work schedules in it for endless meetings, travel etc. all timezones. I was amazed at how it kept track of everything. Then at airports I used to read the news on it with the built in modem and flip up antenna. It was so cool back then.

[malaise]

21. I sent this to all my siblings

And their kids

[DavidDvorkin]

26. This kind of condemnation happens with every new technology

The supercilious outrage will be transferred to something else in the near future.

[RKP5637]

30. I remember the outrage when we went from square wheels to round wheels. Lost of control and might

roll down hills itself. Sorry, that image just popped into my mind. Yes, I agree.

[DavidDvorkin]

34. Yeah, like that!

[treestar]

31. No, I like how you can look anything up

right away. Things you would not remember to when you had to get to the library. If I run across a word I don't know, I can look it up right there.

Also the way you can look up the way to deal with anything - silver polishing, back exercises, pasta recipes, etc. convert currency, whatever you want to know.