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Life before smartphones (2020)

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Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#81

Post by JKCalhoun »

travbrack wrote: post #72
kernoble wrote: post #14

The unmentioned thing here is why? Why does the world with a smartphone and today's hyper-connectivity seem so different now compared to what it used to? Did people feel the same way when the railroad and other forms of rapid transport showed up? What makes things feel so different? Is it more competition, and for what? Is it that things are just faster, and the certainties have changed? Has it fundamentally changed…

Because we went from living in a world where information about the world around us was hidden, to suddenly having access to all of it. It's surprising, jarring and overwhelming and it's probably going to take multiple generations for people to figure out how to use it effectively, ignore the noise, and deal with the social issues created by it.

Yes, but also, as the author points out in several places, we lived in a world of serendipity, patience, boredom (in a good way ... something that might lead to a kind of forced contemplation?).

One wonders the degree to which our mental health actually thrived better with that extra time, accidental rather than deliberate discovery.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#83

Post by lordnacho »

IMO the big thing is not being bored. Someone is late for a meeting? Doesn't matter, you've got HN to read. On the back seat for a long drive? Doesn't matter, you can answer emails. Or play a game.

The whole psychologically weird phase of "hmm I'm here and waiting, and all I can do is watch paint dry" seems to have vanished.

I'm not sure what people prefer more though. Say you're waiting for a date, do you feel best breaking off directly from your reading of the dragon book, or would you feel best just doing nothing until they showed up?

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#84

Post by didip »

Smartphones have truly improved my life beyond comparison. I still remembered the bad old days when I was young:

* Too worried to take a picture because I might ran out of film.

* Too worried about screwing up the flash light because I didn't have enough film.

* Recording important things (like my class) was too big of a hassle and too expensive (Not enough tapes).

* SMS was a cost that I always had to worry.

* Books are much lighter now because they are now digital.

* Podcast was such a hassle before because of carrying around tapes.

* Laptop was a thing but nowhere as convenient as a smartphone to look up a reference.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#85

Post by xook »

xwdv wrote: post #67
legrande wrote: post #40

You can still live like what's described in this article. Get yourself a dumbphone and a paper atlas, only pay with cash, avoid loyalty cards, read paper books, newspapers, etc Now and then I do that, just to switch off from our hyper-connected world. Switching off is the new peace of mind.

You can't really. People think it's simply a matter of getting rid of all the new tech. It isn't. You'll just be an anachronism. If the entire world isn't living the same way then you are only getting a superficial experience. Instead of living a genuine life, you are merely pretending for a while.

Each individual experiences life in a different way. Who is to say that leaving modern technology at the door isn't genuine.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#86

Post by fud7r7rgtf »

lordnacho wrote: post #76
krylon wrote: post #57

Now I feel old. I remember vividly running around with my first camera, looking for objects worthy of being photographed. The film cost money, so did developing it into pictures. I really had to weigh the pros and cons of taking a particular picture. And in a class of ~25 kids, I was one of three who owned a camera. Not that it was such a luxury item, but most people weren't into that. These days, (nearly) everyone c…

Regarding photos: People our age only have a few childhood pictures, and they are warped by time on analog media. Those pictures of us as a kid look really old because they are naturally filtered. Soon people will wonder WTF old-pic filters are for, and some historian will have to explain why it's blurred and the colors are faded. Also why did people have clothes for each decade? Our kids, by contrast, have had pictu…

This seems at least somewhat cultural. My family was big on photo albums so nearly everything had at least a cheap disposable camera picture taken. It wasn't to the extent it is now but you still got multiple pictures per year for birthdays, holidays, school awards, extracurriculars like ymca sports, etc.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#87

Post by Gunax »

legrande wrote: post #40

You can still live like what's described in this article. Get yourself a dumbphone and a paper atlas, only pay with cash, avoid loyalty cards, read paper books, newspapers, etc Now and then I do that, just to switch off from our hyper-connected world. Switching off is the new peace of mind.

The thing about technology is that even if you don't change everyone else will.

Sure, it might still be technically legal to ride a horse down the street. But soon enough, people started putting in multi-lane highways. Also, stores took out their hitching posts. Then we started designing cities around the car, so what used to be a mile away is now 10. And half of that distance is consumed by parking lots.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#88

Post by klyrs »

lordnacho wrote: post #83

IMO the big thing is not being bored. Someone is late for a meeting? Doesn't matter, you've got HN to read. On the back seat for a long drive? Doesn't matter, you can answer emails. Or play a game. The whole psychologically weird phase of "hmm I'm here and waiting, and all I can do is watch paint dry" seems to have vanished. I'm not sure what people prefer more though. Say you're waiting for a date, do you feel best…

> The whole psychologically weird phase of "hmm I'm here and waiting, and all I can do is watch paint dry" seems to have vanished.

I dunno. Infinite scrolling sure feels like watching paint dry to me... but as a teenager my idea of a good time was finding an isolated bit of woods, and sitting still enough for the fauna to ignore me. Actually, that's still my idea of a good time, but I'm too busy and the woods anywhere nearby are too crowded.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#89

Post by mrweasel »

lordnacho wrote: post #83

IMO the big thing is not being bored. Someone is late for a meeting? Doesn't matter, you've got HN to read. On the back seat for a long drive? Doesn't matter, you can answer emails. Or play a game. The whole psychologically weird phase of "hmm I'm here and waiting, and all I can do is watch paint dry" seems to have vanished. I'm not sure what people prefer more though. Say you're waiting for a date, do you feel best…

After getting vaccinated I was sitting in the waiting area, for the 15 minutes our suppose to stay, in case you get an allergic reaction and I noticed that most people where NOT looking at their phones. They where just sitting, doing nothing. I did the same, and honestly, it was absolutely wonderful just to have 15 minutes where you did nothing.

I'm not saying I wouldn't get bored just waiting for extended periods of time, but sometimes it's nice to know that for the next 10 - 20 minutes, you just have to exist in this spot, and that's all that's really expected of you.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#90

Post by com2kid »

don-code wrote: post #54
legrande wrote: post #40

You can still live like what's described in this article. Get yourself a dumbphone and a paper atlas, only pay with cash, avoid loyalty cards, read paper books, newspapers, etc Now and then I do that, just to switch off from our hyper-connected world. Switching off is the new peace of mind.

Much like living outside the Matrix, would you really want to go back, knowing what you know? Yes, you can use a paper atlas. I have an 8-year-old car with GPS, and a 34-year-old car without. I bought a map book for the 34-year-old car, thinking it'd be a "period accurate" way of driving it; it's anachronistic at best, and frustrating at worst - can you read the street signs, and did you drop your compass under the s…

> and did you drop your compass under the seat?

You can get battery powered compasses that you stick on your dash. :)

My car's review mirror has a compass in it and I use it for navigation quite often.

Places I had to drive to before GPS are places I have a better understanding of how to get to. I have a friend who refuses to use GPS and his knowledge of the city is far far ahead of mine.

Of course I am lucky to live in a place built on a true x-y coordinate grid system where given any address you can navigate to it w/o issue using, well, just a compass. :)

I wouldn't try that trick in London! :) (There is a cool documentary about London cab drivers and what they have/had to go through to memorize the entire city)

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