Ignorance is bliss...but is a double edged fork.
Life before smartphones (2020)
241–250 of 495 posts
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#242The second paragraph is funny to me: > I memorized phone numbers, jotted things down in notebooks, had conversations with taxi drivers, talked to random people at bars, wrote checks, went to the bank, and daydreamed. I did all of these (except the phone number one) in the last week. More than technological advancements or anything else, all of this nostalgia is really just about getting old. "The human civilization p…
Have you been to a college campus in the last two or three years? There is a serious smartphone addiction problem. It is seriously worrying to see so many of my peers craning their necks, starting at their phone for hours on end. On the bus, in class, while hanging out, it is an observable fact that everyone is almost always on their phone. I personally believe we are in a watershed moment for human civilization. The…
When I was an 9 year old kid (~ 1991) my dad bought a book ( https://www.amazon.com/Video-Kids-Making-Sense-Nintendo/dp/0... ) to understand our "addiction" to Videogames... My dad seriously thought that it was going to doom our generation.
Fast forward 30 years, and we are doing OK. Things are different, but OK for us. "Videogames" have been replaced by "games" and we take them for granted and don't pay that much attention.
My take is that, for Generation Alpha kids, all the technology will be like bicycles or cars for us: It will be ubiquitous and they will all now how to use it. So there won't be any question about their use.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#243Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is any of this backed by real facts or just your "kids these days" observations? Today's youth is better suited for dealing with smartphones and the overall connected world than we could ever be. All the people I know with real technological addiction problems (whether to smartphones, social media, scams, online radicalization or anything else) are like 45+.
> All the people I know with real technological addiction > problems (whether to smartphones, social media, scams, online radicalization or anything else) are like 45+. Exactly. No one is safe. Everyone I know in my age group (15-26) can not exist without opening up their smartphone every 5 seconds to check social media or watch YouTube. There was a good documentary about this topic called The Social Network. You may…
> There was a good documentary about this topic called The Social Network.
Are you talking about the movie about Mark Zuckerberg? Because this movie is not bad, but it's definitely not a documentary.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apologies for asking the obvious, but then why are you here? :-P
Haha good question. I wouldn't consider HN social media, as it's more nuanced discussion around topics, although the lines are somewhat blurry. I think of social media more like Twitter and Facebook.
I know, I was half kidding
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#245Ironically ends with a "Share' button and a paid subscription link — we never used to have them either! :)
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#246What I miss more than anything else is having an attention span. Years of abusing social media has left my brain pinballing all over the place. I am a collection of unfinished thoughts. Even as I write this, I can feel my mind needing to latch onto something new.
What to do to fix this?
In general, you can train attention like it's a skill or exercise you practice. Stuff like mindfulness meditation is training of attention.
If we're talking about how social media shortens our attention span then it may be prudent to reduce usage.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
I like to run, but take the phone with me because it's my tracking device and music while running. I've been trying "do not disturb" mode, and it seems to be a positive. I don't get intermittent notifications that someone is trying to reach me - I don't want to be reached right now. The DND mode has probably been around for a while, I've just recently (last few months) gotten used to actually enabling it. What will b…
I’m getting a smartwatch with watch only runs, it has tracking, Bluetooth for headphones and can preload Spotify playlists. It has WiFi but no cell phone. Really looking forward to just being out for runs, with no possibility of contact or checking notifications etc.
I just got an Apple Watch, and am planning to experiment using it without the phone.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#248This brought back a memory of a point in time where my family had a cellphone for everyone to share. If you were going to go out then it was your responsibility to take the family cellphone with you.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
Curiously, almost everybody on the hiking trail I bike has the telltale white lozenges in their ears now. Pre-Covid it was something like 25%. So trail talk has been reduced to nearly zero. I call out "On your left!" as I pass, but still folks can be startled as I drift past. And forget saying "Good morning!" and getting a response. It will take years to undo the changes done by this past year.
Strangers don't owe you a response, and not being expected to give one is not a regression.
Don't know where you live, but a year ago they did respond. Now they don't. That's a change, and it seems clearly to be in the 'not as social as before' category.
I take that remark as part of the regression itself - "I'm not as social as before and that's ok because reasons!" It's sad.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#250IMO 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…
> "hmm I'm here and waiting, and all I can do is watch paint dry" seems to have vanished. Theres several influencers whose whole bit is centered around mixing paint, and I don't know how many channels on youtube dedicated to the sound it makes when you cut sand with a knife. So don't despair, I'm absolutely certain there is a channel out there dedicated to watching paint dry, on demand in byte size vids with tons of…
This reminded me of Sitting and Smiling [0]. It's just a dude sitting there for hours and smiling. Once a burglar actually entered his home and was scared of by, well, nothing, so I guess it checks the user engagement part, too ;)