Is checking your mobile phone the first thing you do after opening your eyes every morning? Do you have to check your SMS every other minute? Do you bring your mobile phone into the toilet/bathroom? Are you afraid of missing even one phone call/messages? Do you get anxious while in places where you need to switch off your mobile phone? Can you even leave your mobile phone aside for an hour without checking it? Can you leave your mobile phone aside totally during a dinner with family/friends?? Can you even imagine the life you had before mobile phones??
I don't know about you, but I can live without a mobile phone... and frankly, I am more than happy to live without a mobile phone in my life..
I think my family got our first land line phone while I was in secondary school.. Even then, it rarely rang.. I don't give out my phone numbers to my friends and I think my brother got more phone calls from his friends than I did... when the phone did ring, you won't see me rushing to pick it up.. in fact, I always wished someone else would pick up the house phone when it rang.. cos truth be told, I dread answering phones, even now..
Maybe I am old guard/stick-in-the-mud and definitely not a tech geek.. I don't like mobile phones.. because most of the times, I don't like to be "found" nor do I like to be disturbed, unless I want to.. with mobile phone, it is as if you are granting permission to be contacted by anyone, anytime, anywhere.. of course, the reverse is true too.. rarely is one not contactable these days...
I prefer SMS to direct phone calls, since I can answer them at the time of my convenience and with the correct mental state.. I can frame my words to convey what I really meant without having the wrong emotions attached to it.. On the phone, tone and pitch convey attitude and emotions that could be misinterpreted.. I have a loud voice, and to some, that loudness might be intimidating or rude and they might get offended/annoyed by it.. again, these could just be my own misgivings and uneasiness..
Other than the communication aspect of the mobile phone, who could ignore its entertainment features.. With smart phones being the norm nowadays, many are addicted to those silly little time-wasting mobile games like Angry Birds.. Have you been to a function where everyone is staring at their mobile phones instead of paying attention to what is actually happening around them? It is as if their bodies were there but their minds are occupied by what is happening on their mobile phones.. They are "there" but not actually "there"..
Thus I refuse to get a smart phone, even though it will allow me access to the Internet satisfying my hunger for information 24/7. I want my freedom - the freedom to engage and disengage with the external world. I want to be present 100% (both physically and mentally) when I am doing something, like meeting with people or having dinner with friends/family.. I don't want be distracted nor disturbed by incoming calls or messages..
Who is the master? You? or your mobile phone?
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