the effects of smart phones on society: good or bad

[C M B]

good or bad overall?
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[DaMuleRules]

I hate to say "it's complicated" because that's a cheesy, evasive description of a dysfunctional personal relationship . . . then again, maybe that's entirely accurate.

Short answer, it's like any hugely impactful advancement in society. There are undeniable pluses that come with certain, obvious detriments. With the smartphone, the biggest area remains accessibility - to both ourselves and information. We have immediate access to information and resources. And with that benefit comes the sense of immediate access people feel they have to us as individuals.

I think the positives outweigh the negatives in this day and age. The ability to immediately summon help with GPS information is huge in emergency situations. The ability to document social injustices has undoubtedly changed our world. I think those two things are a start in regards to justifying the offset

That said, from the standpoint of an old dude watching my kids. I wish that smartphones hadn't radically changed the way young people interact. It was much better when we had to be literally hangout together in person to interact rather than be able to have a fall back to exchanging TikTok videos.
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HARRIS WALZ 2024

[adkindo]

I am not sure there is a real argument for anything except it's complicated among the choices provided. The positives are extremely significant, while it has introduced many potential negative impacts on daily life.

[FernieBee]

I voted for "complicated" . . . but I suspect they call it a smartphone so the user doesn't realize how much of a dumbass he/she is for the inordinate amount of time spent using it.

[lakersken80]

Much like all new technology the effects are both good and bad. But I would rather live in a world where we are able to have a tool like a smartphone than a world without.

[LarryCoon]

"It's complicated" just by process of elimination, because something like that is never a binary good or bad. There are always elements of both, and when you refer to "society" you refer to a temporal snapshot and its effects on THAT. Society always adjusts to updates of the facts on the ground, and things are seen as good or bad because they're different -- and then society adjusts and that thing is normalized.It's happened over and over and over again.

[Omar Little]

[jodeke]

I voted good for convenience. They allow instant contact in emergencies, stores contact information, allow for facetime with family and friends when they're on the other side of the country, just to name a few goods.

Annoying for those who disregard others in public.
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Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be
because we destroyed ourselves.

[Halflife]

cell phones good, smart phones bad. The device itself is fine but what they are used for is not. The social dilemma breaks down the bad of social media and the 2 can not be separated.

TMI - when i drive my kid to school we point out kids walking with their heads buried in their phones at 730am and discuss how easy it would be to pull up snatch it and bounce. Obviously, worse can happen but the distraction alone makes them terrible.

[jodeke]

^^^ They are a danger to kids walking and adults driving while texting. I almost his a young lady texting with her head down. She walked into the street without looking up. A friend was texting at a light. When the light turned green he started. The car in front of him suddenly stopped, he ran into the back of it. His insurance went through the roof.
_________________
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be
because we destroyed ourselves.

[Roger O. Thornhill]

There are plenty of pros and cons to smartphones, but overall my gut tells me the bad outweighs the good from a broad, society-level POV.

[Bol]

I have to say bad after spending the last few hours playing games on my phone.

[C M B]

any updated opinions?
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[numero-ocho]

Even before the first iPhone, I was longing for a convergence device that would allow me to carry a single device that would replace the 3 or 4 I would carry.

I remember the days of carrying those brick sized Garmin GPS navigation devices, a cellphone, a portable music player, and a laptop for email whenever I traveled for work. That's all been consolidated into a single device that fits in my pocket.

I was an early adopter of the Palm Treo back in the early 2000s which was, I think, the first attempt at such a convergence device. It was built as a competitor to Blackberries but you could load Mapquest and a music player on it. The touchscreen was so small and you had to jab it really hard with the stylus.
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"Suck it up. Don't be a baby. Do your job." - Kobe Bryant

[ribeye]

I have always said that if a subsequent superior creature evolves down the road and man becomes extinct, and a statute is made to reflect who was man, the statute would be a person with hand out, cell phone in hand, looking down on it.

(And by the way, though it matters little, I mostly only use a cell phone for music while I walk or for the camera feature. Texting and communication in general? Don't need it, never have--and I don't need X either.)
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"A metronome keeps time by using a Ringo"

[jonnybravo]

[jodeke]

A walking computer. I can read and post on LG all day and not be confined to a seat in front of a desktop computer. Only downer is spellcheck
_________________
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be
because we destroyed ourselves.

[numero-ocho]