Rebuilding Rob

I would like to think that I don’t abuse any technology in my life, and it’s all here to make my life better; but I also want to be realistic. Having said that, i think that I – or people in general – would be better off without smartphones.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my smart phone. I have an Apple iPhone 14 that I just got a few weeks ago and I would probably be lost without it. But they are analyze the problem. We have managed to become incredibly addicted to these miniature computers that have only been in our lives for about 10 – 15 years.

Smartphones are incredibly handy, and powerful. Most people don’t realize that today’s smartphones have faster processors, more memory, and more storage capability than the computers that NASA used to land the Apollo astronauts on the moon 60 years ago.

As a schoolteacher, my job would, at best, be incredibly difficult without a smartphone. At worst, I simply would not be able to do it; ever since the lockdowns a few years back in particular.

But like so many other people of my generation, I’m gonna be the world’s biggest hypocrite when I complain about the fact that people are too glued to their phones. Scenes like the picture above always drive me crazy. But I have to admit that I’m often guilty of doing very same thing.

I remember in the movie “the matrix resurrections” there was a very brief shot of a group of people standing in an elevator, each of them on either their smart phones or their tablets. Given how much the matrix franchise has had to say about humans and technology in general, I wish there would’ve been some kind of statement about the way that people are addicted to their smart devices.

The irony here is that I am typing this… On my smartphone. I’m not even in front of a traditional computer doing this!

I think that the biggest rub of smartphones is that they have probably caused just as many problems as they have solved. Yes, they make a lot of every day tasks much easier for us; but they have complicated our lives, and so many other ways: cyber bullying, suspicions about our significant others, the dissemination of inaccurate, or even outright fabricated information; to say nothing about the slow, agonizing death of our attention spans.

Would I get rid of my smart phone? I think I’ve already illustrated that I really could not. Would I eliminate smart phones from the face of the Earth? Again, I we’re way passed the point of no return with that. Within less than 20 years smartphones have become a standard fixture of 21st-century life, right along with refrigerators, TVs and toasters. For the most part, it’s just assumed that everybody has one.

But there are times that I would love to go back. Back to a time before smart phones. Sometimes it’s hard to remember. I’ll tell my boys, or my students about what life is like. “back in my day”. It times it feels like I’m just telling them a folk tale.

What piece of technology would you be better off without, and why?

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. All of your views, likes and follows are greatly appreciated! Be sure to follow me on social media as well!

• Thoughts that keep me up at night
• Requiem for a mall
• what makes a great teacher
• The O.R. Virgin
• A Day in the Life of Rob

The article “Cutting the Invisible Cord“ first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.