Unpopular Opinion: Smartphones are the worst
Published November 3, 2019 at 1:34 am
While our phones are getting smarter, they’re making us stupider… or dumber… is stupider a word? Do you know? Probably not. But, you know what does know? Your phone.
While our phones are getting smarter, they’re making us stupider… or dumber… is stupider a word? Do you know? Probably not. But, you know what does know? Your phone.
Think about it; when was the last time you got to an unfamiliar destination without using the GPS on your phone? How many phone numbers do you know by heart in the event of an emergency? (9-1-1 obviously doesn’t count) The fact is, as our phones are becoming more and more capable of doing things for us, it’s supposed to make our lives easier, but what it’s also doing is making us incapable of doing these same things by ourselves.
What if you were driving on the highway and suddenly had a flat tire? Would you know how to change it without watching a YouTube video on your phone?
Smartphones have even begun to replace cooking for us. Now, rather than cook a meal for yourself, you can simply open up your phone, press a few buttons on an app, and have food delivered to you.
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But it’s not just that they are making us incapable of doing things for ourselves, they’re also a major distraction.
Have you ever pulled out your phone to check the time and returned it to your pocket only to realize you still don’t know what the time is?
Have you ever been stopped at a red light and reached for your phone while you wait only to be interrupted by the sounds of car horns and the realization the light changed and you’re now sitting at a green light?
Or, have you ever been at a social event and briefly looked up from your own phone only to see everyone else intently staring at their own?
In fact, some people have even been killed by their smartphone. Remember when people were playing Pokémon Go and didn’t pay attention to their surroundings which resulted in several deaths and injuries? And, did you know more than one in four car crashes are caused by phone use?
It’s gotten to the point where I’ve heard some people say they can’t survive without their phone, and some people have a panic attack if their phone battery drops to under five per cent and they don’t have a way to charge it.
People have become so obsessed with their phones, they’ll even wait in line for hours and pay hundreds of dollars for the latest edition—which usually only ever comes with a slightly upgraded camera, and sometimes a larger screen.
Smartphones were supposed to make our lives easier, but all they’ve done is make our lives harder to live without smartphones.
(For those of you who may be wondering, I do have a smartphone, but it’s not an Android or an iPhone… it’s a Blackberry… physical keyboards for life.)
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