Ian and I were having an interesting conversation the other night. I’m not sure what led us to talking about it, but he said that under NO conditions would he go back to a non-smart phone. I said that I thought I could. Yes, it’s been three years since I got my iPhone, and yes, I love it dearly, but under the right circumstances, I could give it up if I had to. Ian instantly began challenging me. He said, “Think of everything that you use your iPhone for…..checking email, quick and easy texting, facebook, Google-ing things on a whim, checking the weather for tomorrow, and not to mention all of the apps.” Yes, all of that stuff is really, REALLY nice and makes my life a ton easier, but IF I had to give it up, I would. He vehemently argued the point and doubted my ability to go without a smart phone. We were arguing back and forth, back and forth whenever my Skype app started ringing. It was my mother, calling me from fourteen time zones away. A non-smart phone certainly isn’t capable of that function. Ian smiled, knowing that my mother calling at that moment was a slam dunk for his side of the argument. “You going to get that?” he asked. “Shut up,” I said, sliding my finger across the screen and knowing it was the final nail in my argument’s coffin.
Still believing that IF I had to live without a smart phone, I could…… fast forward to the next day. Ian and I were running errands. He dropped me off at the grocery store while he went to the bank. I finished before he did, so I had to wait for him outside the grocery store. Since I had a few minutes, I reached into my pocket for my phone so that I could read a few pages of my iBook. Except….I had left my phone at home! *gasp* What did people do while waiting before they had smart phones? I people watched for a little bit, but even as I did that I felt like time was c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g by. Without something to keep my fingertips busy I felt antsy. Also, I felt like people were staring at me, judging me. I know this is probably completely irrational, but it FELT like it. When I’m waiting for someone or something, it’s so easy to pull out the iPhone and find something to do, tuning out the world and people around me for those few minutes, but without one I felt lost and bored. Ugh! As I was waiting, I was getting so antsy that I honestly thought about walking home (in the rain) rather than waiting any longer. All-in-all I was waiting for Ian for about twenty minutes. In TWENTY MINUTES I couldn’t occupy myself without an iPhone. What does that say about me as a person? What is this monster I have become?!?!
So…..this is a rather short blog today, but I thought it was interesting. It was actually a pretty cool social experiment. For those of you who have smart phones, could you give yours up? For those of you who don’t have smart phones, will you ever make the change?
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