41–50 of 495 posts
Not really the main theme of this article, but I guess I do lack the courage of approaching a woman for her number and asking her out these days. Can't imagine how hard that is in real life.
I have never truly known a period of time without a smart device. The last watch I had was when I was a small child and it was only a few years ago I found a street "atlas". I have a feeling that I've missed a building block of the digital age by not experiencing an evolutionary phase.
You can always go back, any time! Get a dumb phone. It's great. Engage with others more authentically, more meaningfully, and more consistently.
Some people conflate authenticity for interactions with others who are willing to go way out of their way to spend time with you.
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Tried it, hated it. Everyone is using WhatsApp, Telegram, whatever. Try typing a sms with those tiny buttons, it sucks. There is a reason why some people have a smartphone but not a computer.
That last sentence is the most confusing thing I’ve read today, and I still don’t know what you mean by it.
> That last sentence is the most confusing thing I’ve read today, and I still don’t know what you mean by it.
I think ahofmann is referring to people who have a smartphone but not a desktop / laptop or similar.
I have never truly known a period of time without a smart device. The last watch I had was when I was a small child and it was only a few years ago I found a street "atlas". I have a feeling that I've missed a building block of the digital age by not experiencing an evolutionary phase.
The pre-LTE era was quite the experience as a teenager, and it wasn’t until the iPhone 5 when smartphones became a ubiquitous and affordable thing (or justifiable) for many of my friends. I didn’t have a smartphone until my junior year of high school! SMS feature phones like the sidekick, with physical keyboards, ruled the day and many of my classmates actually disliked smartphones because of the lack of physical key…
You all had it made. I'm sure any younger person can vouch for the social issues that come along with every teenager having a smartphone, but your cohort also missed out on family-shared landlines and all of the issues attendant with them. Calling your date and finding yourself forced to make small talk with her dad the phone bouncer, for example.
I've been working my way through Seinfeld, and I realized most of the plot lines couldn't have happened if cell phones were commonplace back then.
A couple of things not mentioned: * Half of the population watching the same episodes of the same programme simultaneously. If you missed an episode, it was gone forever * Inane arguments in pubs about facts that couldn't be instantly googled.
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You can always go back, any time! Get a dumb phone. It's great. Engage with others more authentically, more meaningfully, and more consistently.
Unfortunately you can't; society has changed too, in many ways. Even some government services now require either an iOS or Android device to access (like vaccination records here in BC). A dumb phone does less for you now than it did in 2005, just like a horse does less for you now than it did in 1895. Even if you really like horses, you can't ride them on the same streets you once could.
I've been working my way through Seinfeld, and I realized most of the plot lines couldn't have happened if cell phones were commonplace back then.
You know, that's another thing that has changed a lot. Modern TV writer just can't stop himself from using the mobile phone as a device to advance the story. We have to watch some guy in a TV show sending iMessages. That is so boring, and as a caveman from the pre-cellular era it takes me out of the show and makes me want to turn it off. A recent offender in this regard was the Amazon show "Bosch". If you made a supe…
It’s also interesting to me that this problem, of storytelling in a world of instant communication, was first addressed in the original Star Trek. Various adventure story tropes had to be adjusted for communicators and transporters. Roddenberry et al admitted it was a headache sometimes.
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You can always go back, any time! Get a dumb phone. It's great. Engage with others more authentically, more meaningfully, and more consistently.
You can go back, but you’re going back alone.
It may be hard for some people, but if you really want to do it, keep at it and don't give up. Seven generations from now, do you think smartphones will still have this hold on humanity? We just can't continue this way; it's an unsustainable form of society. Even movies made in 2021 do not depict smartphone usage anywhere close to the frequency and intensity they are used now. People will wake up from this collective dream one day; I'd rather wake up now and get started early on building something that works, wouldn't you?