When did you get your first cell phone? Do you know where it is now? What did it look like compared to the one you have now? I was baffled when I thought of the answers to these questions while taking a survey last week.
I never really think about the history of my technology, so it took me a second to come up with an answer. Like my parents do when I catch them off guard asking about their old Betamax, I too wrinkled my forehead and looked up trying to think back to the days of old. The answers made me laugh, only this time I wasn’t laughing at my parents and their silly Sony. I was thinking of my first phone, a pathetic Kyocera flip phone. The tiny screen, its lack of headphone jack, Internet, email or even speakerphone, all made me cringe. It was a joke compared to my, even now, obsolete Blackberry.
Then, I fell silent as I realized how far technology has really progressed over the seven years of my phone ownership. From what was practically a pager with a screen, I now have a fully functional computer in my pocket.
It was what I call “the future is now moment,” a realization at the level of technological advancement that has been achieved in your lifetime. It’s like realizing how useful mobile Internet is and how useless your life was without it. My smart phone has changed my life. Because of it, I’m never lost. I’m always informed, and if I ever need entertainment, it’s a key stroke away.
Everyone should be aware of the exponentially increasing level of technology and consider the timeline of how short it has really been. Seven years ago, if a call didn’t drop it was amazing. Now, if your phone won’t load a Youtube video fast enough, it’s garbage. If you go somewhere now, and there isn’t Wi-Fi, it really wasn’t worth the travel.
I was on a Delta flight not too long ago when the novel idea of Wi-Fi on a plane was introduced to me. The thought of flying and looking up sports scores seemed pretty appealing, and I was enjoying it very much until halfway into the flight the service stopped due to technical error. This definitely wasn’t great considering Delta is possibly the worst airline ever, and I had nothing to do. But for the man sitting next to me, it was a catastrophe. He cursed the flight crew for the inconvenience and exclaimed how much this was going to affect him and how terrible the situation was. How could this be? A week before this flight, I didn’t even know that it was possible to use Wi-Fi on a plane. How is it that your day could be ruined by something so new?
It’s the same with phones; people always have to complain about how bad their phone is. “It never loads fast enough,” “I always have to wait on this thing,” “It never works… most of the time.” Seriously? Give it some time people. These futuristic hand-held personal assistants are processing data from space. Yes, outer space. It is practically witchcraft how amazing this technology is. Cell phones are not perfected technology, there is a chance for failure when using your phone. Be paitent and stop making a fool of yourself in public. Respect the technology.
