Mobile Devices

"The mobile phone is primarily accepted as a body part or appendage"

-- Ingrid Richardson 2007

Disturbing times we live in this quote was from a 5 year old paper, interestingly this was the same year the first IPhone was released.

Gone are the days when there was any mystery in the world -- when I was a younger boy I used to worry that my mother had been in a car accident every time she went out. Now, as a 5 year old this is a scary thought. Now to me back then there was no way to prove that she hadn't died.

 I remember waiting outside the front gate for a glance of her car down our long road and the overwhelming relief that flowed coursed through me when I say our big blue car roll up the driveway.

Now days all I would have to do is spend 10 seconds texting her, or tweeting, or face booking, or calling or skyping or 1 of the many ways i can instantly contact her at any point from any location.

This brings me too a second quote

"Is the cell phone undermining the social order?" 

-- Hans Geser 2004

Well Hans you are spot on the money with this one. Again this quote is BEFORE the iPhone people were already noticing the social implications of texting alone.

Now with today’s technology we have access to every type of technological communication in the palm of our hands.

Now Hans Geser had a four pronged theory that suggested that Mobile phones were detrimental and in the following ways;

"Increasing the pervasiveness of primary particularistic social bonds"

Now Geser’s argument for this point is that while landline phone numbers are listed in directories and databases, mobile phone numbers are electively given to peers and family in in this way we narrow our social interactions too shield us from parts of society we do not wish to mingle with.

On this I disagree as when Geser was writing his paper mobile phones were exclusive to text and call based, nowadays our phones are open to a plethora of various open network social media interactions.

However  shielding of unwelcome social interactions is still a relevant angle, Sometimes people shield themselves from welcome social interactions or any social interactions at all, Some people have the uncanny ( and in my opinion annoying) ability to ruin any social interaction both virtual and personal by constantly accessing their smartphone and avoiding actual conversations.

"Reducing the need for time-based scheduling and coordination"

 So true the need for scheduled and personal interactions are long gone, while I am grateful to be able to contact my distant friends at a drop of a hat I do miss the expressiveness and intimacy of a friendship based on mutual interests and regular person to personal social interactions.

"Undermining institutional boundary controls and replacing location based with person based communicative systems"

This is another point I also disagree with.  Geser suggests that our previous model of technological communication prior to mobile phones was built on that idea that we communicated from a house or business place to another house or business place and never directly to an individual. While this can be annoying receiving a call at 6am while you’re laying in bed it can have the unseen benefit round the clock communication without disturbing other members of your house hold or workplace.

 

"Providing support for anachronistic pervasive roles"

Geser suggests for this point that we are contactable at any time, even if we are already engaged in a prior activity or event he also suggests that we can use mobile phones for monitoring other persons or loved ones.

While there are the benefits of safety and security, and relay of information in cases of emergency. This DOES NOT outweigh the negatives of the complete personal breakdown of social interactions

I can’t count how many times I have had to sit staring into space as someone I’m out to dinner/movies/coffee/train/ playing a board game/cards or any number of other social activities were my peer is texting or calling someone while I wait bored out of my mind and resenting ever moment of it.

To summaries I hate smartphones, I love instant communication but I don’t think society as a whole is or ever will be mature enough to manage or comprehend both personal and technological relationships without one affecting the other in a negative way.

 Gesers paper is avaible on google books.
 P. Glotz, S.Bertscht, C. Locke, 2005 Thumb Culture The meaing of Mobile Phones for society.

http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/news/motorists-accident-mobile-phone-1264.html


http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/01/mobile-phones-changed-society