We live in a time when smartphones and other mobile devices occupy a large portion of our day. Most people can’t imagine leaving their house without their digital companion and behave as if this mini-computer is glued to their hand most of the time.
At first, people used smartphones to get in touch with their friends through a simple call or short text message. However, technology advanced over the years and equipped smartphones with many other features. What is more, tablets became a thing, representing the perfect blend of a mobile device and a computer.
Today, you can use any mobile device for internet surfing, visiting gaming hubs like CasinoUSA to find listed mobile casinos, scrolling through various social networks such as Instagram, and much more.
Here’s an outline of the smartphone culture’s good sides, as well as those threatening to turn our future in the wrong direction.
Advantages of Mobile Devices
There’s no doubt that mobile devices have been designed for a good reason and served their purpose well in the past. Let’s take a look at all the aspects in which they have proved useful since they first appeared.
We Can Communicate With Each Other More Easily
The main reason mobile devices were created in the first place was communication. Smartphones enable us to easily reach people when we need them and communicate as if they were right next to us.
With further technological advancements, we got the opportunity to make video calls and have real-time conversations with people living in other parts of the planet using easy-to-install apps available worldwide. The most popular ones include various social media applications used both for personal and business purposes.
Inexhaustible Source of Fun
People invest in mobile devices of the latest generation because they can provide a lot of entertainment. You can use them for playing games, listening to music, watching TV series or movies, reading books, listening to audiobooks, and most importantly, you can do it all on the go.
Moreover, all present-day smartphones come equipped with HD cameras and other features. These allow you to take high-quality photos, record important moments, find your way around a city using GPS, measure your running distance, and much more.
Business-Essential Tool
If you’re planning to start a business, having a good smartphone and/or tablet will make that a lot easier. These devices are as important for work as they are for play, if not more. They replace old-fashioned address books and directories, allowing you to have all the essential contacts in one place.
Also, you can use them to have your schedule and a to-do list sorted out and even set reminders for particular dates or events. In other words, your mobile phone can become a personal assistant that is by your side at all times and keeps your hectic business schedule under control.
Issues Caused by the Frequent Use of Mobile Devices
Although one may think that mobile devices only have positive sides, the truth is somewhat different. There are also some characteristics tied to these handy tech products that can be seen as considerable downsides.
Lack of Social Interaction
Once smartphones started offering all the benefits mentioned above, they instantly got our undivided attention throughout the largest portion of our day. Unfortunately, this resulted in people reducing socialization to a minimum and spending more time staring at their screens.
What makes things even worse is that even when they meet, people tend to neglect everything that’s going on around them and focus solely on their mobile devices.
Health Problems
Extended use of smartphones and tablets can seriously affect our health. Apart from directly damaging our eyesight, the position we are in when using mobile devices is often such that it causes bad posture, back pain, muscle tension, and other health issues.
Fear of Missing Out
One of the most prominent diseases of the modern world is the so-called fear of missing out. This happens when people spend too much time online scrolling through their social network feed to stay updated with anything that happens in their virtual friends’ lives.
However, we often forget that people mostly use these platforms to share their best moments and rarely post when they are having a bad day. Furthermore, it’s very easy to make your social media account look great by taking photos from the right angles and using a few filters.
This can be devastating on more than one level. First, we waste a lot of time mindlessly tapping on other people’s content. Second, we start believing that everyone except us is living their best life.
Where Are We Headed?
There’s no doubt that we should be grateful for having the opportunity to use advanced mobile technology as it offers so many perks to society in general. After all, only a handful of people would be willing to give up the possibility to communicate with their family and friends easily, have their schedule at their fingertips, and play an exciting game while commuting to work.
Still, we should, by all means, take breaks from smartphones and tablets from time to time and try to focus on being here and now. Mobile devices shouldn’t be our only occupation as they can easily lead us astray from what matters in life.
