Consult a snapshot of a hotel poolside, wilderness camping retreat or outback adventure holiday of any kind today and you’ll notice one enormous difference from another taken 20 years ago – you’ll seldom see a soul present without his or her mobile phone. Even if not using theirs religiously, chances are 90% will be glancing at their iPhone in-between drinks, checking their BlackBerry during lunch or updating their Facebook status via Android over dinner.
The situation is not one of devotion according to experts, but one of quite disturbing addiction.
Relationships Destroyed
As global Smartphone penetrations ceases to rise slowly and instead rockets right out of the stratosphere, the friction, anxiety and chaos these little devices causes is also heading off the scale. Workers are becoming terrified that they will be fired or go out of business if they can’t be contacted 24/7, youngsters cannot bear the thought of being out of any given loop for more than a few seconds and couples are having their relationships tested to breaking point by the ignorance that comes with being glued to a screen all day.
Smartphone addiction has the potential to shatter relationships, destroy friendships and ruin what would previously have been a simple and enjoyable life.
Regardless of the way you look at it, when a person is using a Smartphone or any mobile phone for that matter, they shut off from all those around and cannot help being ignorant. Said ignorance causes frustration, anger and upset in those being fobbed off for the little screen in hand, which can in turn trigger all sorts of unpleasantness.
A Growing Problem
More mobile phones in circulation coupled with more features than ever before and topped up with low usage-fees equates to a problem of ignorance and antisocial behavior of biblical proportions, the likes of which the world was a better place without…or so argue sociologists.
One of the biggest problems is that those with an addiction to the mobile phones do not in fact realize they have a problem, but instead blame those around for being completely unreasonable and blowing the situation out of proportion. For example, a person being plagued with business calls on holiday may feel as though the world is on their shoulders alone, but watching them frown, grimace and sulk will inherently take an enormous toll on family and friends across the board.
It has so far been very difficult to actually monitor and put numbers to the problem of mobile phone addiction, though research has suggested that no less than 90% of all cellphone owners keep an eye on their devices round the clock – pretty much anytime they happen to be awake. More alarmingly still, more than a third admitted that they check their phones up to five times every hour.
Ground Rules
Some have suggested that the only way forward is to establish a few mutually agreeable ground rules before heading off on vacation or spending quality time with a cellphone addict, though chances are this will immediately sap much of the joy from the proceedings as you will all be watching each-other like hawks.
A Step Too Far?
It is news such as this that makes it particularly alarming to consider the impact that device’s such as Google’s Project Glass could potentially have on society. While the search engine giant may refer to the device as the world’s first “augmented reality” glasses, what they are in fact are essentially wearable Smartphones that do everything your current high-end device might, though sit permanently on your face.
Heralded by some as a revolutionary new concept with extraordinary ramifications for the future, others have labeled it a terrifying step closer to implanted technology that ensures we literally remain connected 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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