Paradigm Shift - Smartphones

Lets play a little game. Take a look in your pockets, what do you have?
Keys? A wallet? Now I want you to raise a hand if what you find in your pocket is
a smartphone. Its all right if you have one! According to PEW Research center,
nearly 56% of American adults now own a Smartphone. To put that in to
perspective, in 2005 merely 2% of American cell phone subscribers had a
smartphone. The growth of smartphones has been astronomical and its uses
have changed over the many years that it has been on the market. These
pocket-sized computers have essentially become our life source. From grocery
shopping to boarding an airplane, smartphones have the capability to be used in
almost any task imaginable. People use their smart phones from the moment
they wake up to the second they fall asleep. Our phones connect us to each
other and to the rest of the world, to an extent where we feel excluded and lonely
when were off the grid.

So allow me to ask a rather serious question. Are we becoming too
dependent on our smartphones? Is this becoming an epidemic?

So what is a smartphone? The Oxford Dictionary defines smartphones as
any of various telephones enhanced with computer technology. Later
chiefly: spec. a mobile phone capable of running general-purpose computer
applications, now typically with a touch-screen interface and Internet access.
The term smartphone dates back as far as 1980 with the governments
Telecommunications Policy quoting provide special services like broadcast,
direct dialing, smart phones, etc. However, only in recent years has the
invention of the smartphone had a substantial impact on our society. With the
invention of the Iphone and other smart devices, the term smartphone became
relatable to the common man. Today, its more rare to see an active adult using a
non-smartphone cellular device. For many, a flip-phone is now consider a relic,
gems from a period time has forgotten, or 2005. But in all seriousness its quite
astounding to realize how far smartphone technology has come, especially when
you realize the first consumer-oriented smartphone was only created in 2007.
These pocket sized devices have not only changed the way we make phone
calls, but have drastically changed the way our society functions on a most basic
level. But in order to examine how smartphones have truly affected our society,
its important to first examine the origin of smartphones.

The history of smartphones actually dates back further than most would
think. What most people think of when they hear the term smartphone is the
original Iphone, released on to the market in 2007. Sleek, fully touch screen and
extremely portable, the Iphone definitely changed the smartphone game.
However the released of the Iphone was only a step in the three phases of the
smartphone era. To truly get a grasp on the history of smartphones, we would
have to go back to first phase, 1993s release of The Simon. Marked as the
beginning of the smartphone era, The Simon was IBMs crown jewel in cellular
technology. This phase was the enterprise phase, with a focus of smartphones
being used for business. The Simon included a touch screen interface that
allowed its users to access calendar, address book, calculator and other
functions. These smartphone prototypes were created to allow businessmen to
do more with their cell phones than making simple phone calls. Another key
player during the enterprise phase was the Blackberry, again focusing more on
enterprise and less on everyday use. In 2007, the release of the Iphone from
Apple Computers marked the second phase of the smartphone era, the
consumer phase. With the consumer phase, the focus of smartphones had
switched from purely enterprise to being able to release smartphone technology
onto the general public. In 2001, the release of the third-generation mobile
network (3G) made smartphones more practical and more versatile. Now users
can send music, pictures or even videos with the help of 3G networking.
Smartphones in this era focused on ease of use and lowering the price to an
amount where the general public would be able to become a mass market.
Alongside Blackberry and Iphone, Google announced its own smartphone
operating system in 2007, the Android. These operating systems allowed its
users to do and share more, even including social networking into their operating
systems. In 2008, the improvement of these operating systems catalyzed the
arrival of the third-phase. The third phase focused on shortening the distance
between enterprise centric and consumer centric aspects of smartphones.
Phones are becoming more portable, longer lasting and visually appealing. They
offer us further functionality in our day-to-day life while at the same time
becoming more social and more fun. Today, we are witnessing various dramatic
changes in smartphone technology. The Iphones and Galaxys that we hold in
the palms of our hand can do so much more than their historic counterparts, both
in a business aspect and a social aspect. In fact smartphones are changing the
way our society is ran, life is becoming faster and more fluid. However, with the
pros must also come the cons. While our lives are improving from the benefits
offered by smartphones, negative side effects of smartphone technology are also
detrimentally affecting our society.

The positives of smartphones are obviously quick to notice. The pocket
computers allow its users to do things faster, better and at the same time. Apart
from just the built in gadgets your smartphone comes with like a digital calendar,
calculator or alarm clock, smartphones can also be used to download various
apps to help you with your daily life. There are now over 1,000,000 different apps
offered in the Apple apps store. Each of these apps function to either entertain or
make life a little easier for the user. If youve ever had a smartphone you would
know just how great some of these apps are. In fact, many applications
themselves have become social icons in our society. Angry bird, for example has
become an entire commercially successful enterprise all from a $1.99 app
created in 2009. Other applications are able to help people manage their
schedule, provide directions when they are lost, or even provide care to save a
persons life. As smartphone technology improves, the benefits of smartphones
are becoming even more distinct. How we manage our health, teach our children
or interact with each other are all examples of how our lives have been
fundamentally changed by smartphones.

Smartphones can now be used to promote a better more active life for
many of its users. There are countless applications offered by phones that can
track your activity or your calorie intake. In a sense smartphones encourage their
users to become more active and make better decisions on their health. The
connectivity of smartphones also provides its users with an abundance of
information on how to become healthier. Even the medical aspect of our lives is
being affected by smartphones. Clinical use of smartphone technology has been
offering doctors and nurses ways to provide better care for their patients.

Education has improved drastically from smartphone technology.
Research information or lessons can now be achieved with a few taps and a
scroll. Teachers and students alike use the Internet to communicate, having a
smart phone allows for faster, easier interaction between students and their
educators. Even students who are sick or who dont have an opportunity to go to
school can be educated through smartphone technology.

Lastly smartphones have completely altered social interaction in the 21
st

century. Interactions are now immediate, allowing people to remain connected
with each other from the second they get out of bed to the moment they close
their eyes. The connectivity offered by smartphones promotes our social life and
allows for easy interaction. People can get in touch with their friends and loved
ones at a moments notice, which can even provided security for seniors or
children. The benefits of smartphones are so valid that it is now extremely difficult
for our society to function without the use of smartphone technology. However,
despite the practically boundless benefits of smartphones, there are also obvious
negatives effects associated with smartphones.

In a British study performed by a UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom,
the following statistics was released based on their study of Smartphone usage
in the United Kingdom
37% of adults and 60% of teens admit they are highly addicted to their
Smartphone.
51% of adults and 65% of teens say they have used their Smartphone
while socializing with others.
23% of adults and 34% of teens have used their Smartphone during
mealtimes.
22% of adult and 47% of teens admitted using or answering their
Smartphone while in the bathroom

In recent years, IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder) has been a very serious
problem for developed countries all over the globe. Even worst, smartphone
addiction has now become a real epidemic. Smartphone users are developing
such a dependency for their device that it becomes difficult for them to function
normally without their cell phones. Just like how smartphones have had positive
effects on the health, education and social wellbeing of our society, they can also
have very negative effects.

Smartphones have been limiting doctor patient interaction, as fewer and
fewer patients even bother to see a health care professional. The constant
dependency on virtual interactions can disconnect people from true social
interaction, which is becoming a health issue for many individuals. The overuse
of screen technology is also proving to be affecting eyesights in children. Most
hauntingly, the constant stimulation of the brain is having a detrimental affect on
many peoples ability to make decisions because of their inability to focus on one
subject for too long.

While smartphone technologies enable many students to learn from all
over the world, they can also be a serious source of distraction. From the class
room setting to a lecture hall, its clear to see how a smartphone can be
extremely distracting for a learning environment. Recently, smartphones are
becoming a problem with academic dishonesty in many educational settings, with
students actively cheating using their portable gateway to the internet.

Socially, while smartphones have provided us with so many social
advances, it has also limited true social interactions. Conversations with your
closest friends and family might not even be occurring face to face. The rise of
smartphone technology has essentially taken away the true essence of social
interaction. It is gradually becoming more important for us to realize the negative
aspects of smartphones and try to limit ourselves on the use of smartphones.

Its safe to assume that smartphones really arent going to be going off the
market anytime soon. Its popularity can be shown just from enormous usage of
these products. There are also new technological advances made in this field
constantly, so much so that there has become a need to upgrade your smart
phone once every two years. The phones themselves have become more and
more advanced, recently the Iphone 5S has developed fingerprint reading
technology, opening the door to an entirely different set of security concerns. So
while we do know that these amazing machines are going to be a part of our
lives for the near future, we should also focus on how we shouldnt let our
dependency of smartphones grow rampant. In her book, Sleeping with your
Smartphone, author Leslie Perlow described how taking predictable time off
from your smart devices resulted in increased efficiency and collaboration,
heightened job satisfaction, and better work-life balance. Its also a huge issue
for people to realize that face-to-face interaction simply cannot be replaced by
online social interaction. The potential for smartphone technology is vast and its
future unpredictable. For us to truly benefit from all that smart technology can
offer us, it is becoming important to make sure we realize and control our
dependency on our smartphones and tablets. The era of smart technology is only
beginning to blossom and the benefits of these new technological advances are
truly astounding. Take pride in our scientific achievements, but approach these
new advances with an air of caution. Smartphones can only be smart when you
understand the responsibility of using these tremendous pieces of technology.

Ask your selves, Am I dependent on my smartphone? For many
individuals the answer can be more complicated than they realize. I want you all
to take the rest of the day and see how long you can last without the use of a
smartphone. The answer may surprise you.



























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