Recently people have been remarking about how odd it is that I don’t have a smartphone. Honestly, it is a little strange. After all, I work for an Internet Campus. I create web pages. I frequently work with online social media.

And up until recently I DID want one. I watched the circus that was the iPhone 4 coverage, which you would be forgiven for thinking was more about stealing state secrets as opposed to a $200 phone with the way the media and Apple treated it. I researched the Android phones that Google was putting out. I thought it was inevitable that I would happily purchase a smartphone.

Since then, I have decided that I do not want to purchase a smartphone. I now fear the day when I will be forced to purchase one because it is the only one available or because my job demands it.

My attitude has changed, partially as I learn more and more about how different technology changes us and about how these mobile devices in particular change us.

Why do I not want a smartphone? There are several reasons, and I’m sure there are plenty of others as well, but these are what I can come up with and are what scare me about buying a smartphone.

(For the sake of this post, let’s define smartphone as any phone that can access email, the web, and has applications. Basically iPhone, Android, Blackberries, etc.)

I realize in writing this that I risk offending many. I can think of perhaps one friend who does not have a smartphone. The majority of them own iPhones. Practically everyone at work has one. I do not wish to offend. My thoughts are not an attack on the owners of smartphones, but rather on the devices themselves, the culture that causes them to be desired and the culture that the devices themselves create. I also do not wish to sound like a technophobe. I am just wary of what effects certain technology has on us and our relationships.

The first and most obvious reason is the cost. Aside from the $200 cost that many of the new smartphones (and you have to get the newest…) carry, there is the issue of the almost $80 to $100 a month service charge. Now, I’m not trying to sound sanctimonious, but there are better things I can spend this money on. “But,” you say, “Surely you can find $100 by cutting other foolish expenses.” And you would be right. I probably could. But I’d rather go out to eat with my friends than ensure that I can check my email while I’m in a field. Honestly, I promise you I am not judging. I spend plenty of money on stupid stuff, so I don’t begrudge you your spending money on the phone. I just know me, and I don’t need to add another significant cost to my life.

Another reason I do not want to purchase a smartphone is because I believe they are helping to foster the culture of distraction that we are moving into. Multi-tasking has been proven to make us less productive, impairing our ability to focus on the task at hand. It is hard enough as it is for me to stay concentrated on what I am doing and not respond instantly to every distraction. I don’t need to further that by allowing my email, tweets and Facebook messages to reach me wherever I go. The smartphone allows you to “work anywhere” but it also can force you to “work anytime”. (A note to those who know me: I appreciate the irony in me talking about work boundaries and time for Sabbath. Do as I say, not as I do, I guess…) We need to have time where we can “unplug”, and focus on the things that require deep concentration and uninterrupted thought.

After looking at these basic reasons, you can certainly still justify purchasing a smartphone. The cost issue is subjective (to an extent) and the distraction issue can be overcome by willpower (although I have found through observation that it is a rare occurrence). However, I believe that there are arguments against a smartphone culture that run deeper than these.

These devices help to foster a culture of immediacy. We desire everything to be immediate, available, and convenient. We lose respect and reverence for the process by which things come to be. The primary selling point of most technology is that it makes our lives easier. That it makes it faster. I agree that this is usually a good thing! I am no Luddite. I do not desire to walk to work or to wash my clothes in the river. However, I do think there is something to be said for a culture that is patient and is open to the idea that it takes struggle to gain something. But this idea is the antithesis of the smartphone. Everything must be immediate. Everything must be convenient. Everything must be available without cost.

As we move more and more into the smartphone culture I fear that we are losing our sense of “presence” in our interactions with others. You’ve seen it before. Two people having dinner together, both hopelessly enraptured by the screens in front of them, oblivious to their companion. You’ve experienced it, as you’re talking with someone and all of a sudden they pull out their iPhone and check the email they just received. You may be physically next to each other, but you are not together. This is not real community, which our soul desperately needs. I am a huge fan of the idea behind www.myphoneisoffforyou.com. If I am spending quality time with anyone, I make it a point to put my phone on silent or off completely. Honestly, they may never know, but it helps me to focus more on who I am with and what they are saying.

The scary thing about all of the reasons I have listed is that I tend to exhibit all of them already to a degree. I am fearful of what the enabling power of a smartphone would do to that. As a friend once said, “It’s probably good you don’t have an iPhone, because you don’t need to be on email while you’re driving on the Beltway.” I completely agree with this sentiment. Knowing myself I would be unable to resist the bias of the technology to distract and disengage.

Do you own a smartphone? Have you noticed these effects?

Let me know in the comments!

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Category: Random
Tags: android, iphone, loss of presence, multitasking, smartphone