I've noticed this as a "dumb-phone" user who often forgets it at home. Walking around with your head up, you feel like you're amongst a bunch of half-asleep people. You can look right at somebody and they won't notice you. Lots of bumping into each other, not making way for somebody who needs to get by, things like that. Many people who are engrossed in their phones don't react to loud noises or other things happening that are out of the ordinary. It can be unsettling.
I used to have a dumbphone from '06 until it crapped out and I went to an Android one. Everyone always made fun of me for having the older phone but then again everyone was always trying to be quick-draw on fact-checking some random bit of pop culture that came up in conversation, checking in, updating statuses, or taking pictures of events instead of being a part of them.
In terms of the phone zombies, it really bothers me when I see someone walking across a street engrossed in their phone. I always imagine them getting nailed by a car or cyclist b/c they aren't paying attention (and I'm sure, tragically, this has been happening). Same things with runners and their iPods prior to iPhones. Your ears and eyes are there for a reason.
Sidenote: Maybe the most interesting part of the NYT article is the first line "Last weekend, I was watching television with a few friends, browsing the week’s most popular YouTube videos, when a piece in the comedy section called “I Forgot My Phone” caught my eye." This goes beyond the meat of the piece but it's so interesting to see that that's a current browsing behavior that's possibly common enough to mentioned.
In a way, I think it's a modern way of filtering things that we don't care about day to day. Do we really wanna sit on a subway in silence twiddling our thumbs, and daydream? Do we really wanna wait on line for a few mins, staring at other annoying strangers ahead of us?
Using our smartphones when we're in the presence of friends/family is one thing. But using it during times of inactivity, to me is harmless.
> " But using it during times of inactivity, to me is harmless."
Until the definition of "inactivity" starts to creep, wider and wider. I've noticed that with myself and people I know, that's for sure.
Stealing a bit from the video itself - you're bowling and everyone disappears into smartphone-land while waiting their turn. I've seen this actually happen IRL, so it's far from a farfetched hypothetical. In the old days you used to use this time to, god forbid, talk to someone and make a friend.
Or you're at a party where you don't know enough people. Pre-smartphone you'd get sick of being a wallflower and some point, go "fuck it", and introduce yourself to somebody. Now you can just slink into smartphone-land. I've done it, I'm sure others here have too.
"Inactivity" is a weird concept. Short of being in a sensory deprivation chamber, there are very few moments in life where you're actually involuntarily inactive.
A few months ago I tossed my earbuds in the trash. I no longer listen to music (or podcasts, or whatever) on the move. I'm more present, less tuned out, and I've learned some things and had some spontaneous interactions that are worth more to me than listening to music I've already heard many times before. I like it. People complained about the reduction in engagement when the iPod rolled around and everyone suddenly had earplugs on full-time. At the time a lot of people thought society would grow out of it and the fad of being disconnected full-time would go away.
The last time I went to a bar I went up to order a drink and all 6 20-somethings at the bar were on their iphones (that's 6 individuals, at a place of social gathering).
The destruction of presence is more than just lack of eye contact. Not so long ago certain people could enter a room and demand attention - they were social beings whose mere presence affected brain waves and nervous systems. Their presence was sharp.
I don't see that anymore. People are dulling. They recede to the safety of a screen because it offers a way of saying - 'I don't need you, cooler things and people are in my phone'. We're in a perpetual standoff.
The problem with a free market is that consumers do not always know what is best for them. Local maxima rule the day. We need narrative, insight, and leadership to provide the activation energy to get ourselves out of the social wasteland we have created.
Ha.. I hear ya. I've seen guys in a party with at least 3 attractive single, bored females sitting near them, and they all just sink their heads into a smartphone instead. As if to signify they have much cooler things to attend to.
But using it during times of inactivity, to me is harmless.
Maybe. Another theory might be that our brains need more downtime than we are giving them. Or maybe we are filling our brains with so much useless knowledge that it is stopping us from remembering important things. Or maybe that time of staring out the window would've made me think of the next great thing.
That's what I worry about anyway when I whip my smartphone out all day.
I remember feeling that before smartphones; I think it might just be the nature of people, especially outside of a university context. I also notice a lot when running and trying to get by people using up all of the lanes on the sidwalk (and the people aren't using smartphones then.)
I spent a single detached year at college, so I can't speak to that difference, but I did notice a big change when the iPhone surpassed "early adopter" stage. There were always people perpetually focused on their Blackberries/two-ways, but they tended to be a select few: Hardcore careerist types and the young-&-gossipy crowd. This seems to have expanded to include everybody from soccer moms to computer geeks, to ten year-olds!
Not really. Since I'm a person, it is in my nature as well. I try to be extra conscious about it, but I'm not perfect. It always bugs me when I'm walking on the sidewalk and some runner rightfully asks me to move into my lane to allow him or her to pass. Similarly, I'm a tango dancer and every once in awhile I'll end up hitting another couple.
I draw a lot, so I spend a lot of time just looking around -- and I've noticed the same thing: many people are too wrapped up in their smart phones to notice what's going on around them.
I've been thinking a lot about it lately, and this is one of those "things I think are true but can not prove" kind-of-things, but I think the larger lesson is that most people, most of the time, are largely driven by their thoughts. Not what's going on around them, or what their body is telling them, but what they think about.
Another dumb-phone user checking in- it could be a big city or suburbs thing. I've seen the phenomenon like crazy in the Bay, but in my town it's really actually not too bad.
> you feel like you're amongst a bunch of half-asleep people
A few months ago I was sitting in a crowded urban park. I was people watching for a bit; no book, no phone. I saw some sort of surveillance/tracking operation unfold in plain site. A fit, ex-military looking guy in his mid 40s dressed to look like a tourist in a t-shirt and shorts took a seat. He would steal glances off to the side at a certain individual. He talked into his blue tooth ear piece, casually glanced around, and then he took off his blue baseball cap, put it in his backpack, and quickly replaced it with a red baseball cap. He later shot me a little grin, having seen me noticing him, even though I was discrete and over 30 meters away.
Over 100 people could have seen this unfold but I am sure none did because literally most of them were looking at phones.
There are all sorts of interesting vignettes going on in crowded places that almost nobody sees. I have other memorable observations.
My advice to security firms and the FBI tailing targets: fit people over 35 stand out in America at this point.
