Before I start the article, I want to share a little story to help you understand my point based on what is actually happening around us every day. Mobile technology users are often disregarded and may even be bullied based on what they do.
Someone comes along and complains about people “always” hanging on the little screens and not being connected to the world anymore. Well actually they are connected to a larger world, it’s just that the people passing by don’t know it, and they are often not open to understanding it either.
A few years ago, people did not know what someone who is looking at a smartphone or mobile computer was doing, and they were upset about it. Today, they still don’t know, and they think people are hanging on WhatsApp and Facebook, texting each other. The ratio is changing toward mobile technology adoption. However, there is still a generally negative perception that leads so far that users who are sensitive to how others perceive them will not pull out a laptop or a smartphone in public even though they would like or even need to.
The dread to appear casual in the age of digitalization
Just a personal message to people who passively or actively express their negative emotions on others using mobile devices: How on earth do you know what this person is doing? It is not all fun and games in the life of mobile technology users. They might be studying, or maybe they are the professor and preparing a lecture. Maybe your banker is using private time to help you with a matter. Perhaps it’s an artist creating something brilliant just now, and you destroy the workflow. How dare you judge with your blinders on?
This is the way of digitalization and digital transformation outside of business. I want this to change in the future. I want everybody to feel happy and content with technology, doing whatever they want in public or anywhere. A technology endpoint does not mean people are disconnected. It means they are currently working on something. Naturally, it could be a video game or a TV show – but how does that even concern you? Is that how you express that you are frustrated you never understood this new world? The mature way of handling that emotion looks different from my point of view.
That being said, I wanted to show more examples of what people nowadays can do with their smartphones. Almost everything not related to altering a product physically or that requires a physical mechanism can be facilitated via a smartphone. You can run a whole business only from your phone if you want to.
Scholar
The world’s knowledge and wisdom are stored and available on the Internet. If you have a mobile device that can access data from the Internet, you can learn any subject from anywhere in the world. Neither learning nor teaching is restricted to physical classrooms.
Navigator
Back then, you needed cartographers and navigators for all kinds of journeys to help you with your route. Nowadays, all maps are drawn and only need to be centrally updated upon changes, and the navigation happens mostly automatically.
Merchant
You no longer need to be present on a physical market to offer your goods. People need to know where to find you on the Internet, and you need to trigger processes, manage information, and communicate with customers. You can perfectly do these things from your smartphone, no matter where you are.
Entertainment
Of course, attending concerts and theatre plays nowadays is still nice. Don’t get me wrong – mobile phones are not replacing cultural goods. However, a smartphone lets you access the world’s repository of movies, shows, music, and games. This is the alternative to being bored and looking at the wall on your commute, not the alternative to enjoying the arts.
Painter
You can produce all kinds of art with a smartphone. This is mostly a matter of software creativity. Next to digital painting, you can also use the camera on your phone to take awesome photos or videos and edit them right on the spot. After you are done, you can share the outcome with your family, friends, or the whole world.
Musician
You can compose and produce music on your phone. There are professional solutions for that, and this is not “only” about DJ applications; we are talking about music production and art generation here. Of course, you can most likely improve the produced file in your home studio, but there’s nothing cooler for an artist than capturing ideas and inspirations right where you are. Let’s face it – inspiration mostly does not happen in your room. It happens outside and everywhere around you.
Communication
Last but not least, the communication needs to be listed here. Again, this is not a digital discipline to replace a meaningful face-to-face conversation but a tool to augment our communication beyond physical boundaries. Whether this happens via video conference, voice call, or texting does not matter. What matters is that even the shortest “Sorry! I’m late, but all is okay.” message can mean so much to parents who are waiting for their kids to come home.
Summary
I believe you need to embrace new ways that are able to improve your day. Anything that extends my perspective and allows me to connect to a larger world is welcome. Sure, you can use your gadgets just for fun, chat, or take a selfie without artistic value. But the point is that you don’t know what people are doing with their phones, which does not provide the foundation to judge the activity negatively. You can play Candy Crush or save the world with a smartphone.
Remember: You can no longer tell what a person is doing by looking at them. Activities look different today, but they are not less meaningful just because they are executed from a mobile device.
Did I miss anything important? Has something like this happened to you before? Do you share the view, or do you have a different angle on this? Whatever your comment, I would love to read your insight in the comment section below. Many thanks for reading.
Photo credit: Jan Vašek / Mrs. Pandora / Took a Pic / Hilary Clark / Graham Lee / Thee Erin / William Gibson Kiel / Unsplash
