I don’t have a smart phone—should I? I like and I am fascinated by tech stuff. Being able to extract information on any
subject from virtually anywhere is a remarkable product of our rampaging
technology. Research any subject—to
settle an argument, or just to be informed.
Shop for anything—really anything—that can’t be found in local stores;
follow the stock market or the weather in Timbuktu
(if that is of interest), and follow news headlines. Some of the apps will do amazing things like
identifying every commercial aircraft flying overhead or identifying every star
and planet in view. And there is the app
of apps—popping bubble wrap cells!
But wait—don’t I do many of those things on my desktop
computer? (Youngsters might remember desktops--those
old-fashioned things that look something like a TV set with a keyboard). Yes, I think with my desktop, dumb phone and
a few other devices I can do much of the stuff that a smart phone can do. The difference is that when I get up from my
desk and walk away, I am abruptly disconnected from the cyber world. I’m in the other world where things exist
that can be touched, felt, heard, etc. Doing
this is often a necessity for me—I need to escape cyber information overload.
Not that I’m opposed to smart phones in any way, but it
would be a culture change to have that device with me all the time—just like a
faithful pet following me around. Still,
I ponder how I might adapt to this new culture.
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