I was bored in the waiting room at my doctor’s office a week or so ago so I decided to have a look around. In addition to some seriously outdated magazines (there were a couple of People’s from last century) I saw almost everyone fiddling with their smartphones. It brought to mind an episode from Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me where I learned about “phantom vibration syndrome.” In phantom vibration syndrome people imagine that they feel their phone vibrating, even when they know their cell phone isn’t in there. I have also read about Compulsive Connectivity Syndrome, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like.
I myself have a smartphone and I have kind of mixed feelings about it. I can’t imagine life without my calendar and contacts on my phone. And I really do appreciate the ability to write myself little notes and carry around an electronic shopping list. But I miss the days when I had a dumb smartphone. Prior to this phone, my mobile provider allowed me to have a smartphone without a data plan. I got all of the features I wanted and honestly never missed the one I didn’t have. The only feature I would have missed was an ability to tweet, but since I could do that through a text message, I was just one happy camper.
Fast forward to today. My current cell phone (a Samsung Intercept) seems built for everything except its original purpose. On it, I can read my email from 3 different accounts, follow my friends on Twitter and Facebook, surf the web and use it as a GPS. But, half the time the phone doesn’t bother to ring and I only know someone has called when I hear the notification tone telling me that I have a new message. This happens even when I have perfect reception. I have been slowly stripping my phone down to its basics, uninstalling all but a few small word games.
But, even with my stripped down smartphone, I am in no position to judge anyone in the waiting room. I have a Nook Color that I have hacked into an Android tablet. That is what I use to surf the web, check Twitter and Facebook, my email accounts, read books and magazines and pretty much the same stuff everyone uses their smartphones for. The only difference is that I need wifi for my tablet to connect to the internet. I don’t mind being forced offline when there is no wifi to be had. All of my reading material is accessible offline as are most of the apps I use. I appreciate being forced to disconnect every once in a while.