My technology obsessed friend, rang my telephone few days back to make arrangements for her birthday celebration: “You still haven’t gotten a smartphone yet? It’s the 21st century, wake up and stop being a grandma” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“No”, I explained for the one hundredth time, “I haven’t and it isn’t a matter of ‘still’ or ‘yet’.
I’m not making a stand against technology, I simply find life less-stressful without having to carry a ‘portable telephone’. As a teenager, according to conventions I should keep to new social media applications and sifting all the latest communication gadgets. Surfing the net and updating my playlists every now and then, but I refuse to let myself because I’m all the happier with my Nokia torchlight phone.
I did own a smartphone, about a year back and all it ever brought me was hassle – a deluge calls and IMs from people. I took out the battery and swapped the SIM card to my red Nokia phone. Ever since then, my friends have wondered how I managed to survive but believe you me, it’s been rather peaceful.
When was the last time we put our phones down to enjoy the soft breeze at dusk? When was the last time we played at the park with our off-springs and siblings without any IM having to distract us? Quality time I mean? When last did you watch TV without having to bend your neck to your screen, pressuring your fingers to those keyboards? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU ENJOYED A GREAT MEAL BEFORE IT GOT COLD OR GIVING IT A PHOTOSHOOT?
Technology has rapidly taken up all the hours of the day that were considered personal time when you and I should be free of distractions. It seems as though it is civilization, but permit me to say it is “slavery”. We have become slaves of our phones, missing out on life’s good moments.
As a person, I support technology because for one, things have been made a lot easier. Only that we require a bit of self-discipline. Keep your phone aside while your mother talks to you. Go to bed to avoid the persistent insomnia, your brain, eyes and fingers need to rest. Don’t ruin your posture, raise your head and let your neck rest.
Sincerely, though, I am not entirely against having a mobile phone. Just that we need to use them sensibly and put into consideration others’ mental space and time. But until we learn to use these gadgets responsibly, the addiction and captivity is just too high a price for me to pay.
By @fatimaah_mg
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