Ways Your Phone Is Messing Up Your Life

I don't know what is a bigger culprit of interpersonal relationship failures the phone or social media. I always feel I have a better time telling my stories to people rather than posting an instant feed of my life. As for phones I would want to see something like google glasses but implanted and mind controlled. Something out of 'ghost in the shell'. It would improve attention to the world I think.

a reply to: LamontCranston

I don't think it comes as a surprise to most of us that the device made for connecting people is making people more secluded and unplugged from their immediate surroundings and other people.

I think this is temporary. Augmented reality will bridge the gap between the two extremes to where we will be deeply connected to each other globally and in-person. In fact, many things in the works will actually enhance the experience of speaking to people in-person. Think Google Glass but evolved 10 years from now.

I don't own a mobile phone anymore, I honestly can't stand them. My laptop and Tablet do the job, as does my home phone, if i'm out and people need me, shame. Ring me missus instead.

a reply to: LamontCranston
I don't have a phone of any kind. Write me a letter. Don't come over either. Very happy in paradise.

a reply to: LamontCranston

I like the tips, but for the rest...so what? Life has changed. Still loads of people meet in bars or take walks in nature. What do you think urban people used to do before they had their smartphones? All reading books or study birds and plants? Nope, staring at that other screen, in their living room. In loads of ways it's better to connect through social media, play games or surf the web for info or fun stuff than to stare passively at the television for hours and hours each day. Sure, their disadvantages as with everything (and especially new stuff that stands out) but the advantages are there as well. In the meantime you're in control and can muster the willpower to lay that thing down sometimes and read a book or have a good conversation or nature walk without staring on the device every few minutes. Really, you can.

Thanks for the comments and reply's.

I have a old basic flip phone, my wife has a quality smart phone, both boys have basic phones. Rules around our house, no phones at the table for any meal, no phones in the family room, no phones while studying, and no phones in any bedroom. (Reading by flashlight under the covers is bad enough.) We all generally leave them on the table in the front hall.

And the big unbreakable rule no phones while driving, biking or walking. My kids thought we were just being old farts till one of their friends ended up getting hit by a car, both parties were on the phone. Now they both insist that friends leave their phone in the basket by the door.

We hear some pointed comments about our rules but we ain't changing.

I don't see a problem with new technology in general. Yet, as always it's a matter of how you use it. Also i can fully understand people who really need to look up their phones every 5 min just because they work in a branche, that forces them to do so. Still i think, that the majority of the people don't relly need to do that.

Personally i use some older smartphone but i only use my WLAN at home to connect it to the internet. So, when i am outside i'm not online with it and so far i don't see a reason why i should be.

What i really don't like is this habit of other friends and/or colleagues to grab their phone every now and then to look up something someone has posted somewhere. It's really annoying and usually i tell em to stop that # because i don't need to hang around with them just to watch them watching their phones instead of doing a conversation with each other or me.

I think it's a matter of how you can control yourself. In the future these devices will become even more for us then just a smartphone. They will probably devolope into some kind of personal AI, that serves us with any information at any time we need it, that will train itself and learn new things while we use it and which will provide much more features then the devices we use today. But we will have to learn to use them in a way, that we not grow apart from each other as social beeings.

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
a reply to: crankyoldman

That reminds me of last summer when I went on a week long vacation with three friends from England and Scotland.

They'd want to run out and "do" things (take pics) so they could post them immediately online to show people they were doing things they weren't really even doing.

As soon as we'd get somewhere they'd have the phones out staging pics, posting them, looking at what other people said about what they posted, and then repeating the process until it was time to go back to the hotel.

I swear I felt like I was on that vacation alone.

The irony here is those folks you were with read this thread they would nod their head in agreement with my post. They might even post how people taking pics in airplanes or restaurants pisses them off. The cognitive dissonance is unreal.

Another rarely mentioned issue with the phone is that it has turned everywhere into everyone's personal living room. The locker room, the public toilet, the street, the museum are all the personal living room of anyone using a phone and YOU are interrupting them if you happen to be there.

I am reading this through my iphone -,-
I agree im concerned . I waste a loot of time on my phone

People are using their cellphone during sex? What the...?

a reply to: LamontCranston

Having been a bartender I have seen groups of kids together at a table every one of them on their phones. It rather makes me sick. Whenever one of my friends pulls out their phone when we're all together, I steal it from them.

My sister plays a game where the first person at their table who pulls out their phone has to pay the bill for everyone

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
The good thing about all this? You are in control.

You can lay your phone down, toss it in the back seat, or leave home without it and avoid all of this...and more.

People just don't seem to want to.

Yes, I choose not to own one. But I have control over only me, and I'm out in a world surrounded by them. In a car with someone else and their phone, in a house with members of the household and their phones, and so on.

I have little choice about any of that. I mention this, because there are those of us that think the cell phone may do even more than what's listed here.
tetra

a reply to: Sillyosaurus

See the movie Surrogates?

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
a reply to: Sillyosaurus

See the movie Surrogates?

I didn't see the movie, but read a synopsis somewhere, I think. This was what my reply above your's was alluding to.
tet

Here's a great idea! Let's brain wash the kids early so they're addicted to their phone early in life!
I'm sorry, but I think that's what AT&T is trying to do (as well as others). Here for example you got this TV ad that I've been seeing on TV that I find a little disturbing.
(Edit, video embed isn't working for me so heres a link). www.youtube.com...

Now don't get me wrong, cell phones are great, they've helped me in a pinch. It's just when you take it to the extreme to the point that someone seems to have an obsessive compulsive disorder over their phone, that bothers me. I dunno, something about someone whipping out their cellphone while I'm talking to them tells me that they're saying, "You're boring me".

Everything in moderation I say.

a reply to: LamontCranston

Use my gf's phone when I need to.
Other than that, no phone.
Personal choice.

Never had one for a long time because I felt I didn't need it, but once every friend and family member had one and I didn't well you know how that is. It gets used maybe once every three months as an actual phone, I like my land line.
But it gets used for texting my long distance relatives, and I love the instant map/gps feature. Don't use it on the internet much screen is too small for me.

One thing I did do, is stopped having it on my bed stand right beside my bed, I am not looking at texts that come in once I go to bed like I used too. I stays shut off most of the time, that little vibration tells me text has come in, which I can look at.

A few summers ago my area had reaccurring thunderstorms that kept taking out the power. Usually that's not a big deal for me as I'm not a t.v. feign.

However all the book I was reading were epub on my phone!! I was so distraught i ended up in my car reading thanks to the car charger. Now I always have actual books again.

Lesson learned.

I've actually considered doing away with my cell phone. The only person that calls me or texts is my wife and the occasional communication from work. And I don't have/need a smart phone.

With the cell companies eventually doing away with non-smart phone devices...I may just drop it all together.

youtu.be...