Most people could not imagine leaving home without their smartphone. More than 6.6 billion people have one. That’s as much as 83% of the world’s population! Imagine what the world would be like without them.

A Simpler Time

When I was growing up in the 80s, few people had computers in their homes. In 1984, only 8.2% of households had one. That number rose to 22.9% in 1993, the year I graduated high school, and 36.6% in 1997, the year I graduated college. I managed to type all my essays (including my 1998 Masters dissertation) using good old-fashioned typewriters and my trusty Brother word processor. I loved that thing!

To play video games, many of us 80s kids frequented arcades at the mall. There was something special about chasing Pacman’s ghosts around with a joystick. Those who could afford it boasted Atari systems at home. Back in 1982, a system cost $269, which would be $827 in today’s dollars. The 90s would bring Nintendo 64, Playstation, and Sega.

The first email may have been sent in 1971, but email really didn’t take off until the early 1990s. I still remember going to the media center in college to check my messages. It seemed like such a novel thing at the time. My generation may have lived a simpler life but we still managed to stay social and connected long before that.

Smartphones Take Over

The first handheld cellphone was sold in 1983, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. It was a monster of a phone, a 2.4 pound box-like device that cost about $4,000 ($12,300 in today’s dollars) and gave you only 30 minutes of talk time after a 10 hour charge. It may have taken Herculean strength to lift them to your ears, but these phones were a true status symbol.

A lot changed in a few short decades. Prices came down and cellphones became more accessible. Smartphones entered the picture in the 2000s. Now you cannot go anywhere without seeing hordes of people ogling the little screens in their palms. There is a great scene in Mr. Harrigan’s Phone where a cafeteria full of high school students does not speak a word to each other. They just stare zombie-like at their phones. Classic Stephen King.

Today, you can do most anything on a smartphone from banking to measuring your blood pressure to taking pictures and writing books. The only thing they can’t do is cook for you or walk the dog — yet. We are fast approaching a Matrix-type world where we are fully dependent on our devices. Some people would argue we’re already there.

Dependency on Tech

The Matrix was an eye-opener, not just for the breakthrough special effects, but for the disturbing realization that our devices may actually be controlling us. You likely cheered when Neo chose the red pill over the blue pill, leaving the Matrix behind for the real world. Would you be able to do the same?

Odds are you know people who cannot make it through a meal without checking a handheld device. Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) literally fell in love with his computer in Her. Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) relied on a computer for his very existence in 2001: A Space Odyssey until Hal 9000 tried to make him obsolete. Our smartphones are no different.

It is a sad state of affairs. We have become so connected to our devices in recent years that we are more disconnected from the people sitting in front of us. It’s time to put the devices down, people, at least for a few minutes. The real joy of life is in our humanity.

 

How Many People Have Smartphones Worldwide. (2022). BankMyCell. https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/how-many-phones-are-in-the-world

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar’s Value from 1913+. US Inflation Calculator. https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

Križanović, I. (2020). Cell phone history: From the first phone to today’s smartphone wonders. VERSUS. https://versus.com/en/news/cell-phone-history

Percentage of U.S. households with a computer 1984-2010. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/184685/percentage-of-households-with-computer-in-the-united-states-since-1984/

Sirani, J. (2020). Update: Comparing the Price of Every Game Console, With Inflation. IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/comparing-the-price-of-every-game-console-with-inflation

Swatman, R. (2015). 1971: First Ever Email. Guinness World Records. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/60at60/2015/8/1971-first-ever-email-392973