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But how? Why? Are they really that thick? Gadget dependent? Suckers
for adverts? It seems like a drug. Privacy? What privacy?
Sad lives I'd say!
Interesting articles in the paper about people spending time at the park with the kids - on the phone and ignoring them while they are lost in their own world.
All rather sad really.
A seismic wave of technology appears to have left Kiwis increasingly stressed, with two-thirds of us now complaining there are "not enough hours in the day". Three-quarters of Kiwis have smartphones and nearly a quarter of us watch an internet television service such as Netflix, according to Roy Morgan's "state of the nation" survey. The research firm found that even half of people aged over 65 now had smartphones.
Then I reach for my phone. My connection to the outside world, my little shiny companion. Wonder what's happened overnight. I can do all this while I make breakfast for the kids with my other hand, but my attention is split and they can see this. They are learning from me that this is ok. Sad, isn't it? It's no wonder then, that when they come home at the end of the day the first thing they ask for is the iPad or to watch TV. I'm not a monster. But tempered with real life, that's where the goodness is and where my guilt can shrink a little.
I stumbled across an incredible school holiday programme recently which alleviates my guilt: Conscious Kids – "a 100% nature based holiday programme designed as an antidote to the fast-paced technology filled world our kids inhabit'. I'm talking about no iPads allowed, but no want for them either. The kids spend their days making huts, climbing trees, making mud pies, painting, learning how to build a camp fire, being free. I feel good just reading those words. My 5-year-old went last school holidays and it was absolutely brilliant. No structure, just pure fun and freedom and he loved it. He didn't miss his devices at all and came home happy, pink-cheeked and exhausted. This is the kind of Kiwi childhood I want him to have and, I think, a reminder to me that kids can have some time on the iPad, in front of TV - of course.
Yip - he only used the devices because the parent wasn't putting any effort into providing an alternative.
Remember the messy kitchen when letting the kids help bake - doesn't happen so much now.
A pub in Britain has taken steps to stop customers spending time on their phones rather than having a beer or talking with people. The Gin Tub in Brighton has installed a Faraday cage around its building to stop cellphone signals. Although Faraday cages were developed about 150 years before cellphones, they're effective for stopping any electrical signals entering an area.
That means being inside the Gin Tub while on your phone is like trying to use it an elevator - you'll get zero reception. The pub's owner, Steve Tyler, says he hasn't had any complaints from customers. He installed it after he noticed people were spending more time on their phones than speaking to each other.
I've seen people meeting for meals, who then put their cell
phone on the table, like a glass or cutlery! Few - if any even
remotely look like they're on-call fire-fighters or medics.
How do you manage yours? The poll allows for multiple
answers.
I've seen a lot of people do that and it's really annoying. I always put mine on silent mode and put it inside my bag.
When Alexander Graham Bell patented the blower back in 1876, naysayers predicted it would destroy civilised society. They were about 150 years and 20,000 generations of device off, but now the telephone's bastard cousin, the smartphone, is turning us all into red-eyed dullards. Zombies are everywhere. They're at the park with their kids, glancing up occasionally to offer a weak grunt of encouragement (after they've Instagrammed and Facebook-lived "Saturday's super-fun park trip! #allthelols #lovethislittleguy").
They're at the bus stop, lurching angrily behind the bus after it drove past because no-one looked up to wave it down. Some of them were probably at the table with you at lunch, staring vacantly at the object in their palms, replying stupidly to your half-heard conversation. I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket when it's not ringing. I check it then I want to check it again almost immediately. I try not to use it in front of my toddler, but it is hard.
Studies on smartphone usage have found addiction is linked to depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and stress. Some signs of addictive behaviour are: "uncontrollable use, in addition to feelings of intense desire or irresistible need, loss of control, inattention to usual activities, the focalisation of interests on the behaviour or activity of interest, the persistence of the behaviour despite its negative effects, and the irritability and malaise associated with abstinence."
There's no real data on how common addiction is, because the field of study is so new. But it's pretty obvious, right? Just look around. This week I deleted the Facebook and Twitter apps from my smartphone. I've started bringing a book on the bus. I'm considering making a deliberate switch back to a regular cell phone. I want my kid to know me, not some diluted version.
Are you still holding our against the technological tide?
If you feel as though you're losing your life to the digital demands of your phone, then it might be time to downgrade to a "dumb" phone. Christopher House, 42, of Wellington, loves his N.okia 6070 that he bought for $25 off TradeMe. "I don't always want to be on. I've got Internet at home and at work and I don't want it in places in between." "I love technology but I just don't want it in my life 24/7."
He said the best thing about his N.okia was the week-long battery life. "It's built like an actual brick and unlike some of the other N.okias it doesn't 'pants dial' (accidentally call someone when bumped in your pocket). Luddite or geek? He said the only minor drawback of not having a smartphone is when he gets lost and needs a map, though if he does he relies on strangers for help. House said his phone can attract a bit of attention. "It definitely gets a second look and people ask about it. The battery life usually gets a big reaction."
I've realised that one of the reasons I don't like people's insistence on using cellphones is that it enables them to be lax/inconsiderate.
Like delivery drivers who insist(!) that the recipient give them a cellphone number to coordinate the delivery. They think it allows them to come at any hour between 8am-6pm provided they call your mobile half an hour in advance. Ummm, no. If you give an approximate time, even a 'window' I can arrange things to be there. I am not going to be hanging around for ten hours because someone invented a cellphone. You need to be more organised.
Or people whose noses get put out of joint because your not having a mobile means that they can't let you know if they're running late. Ok, so we all have the unexpected crop up from time to time, if you're late so often that you rely on the people you're meeting having a cellphone, to excuse yourself, there's something wrong.
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