Limiting your life to the four corners of your smartphone seems to be all the rage. But it's getting annoying.
For a long time, the modern woman and man made calls using a simple mobile phone, or more mundanely, a cell phone. Now they re called smartphones and many a primary school pupil is already in possession of such a technical wonder-thing, which has long since been designed for more than just making phone calls. Smartphones are becoming more and more sophisticated in terms of functionality and features. But they have to be, because after all, the various manufacturers regularly flood the market with new devices that need to continue to sell well. The smartphone was established by the manufacturer Apple. The iPhone 1.0, released in 2007, combined functionality, usability and design in a pocket-sized device - and hit the nerve of the time. But many consumers will ask themselves whether the end of the line has been reached at some point. Because you can probably not fly to the moon with a smartphone in the foreseeable future.
The smartphone as a leisure and career killer
Dealing with your own smartphone takes up more time every day than we might think or want to admit. After all, you always find yourself checking your email just before bedtime. For the employer, this basically means wonderful times, because 88 percent of employees are, even after work – and even on vacation - available for their superiors. But what is a blessing for employers in the evening can be a curse for them during the day. Namely, when employees are constantly distracted by their smartphones. More and more companies are therefore moving to ban mobile phones at work, including appropriate sanctions for those caught using them.
Is the smartphone a modern addictive substance?
In Germany, there are about 113 million mobile phones. More than half of the under 30-year-olds are in possession of a smartphone. Again and again you observe these scenes or become part of it yourself: In the café or in the subway, young people sit across from each other, engrossed in themselves, scrolling through their messages in Facebook without looking at each other or taking note of those around them. And in the restaurant, the smartphone lies on the table next to the fork and knife as a matter of course. For a large number of consumers, it is hard to imagine life without a smartphone. It is already too firmly integrated into the everyday life of modern man.
One US sociologist even goes so far as to call smartphones a part of the body that turns people into machine men. Certainly, it is the case that man has subjugated himself to technology. On the one hand, it makes us empowered and independent and on the other hand, it leads us into slavery. However: every person has the free choice to simply put down their smartphone for once and consciously perceive the here and now. One will be amazed at what there is to discover in reality.
Utopia or Reality - The renunciation of smartphones
The constant distraction and accessibility that a smartphone brings with it is certainly a double-edged sword. It is both a curse and a blessing to be able to be reached anywhere in the world at any time, or to be able to Google anything instantly. More and more people are suffering from burnout symptoms these days; what is particularly striking here is that the number of young patients among them is increasing more and more.
Now, of course, there is no evidence that smartphones can be the reason for this modern widespread disease; however, it is obvious that a person is burnt out at some point if he always wants to be informed, involved and up-to-date everywhere. This makes it more and more difficult to keep a distance. What is particularly paradoxical here is that personal contact with other people is decreasing due to the use of the smartphone (through SMS or WhatsApp messages), but the excessive demands on the part of the constant exchange with other smartphone owners is increasing. It is therefore not surprising that more and more people want to separate themselves from the smartphone generation. For these people, the motto „Just switch off“ applies.
About the Author Urs Langmeier Founder and CEO of Langmeier Software
I don't want to complicate anything. I don't want to develop the ultimate business software. I don't want to be listed in a top technology list. Because that's not what business applications are about. It's about making sure your data is seamlessly protected. And it's about making sure everything runs smoothly while you maintain full control and focus on growing your business. Simplicity and reliability are my guiding principles and inspire me every day.
Limiting your life to the four corners of your smartphone seems to be all the rage. But it's getting annoying.
