View Full Version : Do You Own Your Electronic Device or Does It Own You?
https://bastionofliberty.blogspot.com/2018/06/quickies-at-last-recognition-is-taking.html
Second, let me get it out: I told you so. All of you with smartphones glued to your hands, who can’t look away from the screen long enough to greet your spouse when he comes home from work...or your spouse when you get home from work...or your parents when you finally return home from school, or soccer practice, or wherever.
You are not functioning as a self-aware, volitional being invested with the awesome powers of evaluation and choice. You’ve surrendered that estate and are being led around by a device. You are being programmed. (You may take it as gospel that I know something about programming.)
You are not alive, by the standards that properly apply to human life. You’re a robot. Less, really: you’re a mechanism walking a treadmill. You have the power to turn it off and dismount...but you won’t use it.
Is this contentment...or enslavement?
I like to think that most of the people on this board are more aware of their surroundings than the average person, but I've been wrong before.
How do you handle your smartphone usage, how do you monitor your children's usage of the device?
I'm sure I'm a minority on this but I use my smart phone for 3 things, text, phone, and pictures. Needless to say, some might call me dinosaur.
No kids to worry about.
thank God.
Great-Kazoo
06-21-2018, 07:27
I'm sure I'm a minority on this but I use my smart phone for 3 things, text, phone, and pictures. Needless to say, some might call me dinosaur.
No kids to worry about.
thank God.
You're not alone. Our kid (35 yrs old) uses hers for more but, her ability to use a pc/laptop due to coverage and download speeds is limited where she resides.
I use mine responsibly. I don’t play with it while driving. I don’t really do any “social media” stuff with it. For me it’s a tool. I obviously use it to stay in touch with people. I use it to check some weather stuff for work and sometimes use it for navigation. I use it for browsing the forums here when I have a little downtime. Sometimes I get news and sports updates. I’m definitely not glued to the damn thing and it spends 95% of it’s life in my pocket.
Now, my wife... well she’s on his phone all the time. Gotta stay in the loop with people she hasn’t seen in person since high school I guess or whatever.
I don't have a PC since the note 4
Don't have a cell phone. My wife has one we leave in a drawer until we travel somewhere. I rarely borrow it. I am definitely in the minority.
The quoted clip seems way overblown and needlessly dramatic to me. Yes people have control issues with respect to device usage and manners. That doesn't make anyone a robot or slave to the device by any means.
My phone is a phone, texting device, camera, and radio. I rarely use it for anything else, and it spends pretty much my entire work day either in my pocket or laying on my desk while I actually work. Email and web stuff is all done on PCs.
I’ve got no family, it’s a great way to keep that kind of drama artificially in my life through social media and a nagging gps narrator.
Zundfolge
06-21-2018, 09:31
I'm sure I'm a minority on this but I use my smart phone for 3 things, text, phone, and pictures. Needless to say, some might call me dinosaur.
No kids to worry about.
thank God.
I'm sure I'm an even bigger (smaller?) minority as I don't even have a dumb phone.
My phone owns me...I allow it to happen...oh well
buffalobo
06-21-2018, 09:42
I carry two phones. Work and personal. Am owned by work phone during business hours. Personal phone is used to talk and text wife, read here, weather and news alerts and Kindle reading app. COAR15 is the only "social" media I participate in.
hurley842002
06-21-2018, 09:54
I find it ironic how often the "no phone" crowd is on this forum, which means they are tethered to a stationary computer, I on the other hand use my "dumb" phone for literally everything, and being a mobile device, means I can do everything anywhere. I remember having to sit in front of a computer to browse the web, no thank you, computers are pretty much word processors for me anymore.
pickenup
06-21-2018, 10:38
I do not own a smart phone. It does not work at my house, so why?
I do own a flip phone for travel, and it has never been connected to the internet.
For $6 to buy the phone and $6 a month to keep it active, I figure that is good insurance.
Now my son practically lives on his.
Knowing it does not work when visiting us, he still can't help but look at it ever few minutes.
I’m here reading this on the iPhone that was issued to me. This means that I am not exactly present for anyone or anything that may be physically present near me. Everything seems to be in a competition for my attention and I confess that screens often win.
I plead guilty your honor.
Zundfolge
06-21-2018, 11:52
For $6 to buy the phone and $6 a month to keep it active, I figure that is good insurance.
Main reason I don't have a phone is that I'm cheap, but $6/mo doesn't sound bad ... where you get that deal?
BushMasterBoy
06-21-2018, 13:00
my phone costs about 80 bucks a year. It is a flashlight and a FM radio too. I has really large buttons and is fairly small. It will text, but I rarely text. I have to add minutes every 90 days. It scrolls on the screen how many days are left and how many minutes are left. You can subscribe one time for a whole year if you wish. I got the phone at wally world and usually add minutes via my computer.maybe one day I will get a smart phone...
It is from tracfone.
https://www.tracfone.com/?lang=en
The quoted clip seems way overblown and needlessly dramatic to me. Yes people have control issues with respect to device usage and manners. That doesn't make anyone a robot or slave to the device by any means.
Yes, I thought it was overblown too until I started seeing people walking into the can with their stupidphone in one hand and trying to unzip/juggle their winkus with the other hand WHILE continuing to text, then they walk up to the wash basin and do all of that one-handed while texting, can't even put it down for a minute.
People filming every damn thing they go to is extremely irritating to me. I was at a concert and half the people were holding up phones. I bet 99% of them will never watch or show that video again, and 100% of the people shown that video won't even care.
I'd say I own it. My base plan is 2 gig a month. I use less than 1 gig. I don't text or talk in the car. Never on the table when I'm eating or talking to someone.
Don't approach me with a question while your yacking on your phone. You won't get a favorable response. I do like watching people drop everything to answer a call or text.
I'd say I own it. My base plan is 2 gig a month. I use less than 1 gig. I don't text or talk in the car. Never on the table when I'm eating or talking to someone.
Don't approach me with a question while your yacking on your phone. You won't get a favorable response. I do like watching people drop everything to answer a call or text.
Does your phone make a noise and the person you're talking to look at you and say "aren't you going to get that"?
I tell the person I'm talking to that they are my priority, I can always look at my device later.
The quoted clip seems way overblown and needlessly dramatic to me. Yes people have control issues with respect to device usage and manners. That doesn't make anyone a robot or slave to the device by any means.
Post count > 35,000
[ROFL1]
Taken with no context, 10 points for you.
Vic Tory
06-21-2018, 18:30
... my son practically lives on his.
Knowing it does not work when visiting us, he still can't help but look at it ever few minutes.This was funny.
I am a part-time high school coach. The kids on the team practically PANIC when I make them keep their phones in their bags and NOT check them 77 times during practices.
Vic Tory
06-21-2018, 18:46
I functioned without the crazy cell phone for 40 years. About ten years ago I realized something was wrong with me.
If I leave the office without my phone ... and discover the oversight within a few miles ... I turn around and go back for it. But I'm up and down the Front Range a lot on business. When I'm driving, I'm also working with clients.
As a coach of a bunch of teens, I'm regularly texting and receiving them. But I do this on my own schedule, not with the *immediacy* of most of the kids.
Only about 10% of them email. But if information isn't on their phone ... it doesn't exist for them.
I really fear for the millennials.
Vic Tory
06-21-2018, 18:49
One more and I"m done for a while....
A good friend is a restaurant operations whiz -- helping fix struggling restaurants. One thing he teaches the owners to do is insist on the job candidates leaving their phones OFF, or on the counter OUTSIDE the manger's office.
When he does interviews of millennials for the owners, they mostly last about two minutes. That's how long it takes the candidates to violate his rule, and they are gone!
wctriumph
06-21-2018, 19:01
I don't have a cell phone, smart of dumb. Left then behind in 2007 and never looked back.
pickenup
06-21-2018, 23:10
Main reason I don't have a phone is that I'm cheap, but $6/mo doesn't sound bad ... where you get that deal?
Like BushMasterBoy, mine is a Tracfone, except I got mine at King Soopers. They had some kind of special going on where the phone was really cheap, and the minutes were double what you bought - for life. I always get the smallest minutes that give you coverage for 90 days, because I don't use what minutes I have, and the higher minute cards still only give you the same 90 days until you have to add more minutes. So for $19.99 every 90 days it comes to $6 and change per month. I send it with the wife if she goes out by herself, just in case.
Bailey Guns
06-22-2018, 06:31
I use mine about 50/50 for personal use/work and pretty much always keep it near because I'm on call so much. But I don't take it everywhere. I do check for messages frequently. We no longer have a landline. Work provides an allowance that pays for the phone (and then some), I pay for the plan. Pretty fair deal. I use it for calls, texts and pictures. Occasionally an email or web surfing if I need to look for something. I've deleted or disabled about 95% of the apps.
68Charger
06-22-2018, 07:10
Because of oncall duties, it's referred to as "the virtual leash"
I use it a LOT for conference calls... it's on a separate carrier than the company I work for (since I live in a blank coverage area for my employer)
I'm a little obsessive about keeping it charged, so it works when I need it... other than that I don't dote on in.
I own it. It's a tool. When I drive, it's connected to the car via Bluetooth and in my pocket. When I drive, I drive. I don't even like to talk & drive. If someone does call, they're likely to hear me say I'll call you back in X minutes (when I get where I'm going).
This all makes me more aware of the drivers around me...and particularly aware of when they're dicking around with their phones and not driving. I see pedestrians crossing streets slowly, because they can't get their heads out of their phones. Come on, people. Live your lives. Nobody gives a shit about the dessert you ordered after dinner. If you're at a concert or event, keep your phone in your pocket. Your eyes are Hi-Def and enjoy the experience. Nobody is going to watch your stupid video.
Heard an account from a co-worker how his daughter was taking video of the recent hail storm. She's taking it from the open garage, talking about what a horrific storm this was with baseball sized hail stones bouncing off the lawn. The father notices that her car is parked outside and taking damage, while the daughter is taking video from the wide-open garage. "Why didn't you move your car into the garage?" Her answer, "I'm so disappointed in myself." This account brought to mind a good name for that generation...."The Spectator Generation". They aren't actively engaged in life, just watching it happen on their phones and commenting.
I'm going to go out on a limb and make the wild assumption that most of the respondents thus far in this thread are over 21 (maybe not all, but most). As such, the notion that they control their phone vs the other way around may indeed hold true. However, I don't think the assertion in the OP's article is remotely exagerated when it comes to college aged people. Every time I've driven anywhere near The Hill or on campus at CU, phones absolutely are controlling their robot owners. None seem able to pry their eyes away from the screen even long enough to see if there is an oncoming car or not, they just walk right across the street assuming that oncoming drivers aren't like they are: glued to their phone screens. Or, potentially more likely, oblivious to the fact that they are even in a four lane street.
And, quite aside from the above, for your viewing pleasure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngt1JK3DyOU
OtterbatHellcat
06-22-2018, 21:58
I have a love/hate relationship with the damn cell phone/personal mobile computer.
I don't mess with it when I'm behind the wheel though, that's super retarded.
BushMasterBoy
06-22-2018, 22:04
I admit I have 4 telephones. Each phone has a specific purpose. I rarely use them, but when I do they are invaluable. I fear the day is coming when I have to carry a satellite phone. Any way I just saw this utuber vid, so I am going to post it here as it already has 5 million views in one week! Not sure how original it is. It is about the phone/text social phenomena.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKd2QVrQVIM
buffalobo
06-23-2018, 00:11
On a hopeful note, I lost a bet to minion #1 recently. The bet was that he could not go electronic free from Wed 6 pm to Sun 6 pm.
He thought about it for couple minutes and handed me his phone and game phone. Rest of minions were sworn to not share and report violations and collusion.
He breezed thru pretty easy, said Sun nite when I gave phones back that shooting, farming, gardening and dirt bikes make it easy to give up the electronics.
That's why I thought the article was dramatic. I live on my phone, but have never had trouble giving it up.
Does your phone make a noise and the person you're talking to look at you and say "aren't you going to get that"?
I tell the person I'm talking to that they are my priority, I can always look at my device later.
"That's what voicemail is for."
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