Two weeks back I saw my brother shut himself up in his room whenever home for one whole week and go into a complete silent mode in grievance for his new phone that fell in water. His good mood was regained once he got the phone repaired. The more advanced phones that we get today are so super convenient that they promise a lot more than just calling or messaging, what with the user friendly Apps for anything you can think of and the easier internet usage!
Today every family member has a personal phone and I came to notice funnily enough that this has in a way made many of us lazy ( In the last decade was it the television that caused laziness? :D ).
Speaking for myself, I've caught myself calling up my mom who is in the kitchen or brother who is upstairs on phone,to ask about something while I'm home as well. The other day my brother and I were chatting on "Whatsapp" while sitting in different rooms. I wonder whatever happened to face to face conversations! And speaking about face to face conversations, once my aunt (who stays right behind our house) called on my mom's phone and I saw them talking on phone while looking at each other through the windows of their respective homes! Should I say this is a more convenient way (I wouldn't say better way) or get more dramatic and call it something along the lines of "exploitation of technology" ?
It's nice to see smart kids being experts on phone matters. But it doesn't stop surprising me every time my little cousins come and ask me switch on the wi-fi so that they can download Apps, or when one of them shows me his "Smartphone" that was a gift from his parents for clearing his 7th grade and to top it all, when my aunt tells me with twinkling eyes that my two year old nephew's favourite play toy is nothing but a Smartphone!
Earlier, when we watched TV, we watched TV. When we read books, we read books. But now, though I'd like to call it multi-tasking, everything is done along with playing games or surfing through stuff on phone. My brothers and I were watching a movie on TV last day, and all three of us were playing games on phone at the same time. Any conversation we had in those 2 hours were just regarding some new game or beating the high score.
Playing on phone is fun, walking on the streets with earphones plugged to our ears may look cool and entertaining, these phones help us stay updated, but is the phone just getting smarter of us by keeping us glued to it 24*7?
I don't know if similar incidents happen at other households or if it's just us, but I sure have to consciously try to do things depending less on my phone and learn to keep it aside more so that I don't end up sulking in my room if it stops working..
I wonder if this is the reason our Hon'ble Chief Minister does not have a phone of his own afterall! :P
A thought provoking one!! Like evry technology, there are pros and cons for this "smartphones" as well!! Wat a rite balance is a very difficult question.. but the fact remains that, like rightly mentioned in the article, there is app for anything, making students, professionals and housewives equally dependent on smartfones.. But is it distancing the relation with our loved one!! Quwstions remained to be answered, but this article is a good step towards dat by raising some very important questions!! Good Work!! :)
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