Today, I wake up to find my cellphone nowhere in sight. During my 30 minute search my blood pressure was rising and I was starting to stress out. I never really knew how dependent on technology I really was until this "tragic" event happened. What put the icing on the cake was that my cellphone was locked in my car and my friend lost the keys, and when I mean lost, i mean LOST!
During my frantic day, I reflected on how I have become addicted to my iPhone and how in the world people lived before. Due to my iPhone absence, I was have been stranded all day, not able to come into contact with anyone (mind you my backpack and computer are in the car). I was totally cut off from communication. The conveience factor was harshly present today. With my cell phone I could have called my friends to see where the keys were, found the locksmith to unlock my car and call the dealership to make sure they could make a key for me, as well as look up the VIN for my car. I eventually got it all done, but instead of 10 minutes of phone calls it turned into a 7 hour ordeal. I felt naked walking to class without my iPod playing and the question of how my parents lived was totally consuming me.
Everything must have taken them so much longer and we are much more productive with cellphones and everything they can do today. To top it off, after I got my cellphone, the car I was borrowing from a friend, (since mine was locked out), would not start. The key would not turn in the ignition, nothing else. I googled the problem and found it was very common among Jeeps and found the craziest remedy. I was instructed to take a rubber screwdriver, use the rubber part and hit it against the key while it is in the ignition. What do you know? It worked! Saving me from hundreds of dollars for his car.
We take technology so for granted, or at least I do. The marketing schemes have worked and have officially have me addicted to technology, which is perfectly fine with me. :)
I have lost a phone before and I felt the same way! I feel completely naked without my phone and I feel disconnected from the world. You don't really realize how much you use your phone until it's gone. I guess the sang is right, you don't realize what you have until its gone. My phone has become apart of me that it is so hard to function without it. Like being one of the trillions of people who have iPhones, they will understand what it is like to lose one. First, all communication is lost, I can't tell you how many times I have used the navigational device to save me from getting lost, its my alarm clock, calculation, holds my schedule, my music, pictures, camera and also it has the Internet. WIthout my phone I would be lost. I understand what all the researchers are saying how this generation is completely depended on technology/phones because we go crazy when they are turn off or lost.
ReplyDeleteLosing a phone is a horrible feeling and that sounds like a very rough and stressful day. There are so many times where I spend twenty or thirty minutes of my day looking for my phone because we are all so dependent on it. Not only are we dependent on our phones, but we have the responsibility of calling people back. An important voicemail or text message could have been sent to your phone and you would not be aware of possibly crucial information if you were without your phone. My phone is also very useful when I definitely have to wake up for something like a midterm exam at 8:00 a.m. I will not only use my alarm clock but I will also use the alarm clock on my phone just in case. I also typically use the calendar scheduling tool on my phone to remind me of appointments that I have made. Cell phone technology is almost too convenient. It's crazy how we can find movie times straight from your phone as well as find directions to get to the theater.
ReplyDeleteThere are times though where I wish there were no such things as cell phones. For instance, after a very stressful day I typically just want to keep to myself and have some quiet. This quiet does not come alone when you have a cell phone in your pocket. Having a cell phone makes you on call to have to respond to the text message or incoming call which to me, at times, can get irritating when I am trying to relax.
Just last week I lost my phone. I woke up and expecting my phone to around my room, I started the search. Sometimes I can be absent minded with my things and not pay attention when I put them down somewhere. Normally it turns up within the first ten minutes of me looking. But after enlisting my roommate, suite mates, and turning my room into what looked like the aftermath of WWI, still no phone. I started to panic and grabbed my roommates phone. I proceeded to call and text every person I knew to see if they knew where my phone was. Within only a few minutes, still no one could help me out.
ReplyDeleteI started imagining life without a cell phone, and I didn't like it one bit. By hour 1 of my day without a phone, I was already on the phone with AT&T discussing my options of having a new phone on it's way.
My friends took pleasure in my tragedy and would constantly make comments like "Call me right after class so we can go to the store!" or "Text me! I have something really important to tell you!". At first I'd reach for my phone and then unamused, I would have to remember that I was cut off from the world.
Thankfully after a painful ten hours without my Blackberry it turns out that someone had it. It was such a relieving feeling to have it back, it felt like a part of me was missing.
After my experience, I talked with several people who have gone through the same thing, and like everyone who has commented, they acknowledged it's probably the worst feeling in the world.
We have discussed our dependency a lot on technology and this type of experience is the perfect example of just how much we rely on it. My peers our able to relate to my experience because we keep our lives on our phones. But cell phones have so many benefits that it's understandable to be upset when you lose it.
I think kylevb1 summed up the perfect attitude towards cell phones. They are so convenient and make everything easier but they can also be very annoying and disruptive. I know when I go home I like to put my phone away sometimes to give myself a break from the world and people trying to get in touch with me. Sometimes it's nice just to use it for your convenience, and not others.
I can completely relate, Chris. With freshman year almost over, the AT&T insurance telephone number has been plugged into almost all of my best friends' cellphones. I have made them plug it into their phone not because they might need it for themselves, but because I've now been through five different phones this year. I kid not when I say that the first three times I called in to file an insurance claim I received the same salesman every time. By the third time, he laughed at me (not cool). Even having my cell phone die when I have no access to a charger brings on anxiety enough, but not having a way to instantly connect with the world by any means can be outright dangerous. For us, college kids, life without a cell phone is pretty unsocial. Whenever I had my weeks while waiting for a new phone to come in the mail, friends would think I was lost or dying and boys would plain think I didn't like them because I wouldn't reply to their stupid text messages. It's scary to think that one could potentially butcher relationships both friendly and love-related just because of the lack of a cell phone. I wonder if such cell-phone dependency will increase in the future. Until then, perhaps we, or at least I, should handcuff myself to my cell phone to keep from being the laughing stock of the AT&T store.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I have experienced a day without my cell phone. My experience was during Easter break this year. The night before I went home for break, my phone completely died and would not work anymore. That night I was fine without it, but the next day was horrible. First, my shuttle never picked me up to go to the airport. I did not have their number and could not retrieve it because my phone would not even turn on. Once I finally got a taxi (which cost me about $30 dollars more), I made it to the airport. As I was waiting for my flight, I discovered there was a delay. Not knowing anyone, I was forced to pay and make a collect call. After I talked to my mom and told her what time to pick me up, I was left to do nothing. No texting, no playing games, and no surfing the Internet. Just before I was supposed to leave, my night got worse. There was another delay, but this time it would be a 3-hour one. Again, I had to pay to call my mom. Once I finally got home (5 hours later than what I should have), I struggled to find my parents. It was so much more difficult because I could not just call then and talk to them while walking around to find them. I had to call, hang up, walk around, and them stop to call again. By far, one of the worst days of my life.
ReplyDeleteI think if I would have had a phone everything would have been much more bearable. Yes, it is sad that we are so dependent on cell phones, but I would much rather have one than not!
I totally feel you man. I lost my phone and I was phoneless for about 1-2 weeks until I finally bought a new one. It felt so bad not having a phone and not being able to communicate with anybody. I felt disconnected from everybody I knew for this time. It's incredible how dependent most of us have become on gadgets such as cellphones. I don't even know what I would do if my computer broke. When I begin to think what people used to do when these gadgets didn't exist and I honestly don't understand how it was possible to live everyday without these things. Even though I suffered for the time I didn't have my cellphone it was actually a good experience. Being disconnected from technology helped me begin to run and do exercise again.
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