It’s been almost 30 years since the first smartphone. In this time, the number of these devices have increased rapidly as the technology became cheaper and commoditised.
There has been a growing concern about the effect of these hand held devices over the years saying “It has a negative effect on human memory and intellect…. ”. I completely disagree with this sentiment.
First of all, there is no scientific evidence that suggests that smartphones have any negative effect on our intellect. And secondly, using these technologies we can make use of our intellect to a greater extent. I think rather than decreasing our memory, smartphones have actually expanded our memory.
Phone can be our backup storage or external processing unit. In a way, we can think of ourselves as a cyborg and the technology being an implant to enhance our brain capacity.
If you think about it, we are using phones and computers to outsource simple and repetitive tasks and using our brain for more creative and complex problems.
Now, I want to critique the argument that says that we are too dependent on technology and hence smartphones are bad.
Yes, we are too dependent on technology but that itself is not necessarily a bad thing. We live in an age where smartphones are a commodity. The price of mobile phones and any technology is decreasing rapidly following Morse's law. So there is no need to worry about being dependent on technology because we never have to live without them. You might not be able to afford healthy food, but you definitely can afford a smartphone.
It’s been almost 30 years since the
first
smartphone. In this time, the number of these devices have increased
rapidly
as the
technology
became cheaper and
commoditised
.
There has been a growing concern about the effect of these hand held devices over the years saying “It has a
negative
effect on human memory and intellect…. ”. I completely disagree with this sentiment.
First of all
, there is no scientific evidence that suggests that smartphones have any
negative
effect on our intellect. And
secondly
, using these
technologies
we can
make
use
of our intellect to a greater extent. I
think
rather
than decreasing our memory, smartphones have actually expanded our memory.
Phone can be our backup storage or external processing unit. In a way, we can
think
of ourselves as a cyborg and the
technology
being an implant to enhance our brain capacity.
If you
think
about it, we are using phones and computers to outsource simple and repetitive tasks and using our brain for more creative and complex problems.
Now
, I want to critique the argument that says that we are too dependent on
technology
and
hence
smartphones are
bad
.
Yes, we are too dependent on
technology
but
that itself is not
necessarily
a
bad
thing. We
live
in an age where smartphones are a commodity. The price of mobile phones and any
technology
is decreasing
rapidly
following Morse's law.
So
there is no need to worry about being dependent on
technology
because
we never
have to
live
without them. You might not be able to afford healthy food,
but
you definitely can afford a smartphone.