The Problem With Our Dumb Smartphones

I am not a big fan of typing on my cellphone and haven’t been since I moved from my Blackberry to touch screen devices.

It is not because I can’t type on my iPhone or that I couldn’t do it on my Droids because I can, I did and I do.

The problem is I am not as fast at it as I want to be.

I have big hands and big fingers which I think is part of the problem, but not the whole thing.

Why?

Well I figure if I practice I can train my fingers to be more nimble and to work smarter not harder. If I practice I’ll get better and my speed will increase.

But the thing is, I don’t want to. I just don’t.

Part of it probably has something to do with how many emails and texts are work related and my desire to check out when I am not on the clock.

Part of it probably has something to do with how many emails and texts I get that are not work related but require a response anyway.

Is it content or information overload?

Maybe.

Sometimes I miss the clickety-clack noise typewriters made, the ding too. Can’t forget the ding, there was something refreshing about it.

Always made me feel I was that much closer to finishing my schoolwork.

Anyhoo, when I think about the problems with our dumb smartphones I have to laugh because I know I sound like a grumpy old man and or a Luddite.

Well, there may be some truth to grumpy, old is relative but Luddite is dead wrong.

I love technology and gadgets and I tend to use the hell out of my smartphones.  There are multiple apps that I use each day and I am grateful for them.

But there are times where I hate realizing how dependent we have become upon them.

Times where I recognize I haven’t taken the damn thing out of my pocket because it is constantly in my hand.

I try to be conscious of how much use it is getting because if I am staring at my phone I am spending time in an electronic bubble and missing the world around me.

That is not the guy I want to be. I want to explore old houses and huts like the one in this post or figure out which signpost to follow.

The purpose of technology is to free us from being chained to a desk or place so that we can live and experience more.

But the hard part is remembering that we are working outside not just because we can but because there are things to experience and life to be lived outside of the electronic bubble.

And that my friends seems to be one of the biggest challenges we face with our kids and the generations that come after.

Those of you who have children of a certain age have probably learned one of the first questions they ask upon arrival at a new place is “what is the WiFi password?”

I’d like to change that.

I’d like to see my kids faces and not the top of their heads. I’d like to get more phone calls and fewer texts/emails.

It would be kind of nice to talk with people and hear their voices and or see their faces.

And I’d like to have real keys on my dumb smartphone keyboard because it would be easier to type faster. 🙂