What have we done?

What have we done?

Winnipeg
March 12, 2016
by: Timothy W. Shire

I along with many others need to accept the responsibility for what appears very much like a huge shift everyone’s way of life. My responsibility is limited but I know deep down that it was indeed people like me who were early adopters of the technological tsunami that has dissolved everyday life. For me it was making day to day use of computers and advocating their adoption into the work place then came the iPod as an entertainment device and the iPad as a quick simple replacement for the computer. It was the merging of these technologies into the smartphone that has changed everything and the way people even walk, let alone conduct their day to day affairs.

The week before last I spent a day shopping. I must admit I am not an enthusiastic shopper but I enjoyed the environment of the Polo Park Mall in Winnipeg and as my partner went store to store I sat and watched the sparce morning shoppers on a Winnipeg weekday. I was shocked.

For various reason I don’t own a smartphone my iPad does just nicely for me so in my pocket I carry two cameras and as I sat and watched I discovered everyone, yes everyone was going about their shopping with one hand clutching a smartphone. The most amazing thing about this was that the vast majority were accomplishing the task of actually using the device while walking and still avoiding colliding with others.

I did manage to catch a small group on an escalator who were not checking email, twitter or texting but aside from them it seemed the whole population were electronically engaged.

At one point a man of about my age sat down on the bench beside me and I was about to open a conversation with him about the phenomena and my surprise at the discovery. The conversation never happened because moments after he sat down he whipped out his phone and began thumbing through some text.

I remember when cell phones first became true hand held devices and everyone had to have a special pocket or holster for the thing but clearly that is no longer the case. The smartphone demands continuous monitoring and as you look at the pictures on this page and those seen on the front page of Ensign, the smartphone is kept at one’s finger tips.

This explains something that truly puzzles me, how do people find the time for Facebook, Twitter and texting. I find it hard to find time once a week to work my way through the posts on Facebook but from their postings it is clear that many people do this almost continuously. This is how they do it, they do it all the time, from the time they arise until they finally close their tired eyes at the end of the day.

From my family I have learned that the transition from YouTube watching on the iPad for little girls is about eleven. That seems to be the time for the modern little girl to have her own smartphone. The question is not what has this done to society but rather its definitely time to reconsider what kind of society do we now inhabit? We need to think about implants.

If everyone is walking and driving around with a smartphone in their hand will this evolve to even more connectivity, a totally wired world. Science fiction has not even begun to address the reality because the real world is far beyond what we see in fiction on TV shows and movies. “Just a moment I have to get this,” is now more commonly said than hello or goodbye.

Right now all I have is this observation and it is disquieting, we all need to take a moment, step back and think through what has happened, it can not be changed but we very much need to know and understand what we need to do to successfully cope in such an environment.

Ensign

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