How Smartphones Have Become Extension of Us
In the last ten years, smartphones have become part of people’s daily lives. They carry them everywhere in their purses, pockets, and handbags. Smartphones are needed in performing daily activities, and are slowly replacing laptops and personal computers. The reason people prefer smartphones is their portability. Smartphones are lighter compared to laptops and can be used anywhere. Additionally, these devices are more attractive than other communication gadgets because of their convenient applications. People from all walks of life use smartphones regardless of their economic status, gender, ethnicity, or career. They have become an extension of human beings, because human beings heavily rely on them.
Because of their high prevalence and convenience, they have become centerpieces of people’s lives. A study done in the U.S found that 56 percent of Americans owned smartphones.[1] The evidence that smartphones have become an extension of people can be seen in the way individuals relate with their phones. For instance, whenever individuals lose their phones, they suffer anxiety because they feel helpless without them. [2] This study demonstrates how smartphones have become part of people’s daily lives evident in their use for various activities such as banking.
People’s dependency to smartphones has augmented so much, that they would rather juggle using their phones and carrying out important activities. For example, it is common to see people at a dinner table constantly checking their messages, Facebook status, and email on their smartphones. People often watch movies while using their smartphones. Additionally, one study found that 20 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 years used their smartphone during sex.[3]A study done by the Mobile Consumer Habit in 2013 showed that 12 percent of Americans had used their smartphone in the shower. Moreover, 50 percent of the participants admitted that they texted while driving, a practice that is considered more dangerous than drunk driving. The overdependence on smartphones is a habit not only seen in the U.S but also across the world. For instance, surveys carried out in Britain revealed that 41 percent of the population experience anxiety in the absence of their smartphones and tablets. The anxiety is caused by a feeling of missing out on important social events when individuals cannot receive information on their smartphones.[4]
Understanding the effects of technology requires the understanding of the type of media and its structural impact on social life, psyche, and culture. Sociologists have argued that every medium act as an extension of people, and in the age of electronics, they have started to extend their nervous systems on a global scale.[5] A study done by the Pew Research Center sought to determine the extent to which people used smartphones in addressing important issues in life. The results of the study indicated that 62 percent of the participants had used smartphones in the previous year to access information on health. Fifty-seven percent of the participants had used their smartphone for online banking.[6] The study also found that 44 percent of the participants had used their phones to check real estate listing or information on a place to live. Forty-three percent accessed job-related information, 40 percent accessed government information and services, 30 percent learned through their smartphones, while 18 percent applied for jobs.[7] Individuals are more concerned about accessing social events through their smartphones than work. The preference of social events to work explains why individuals always have their smartphones in places they can easily reach them. One study found that 75 percent of the participants always had their smartphones within five feet.[8]
About 62251Governments across the world have set up phone-free zone to avoid instances of its people causing harm because of their inability to control their smartphones use. The regulations explain the emergence of phone-free zones that prohibit people from using mobile phones. People have a tendency of disregarding common courtesy when using smartphones. The evidence that these devices have become an extension of people can also be seen in behavioral disorders such as addiction. Smartphone addiction is a challenge, and psychologists have identified some of its symptoms. The symptoms include the feeling of anxiety in the absence of a smartphone, continuously checking for new messages, false sense of alarm like a phone vibrating, and poor grades in schools because of too much use of a device.[9]
The idea of smartphones becoming an extension of people’s brains or bodies is exciting to some. Proponents of this idea have considered them as a critical step in the project to support the functions of the human brain. By connecting to devices that can access the internet, people can enhance their intelligence with a wide scope of knowledge and extensive memory. However, others are worried about the close relationship people have with their smartphones. Instead of people controlling technology, devices are shaping the way people make decisions, spend time, and live. Moreover, smartphones are changing the nature of economic transactions. While not everyone can afford it, participating in the modern economy is difficult without one. Therefore, individuals often get loans to purchase the device.[10]
The direction that the evolution of smartphones is likely to take in the future is unclear. Some pundits have predicted that they may evolve into personal assistants that require minimal human effort to operate, while others think that they will evolve into wearable technology.[11] However, some researchers have warned that delegating mental functions to electronic gadgets could reduce intelligence. A study done in 2010 by scholars at McGill University found that depending on the GPS (Global Positioning System) to identify locations lowers the activity of the hippocampus which is responsible for spatial orientation and memory. Subjects that were used to locating places using their brain showed higher activity levels in the hippocampus than other adults that used GPS.[12] The study also found that participants who did not rely on GPS performed better in memory tests compared to their counterparts. Smartphones store certain memories on behalf of human beings. For example, people do not have to remember phone numbers they call often, and this has prevented them from exercising their memory. On the contrary, some studies have found that smartphones can make people smarter. For instance, studies have found that playing video games can improve the ability to make quick decisions. The study also found that video games could improve the ability to make quick decisions and cause attention span in older adults. Smartphones have been found to be effective in teaching people with amnesia new information.[13]
The personal connection people have with their smartphones has raised issues of privacy. Smartphones have made it easy to spy on people and expose details of their private lives. For example, many sellers of mobile applications have lots of private information on their customers that they can sell without consent. Additionally, cases of intelligence agencies hacking into people’s SIM cards to listen to their conversations have been reported. Some have argued that the benefits of smartphones outweigh the threat they pose to privacy. Smartphones have enabled the building of huge online communities made up of billions of people. Smartphones have played a significant role in fighting authoritarian regimes, airing dissenting voices, and organizing protest movements.[14]
Smartphones assist in collecting personal data that companies need. They act as digital census-takers that generate data that provide a compressive view of society in real time. Studies done in developing countries found that for every ten new mobile phones in a population of 100 people, the GDP increases by over one percent. The relationship was attributed to the tendency of smartphones to introduce people to the banking system. This relationship is evidence that smartphones have become an extension of people, and are likely to stay so in the future. However, if users are not provided with proper protection, some may benefit while others suffer because of dependency to smartphones.[15]
In conclusion, regardless of the effects, smartphones have on people’s lives, they have become an extension of them. People rely on the devices in all aspects of life from accessing transport services to banking. The overdependence on smartphones has caused some users to develop an addiction. These gadgets mostly assist people with mental functions. However, the consequences of relying on smartphones for mental functions are varied. Some studies have found that smartphones lower intelligence levels, while some have indicated that they improve decision-making and attention span. However, it has been observed that the benefits of smartphones outweigh the adverse effects.
Bibliography
Archer, Dale. Smartphone Addiction. 25 July 2013.
Hameed, Siddique and Javeed Chida. Mastering Android Wear application development : master the future of mobile devices in wearable technology. Birmingham: Packt Publishing, 2016.
Krauss, Susan. Your Smartphone May Be Making You… Not Smart. 18 October 2011.
Krewani, Angela. McLuhan’s Global Village Today: Transatlantic Perspectives. London: Routledge, 2014.
Segran, Elizabeth. The Case Against Smartphone. n.d.
Smith, AAron. Chapter Two: Usage and Attitudes Toward Smartphones. 1 April 2015.
The Economist. Planet of the phones. 26 February 2015.
[1] Dale Archer, Smartphone Addiction. 25 July 2013. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201307/smartphone-addiction. 14 June 2017.
[2] Siddique Hameed and Javeed Chida, Mastering Android Wear application development : master the future of mobile devices in wearable technology (Birmingham: Packt Publishing, 2016), 11.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Angela Krewani, McLuhan’s Global Village Today: Transatlantic Perspectives (London: Routledge, 2014), 194.
[6] Aaron Smith, Chapter Two: Usage and Attitudes Toward Smartphones. 1 April 2015. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/chapter-two-usage-and-attitudes-toward-smartphones/. 14 June 2017
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9]Dale Archer, Smartphone Addiction. 25 July 2013. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201307/smartphone-addiction. 14 June 2017.
[10] Elizabeth Segran, The Case Against Smartphone. n.d. https://www.fastcompany.com/3034462/the-case-against-smartphones.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Susan Krauss, Your Smartphone May Be Making You… Not Smart. 18 October 2011. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201110/your-smartphone-may-be-making-you-not-smart. 14 June 2017
[13] Ibid.
[14] The Economist. Planet of the phones. 26 February 2015. http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21645180-smartphone-ubiquitous-addictive-and-transformative-planet-phones. 14 June 2017
[15] Ibid.