Do We Really Need Our Technology As Much As We Think We Do?

The era of flip phones has long passed us. Or has it? Believe it or not, my dad still has the same exact flip phone that he's had for 6 years. I know a few people that would actually scoff at the idea of having the same exact phone for 6 years, yet alone 2 years. More and more phones come out every month and as we've seen with the new iPhones, they just keep getting better. Now you can do more, work more, browse more, and still have enough batter power left for the road.

Flip phones are not smart phones. They creak when they're opened, they can take a fall or two, they still have an antenna on them, for Pete's sake. We've talked to my dad about upgrading, but he's resilient. He'll use that phone until it dies of old age. He takes it work, answers a few phone calls and texts, and then comes home and checks his email and such on the laptop. He doesn't need to have internet access 24/7, He doesn't feel the urge to check Instagram while waiting for a cup of coffee at Starbucks. He doesn't mindlessly scroll through Facebook while waiting at the doctor's office. 

So this makes me think - do we need our smart phones as much as we think we do? Yeah, it's great to be connected and you can send and reply to emails in a jiffy and it's nice to chat with someone on Facebook while in bed at night. 

But with all the capabilities, we bury our noses in our phones, constantly. We use it because it's there. Do you know how many times I've checked Instagram today? 5. Do you know how well I would have survived if I hadn't checked Instagram 5 times? I would have survived very well. 

We listen to our music on our phones to the way to class, we go through Snapchat stories just because. We play Kim K on our phones to kill time. (and to also get on the A-List) 

I feel like we've become so attached to our phones, that it's not just an emotional attachment. It's practically always glued to my hand. I think that over time, our dependence on the abstract concept of the internet and always being connected is going to only get worse. I don't know of any solutions, and hopefully we'll talk more about this dependence in class. Until then, I think I'm just going to start living more like my dad.