first sentence I agree.. Walking on the streets these days, it seems the amount of people I see bending their neck over some electronic device is growing everyday. A sad evolution if you ask me. Second sentence: I doubt that is the reason, however I have not yet figured out what the reason is. Firstly because I hardly ever use my cellphone, nor feel the need to, secondly because when I ask people that do, they have no clear idea themselves why they cannot keep it in their pocket. Which is even more sad.
I think evolution is the right word. When I was little I often played a game where I would imagine I'd found a genie who would grant me three wishes, and I'd try to think of what to wish for. Most often, two of those wishes would be to be able to talk to my friends with telepathy, and for a book that would answer any question I wrote in it.
Here I have a machine that grants two of my wishes, I use it very often, and using it is very compelling. I dont think its ridiculous to say that when you carry such a powerful and easy to use machine, you start to think of it as being part of yourself, and "why can't you keep it in your pocket" becomes as strange and unanswerable a question as "why can't you keep your hands in your pocket", or "why can't you keep your eyes closed".
You can argue this is an unhealthy trend in culture, and an unhealthy propensity for people who live in an increasingly technological world, but it's unfair - I think so - to judge/condemn/pity people who have the addiction.
I am of the persuasion that phone use during certain times (dinner for example) is to be looked down upon. I even go so far as to consider those with headphones on in the street as not existing in my world. They are ignored. It is great to hear the other side of the argument.
As a side note...I also love my phone and am eager for the day they are implanted in our bodies and seemingly telepathic communication becomes reality. I guess at that point this issue become moot.
> Firstly because I hardly ever use my cellphone, not feel the need to, secondly because when I ask people that do, they have no clear idea themselves why they cannot keep it in their pocket.
I don't use it while walking, but I surely use it when I don't have anything else to do(waiting for bus/cab, in a cab/bus...). I can keep it in my pocket, but I would rather listen to music, browse news, read articles, blogs, check facebook, twitter etc etc rather than sitting on a bus and waiting for my destination.
well I'm on the road often, and I constantly listen to music. But the player stays in my pocket as I hate having to carry it the whole time. And I actually enjoy being away from the internet, and news in particular, from time to time.
> And I actually enjoy being away from the internet, and news in particular, from time to time.
To each his own. For me, the choice between "sitting on a bus impatiently waiting for my destination" and "browsing on my phone" is a no brainer. FWIW, it doesn't have to be the internet. I have offline books and video clips on my phone as well.
But that's tangential. Your original post was about people bent in their gadgets. I was outlining why I am bent into my gadget. If you are into leaning into the window of the bus and watching traffic, birds, landscapes, roadkills or whatever, good for you. I would rather be looking at my phone.
self-reply: this whole thread makes me wonder: what did people actually do like 15-20 years ago, when there were no cellphones to distract them? Have interesting conversations instead? I'm pretty sure children (well, I was) were playing around (if the particular place allowed so) or else maybe playing boardgames/cards whatever on the table. Not sure what the grown ups did though.
I spent most of my time playing with other kids around my block in the park, and just hanging out in the arcades, shooting pool, bowling, playing video games together, watching movies, or just wandering around the streets. When I needed to contact someone, I'd actually walk to his/her house and ring their bell
