Not to disturb the conversation about Einstein, but...
I've seen this myself at family get-togethers over the past few years. People bring their laptops, tablet computers, etc. and are in general not very good at socializing. I also see a *LOT* of this the few times a year I find myself at a restaurant. The young person comes along (because he has to) but he might as well have stayed home, since he hardly says "boo" to those around him, keeping his nose in his cell phone the whole time.
You know, when you're living in a virtual world -- playing games, etc. -- it doesn't matter if you're at home, or at a restaurant celebrating Thanksgiving. There's no point going anywhere, going on vacation, or celebrating anything. It's just a different place from which to play your video games. What's the point?
A few months ago, I did not even know how to send a text message. I rarely used cell phones and did not even own my own.
After moving away from home to go to college, I have to honestly say that my cell phone is my among my most important, if not my most important, personal possession.
It's always as if being active in modern society forces you to stay "connected" practically 24/7. Homework assignments, quizzes, tests, notices and information, are practically all done online. My university is a 100% paper-less system. There is almost no paperwork to back up anything if the system were to crash.
Instructors communicate to students outside of class via email and text.
Using my i-Phone (provided there is Wi-Fi connection) has often helped greatly in school related situations like these.
Living off of campus without a car, it's important to keep up to date by the minute with the people I carpool with, whether it's getting picked up in the morning to go to school, at night when I'm arranging to go to the symphony with another student, or on Sundays and Holy Days when I'm waiting for a ride to Mass.
Would my life go on without this convenient, instant, and practically constant communication? Yes, but it would be a great deal more difficult. What if for example, my plans, or those of my ride, change at the last minute and the other party needs to be notified? Without text-ing or calling the other person on a cell phone there would be no way to communicate!
The key is apparently not to get sucked into this virtual world and forget about the material world. I never use my phone to play games. When I have company I will turn off my cell phone (or put it on "silent") and if I am expected a call or have an unexpected but important call, I will ask to be excused to pick up the phone. Though honestly, I can't see why 90% of the time a call cannot wait until later (there are obvious exceptions most of which come unexpectedly in emergencies, etc). There have been times that people freak out because I *turned off my cell phone* (instead of just silencing it) and because they couldn't reach me or my voice mail machine for a few hours!
I suppose since I have found myself using my cell phone a lot more often (I am a fluent "text-er" now) I wouldn't like to be grouped with the people who mindlessly bury their faces in their cell phones playing "Fruit Ninja" every spare five seconds they get. It's not just teenagers by the way - plenty of adults do it as well.
On a plus side, using the i-Phone's Wi-Fi has finally given me enough impetus to actually read all of Hobbledehoy's PDF scans since the fit quite nicely on the screen.
Topic: Einstein dire prediction came true (Read 2390 times)