If I ever needed proof that the smartphone is quickly becoming the 21st century’s version of the Tamagotchi (those widely popular and extremely annoying “digital pets” from the 90′s), I found it on Saturday while waiting to catch my train back home. On a beautiful, warm, bright Saturday morning, I was shocked and intrigued by just how many people I witnessed (myself included) hunched over, faces buried in the tiny screens occupying the palms of their hands.
Based on my very unscientific observations, it’s quite easy to tell which type of current smartphone people are using:
- If they’re hunched over while flicking with their left or right index finger in different directions, or sporadically rocking from side to side or forwards and backwards, they’re more than likely iPhone users.
- If they’re hunched over working their thumbs in a twiddling motion as though practicing for a thumb-wrestling match, they’re likely Blackberry users.
- If they’re hunched over constantly rotating their phones from the upright to the sideways position, they’re likely Android or Symbian users.
- If they’re hunched over constantly reaching for the power button, they’re likely Windows Mobile users.
Now, keep in mind that I didn’t specifically mention the brand of smartphone hardware (given that only iPhones use the iPhone OS and Blackberries use the Blackberry OS, it made no sense to try and differentiate between Nokia, Samsung, LG and Sony-Ericsson devices); these traits are specific to the operating systems of the different brands, according to my observations. Now, before I’m accused of being an iPhone fanboy (which I am, admittedly and quite proudly), also keep in mind that I have tried all of the above mentioned gadgets out in various cell phone shops before and after I got my smartphone of choice, and not all of my smartphone owning friends have iPhones, so my own experiences do somewhat come into play regarding my observations. My point is not about preferring one gadget over another.
The much larger point is about the sometimes total lack of acknowledgement that other human beings exist when these gadgets are in use; if “normal” mobile phone users are bad personal communicators, smartphone users are much worse. I’ve witnessed accidents on both busy and not-so-busy sidewalks involving people bumping into each other head on while typing on their Blackberries; arguments breaking out on trains between PlayStation Portable and iPhone users regarding which device has the better games; Windows Mobile users become loud, agitated and downright violent while dealing with the slow user interfaces and crashes of their gadgets. I’ve been involved in demonstrations of my phone’s capabilities and program comparisons with other iPhone users, which is fun and interesting on the one hand; not so cool however, when having such exchanges in an expensive restaurant filled with people who just want to enjoy their meals. Nothing, though, has quite matched up to the time I witnessed a group of about six or seven smartphone users sending text messages to each other, all standing in the same room.
I myself have been involved in numerous debates over the merits of one smartphone over the other, the latest of which actually made me pause and think about how dependent on gadgets our lives have become. Does technology really make our lives easier? I guess the answer to that now age-old question is definitely sort of. On the one hand, things like smartphones, laptops, Facebook, Twitter, etc. have allowed us to increase our ability to not only communicate with the world outside of our own little boxes, but to do so extremely quickly, from anywhere. Your life can really be in your pocket, which is on the other hand one of the serious drawbacks to faster, smaller, easier technology. Sometimes a good book or a walk in the park is far more entertaining than fiddling around in Facebook with my phone.
In any case, I look forward to a quiet, relaxing evening with family, just as soon as I upload this post, water my virtual iPhone plants and feed my virtual iPhone fish.
