I think the first time I thought about owning a smartphone was when someone was describing how it came with a web browser. You could, in effect be online wherever you were.
Now of course, this is standard, but in 2007 or whenever this was, it seemed intriguing.
XKCD, as it always seems to do, summed it up best. What would you get if you combined the power of something like a Kindle with the availability of always-on internet?
Why, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, of course.
But while it would be nice to be able to see the wonders of the universe on less than 30 Altarian dollars a day, back here on Earth, I could argue that having access to the internet wherever I go isn’t exactly “mostly harmless”.
Constant touch
Being in constant touch is stressful. Texts coming in and out, keeping track of people.
But more than that, I’m on my computer all day. The starred emails in Gmail (my ad hoc to-do list; don’t judge) scroll off the screen, and get added faster than I can tackle them.
And the tabs.
At this very moment, about two hours after I turned on my computer to work on this post, I count 25 tabs, spread across multiple browsers and windows. On each one, content to be read, people to interact with, information that needs to be handled.
And then there are the social sites. I don’t use Facebook, but at work, I use multiple Slack workspaces, as well as Discord. (I used WhatsApp briefly, though it took some doing to figure it out on my laptop).
This is my reality. I accept that this is part of living the life I live at this time in the world. I accept it.
But I’m sitting in a chair (or sometimes standing) when I have to deal with all this. I’m motionless. I don’t need to interact with my surroundings.
The question I always want to ask is: why would I want to do all that while I was moving about in the world?
I wouldn’t, of course. And I choose not to.
For me, having to deal with a small (well, large these days) mobile screen with a portal to everything that I have to deal with, tabs, software, people, to-do lists, all that stuff, is a stress in my life. It is a net negative.
I don’t want it. I don’t need it. The ability to query Yelp to figure out where I’m going to eat does not change the equation for me.
An extreme case
Recently, I turned my phone off completely for a few hours, and went for a walk.
I wasn’t reachable. The internet could be on fire, some world leader could be calling me (hey, maybe I’m important!), there could be any number of things that could be happening at that time, but I was oblivious to them.
It was the most soothing, most relaxing few hours I have spent. I came back more grounded and centered than I had felt in a long time.
Now, that’s extreme even for me, but I can imagine that you, as a smartphone user, might feel the same way if you were to turn your browser off one day. Going through your world without all those interactions. Do you really need to be taking so much with you? I don’t think so.
Turn it all off. Like the Hitchhiker’s Guide’s Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, if you can’t see it, it can’t see you. Don’t panic.
