[Discuss] [OT] Smart Phones

[Rich Pieri]

On Fri, 1 Mar 2013 11:21:28 -0500
Shirley Márquez Dúlcey <mark at buttery.org> wrote:

> Some of the uses of smartphones are life-changing in a more social
> way. When I use my mobile map to make sure I reach a social
> engagement,

You could use a road atlas to do the same thing. Changed tool, not
changed activity.

> or to get transit schedules to reach an unfamiliar location.

Same thing. It's certainly easier to get current schedules that way
than trekking to the local station and hope they have printed
schedules. But again, the nature of the activity hasn't changed, just
the tools used to perform them.

> When I check my email on the smartphone to catch last-minute
> changes to a meeting location.

You could contact the meeting organizer instead, or vice-versa.

> When I text a friend to make it possible for us to actually find
> each other in a crowded place.

You could have arranged to meet at a designated place and time instead.

> These are using technology to facilitate social engagement, not to
> replace it.

Facilitate, yes. It is certainly easier to call someone than it is to
wait and hope they arrive on time. But again, you're not changing the
nature of the activity; you're changing the tools used to perform that
activity. Swapping a tool for a more appropriate one isn't life-
changing.

Adopting a tool to replace that activity or change its nature is life-
changing. Ever notice how a person speaking over the telephone doesn't
sound the same as he does face-to-face? Something about the lack of
harmonics in reproduced human speech make the remote speaker seem... a
bit inhuman. This is the kind of thing that I'm on about. Not the
convenience of making activities easier.. The "convenience" of
replacing basic human contact with gee-whiz technogadgetry.

-- 
Rich P.