There were days when we used to sit at a particular place where telephones were placed. We could not move here and there as telephones were connected with wires. Now with the course of time, the technologies became wireless and we can use them anywhere according to our needs. We cannot imagine that how far we have come in just one decade. The birth of social media, laptops, and other gadgets are the result of technological advancements. These technologies have been developed in order to cater the needs of the society. The increased population, increased globalization led to the need of technological advancements.
In the last decade of technological era, the technology that attracts me the most is the development of smartphones. Before mobile phones, pagers and computers were born, writing letters were one of the most basic forms of communication.
Communication is one of the main indicators which indicate that how much the technology became advanced with the course of time. Today, the fast speed and different mode of communication indicates that the world has developed and it continues to develop with technological advancements. There are lots of choices for the consumer like windows phone, tablets and android phones. People enjoy the new versions and updated applications of these smartphones.
So here I want to express my experience and thinking about the impact of smartphone technology. Sharing and remembering past experience is a lovely feeling and when we share our thoughts or feelings with our loved ones, the feeling of joy gets doubled. I got my new smartphone last year and showed to everyone as I was pretty excited. Suddenly a message on my smartphone popped up and I started chatting with my friend. I did not hear the family’s conversation when I engaged in messaging. My grandfather was looking at me and asked me about this process of messaging. He got amazed that how fast we can communicate nowadays and how technology has grown. He told me that in their time they used to write letters and through postal service, the messages were used to be sent to the concerned person. I showed my grandfather that how fast we can communicate through this device. He was also amazed to know that not only communication but education is also accessible through this device when connected with internet. We can save important documents, our family and friends are one message away. If we have an emergency then we can text someone and ask for help. We can travel the long distance and still connected with our family using smartphones. We can send pictures and videos so that they can feel like a part of our life. Earlier, we needed a computer to reply to an email. Now, we can use our smartphone to check email and to access our social media account.
There are apps related to everything, we can finish our tasks a lot easier. For example, we can order food with just a few taps. We can buy products online , we can use our phone to write down notes , work reports, create to do list, set up alarms, use it see calendar and many more. If we look at the Facebook account of a young people and we will see the different ways that he or she is expressing creativity. That may be through fashion, or through work that they do. People are also writing personal blogs or stories about their lives or fictional characters. Through online videos, tutorials, and other online learning opportunities, young people are also gain more knowledge about their school subjects and their world, as well as practical skills. People can easily share information with the help of smartphone.
Our smartphone can act as a GPS device. I showed my grandfather that how our smartphone provide us the location of any place. Whether we are driving or walking on the road, we can easily get the location of our destination with the help of GPS feature of our smartphone. I was going to a departmental shop with my grandfather which was nearly two kilometers away from our home. I opened the GPS in my phone and showed him that how GPS will provide direction to our destination. After reaching the departmental shop with the help of GPS, grandfather was really amazed that smartphone have so many beneficial features that are really helpful.
The list of advantages of smartphones that I was telling to my grandfather was going on and he was surprised and amazed after knowing all these great features of a tiny box and said laughingly that it is not just a phone for communication but Aladdin’s magic lamp which fulfills all needs.
I was enjoying chatting with friends, surfing on internet, as it was fun to share our views, thoughts, and ideas to the world and it became a lot easier with my smartphone. I just had to tap to go online. I started to read books related to studies in my smartphone. My parents always warned me that if I overuse my phone and spend most of the time on this device then I will become addicted to this and it will be dangerous to my health and everything.
Everything has its pros and cons. Overuse of anything can cause harm. I came to know about harmful impacts of overuse of smartphone. It was our psychology class when teacher was discussing about the mental/brain disorders which are caused by the excessive use of smartphones. One of my classmates was suffering from insomnia, a sleeping disorder and the main culprit behind this was his addiction to smartphone. Recent research has revealed that the blue light emitted from these smartphones damage the retina and disrupts the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates the body’s sleep cycle. Not only will this result in more sleepless nights and fatigue, but can also lead to variety of health problems including heart disease, obesity, depression and anxiety. The psychology teacher also taught about the negative impact of smartphones on social relationships. Smartphones have begun to make people lose touch with their social lives. They are secluding us from our friends and family. People would rather text than to meet with one another person and have a meaningful conversation. Even when people do meet with one another, they are constantly distracted from the conversation because they are checking their phones. Suddenly I remember that how joyfully I was talking with my grandfather and other family members on that day when I got my phone and ignored our family conversation just for the sake of texting messages on my smartphone. I felt guilty that I distant myself with the closest people and had started conversation with the people who were far away from me. Smartphone is a distraction. We are constantly using them, or looking for them. And in this sense, they are a huge distraction from what is actually happening in the real world. People are distracting from their jobs, relationships, education and responsibilities. Really, smartphone is such an addiction which cut the social interaction nowadays. Earlier, the children used to enjoy and play in the playgrounds with their friends, but now more than half population of children became addicted to video games and cartoons which are easily accessible through smartphones. I saw about the researches in newspapers that how children used to watch adult contents secretly on their smartphones and are ruining their future.
Now, I became conscious after knowing the advantages and harmful impacts of using smartphone. We cannot deny the development and use of technology, because technological advancements are made to cater the needs of the people. With the growing pace of technological era, we also have to adapt ourselves to these changes, because we are the part of this changing digital era and we have to contribute with developmental aims in our society to grow, to literate, to share new ideas, to get the knowledge and understanding on important issues. But we should always remember that these type technologies have certain harmful impacts, so we should always use these in a limited manner. One should know the value and importance of social relationships and should always be conscious about their health. Keeping all this in mind I have also fixed my time according to which I used my smartphone for one and half hours a day at different intervals. Families need to find a way to balance youth’s time with technology and time for physical activities and develop as well – rounded individuals.
Author Bio : HUMERA KHATOON , 20 Years girl from JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA UNIVERSITY,Delhi, a participant of International Essay Competitio
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