I’m not saying it’s the number one worst ever, because there’s nuclear bombs and stuff like that.
But smartphones are taking so much time away from everyone, they’re so distracting, they’re changing the society in such a fundamemtal way to the worse.
And for what? They don’t really give you anything you truly need. You don’t really need the internet in your pocket. Notes, music, camera, calendar, calculator, alarms, phone and texting were also there on phones before they became smart. Pretty much everything a smartphone can do is just a bit more convenient.
The only two things I can think of rn that are super useful on a smartphone and can’t really be replaced or at least replacing them is a major hassle are translate and maps. But those are things that most people don’t need very often.
And compared to how big the price is we’re paying for smartphones, they really don’t bring anything that valuable into our lives.
edit: just a little extra thought provoking. In like 20 years I’ll probably have young kids that are going to hate my ass for not letting them have a phone, because all of their schoolmates will have one and they will be the weirdos for not having one. How fucked up is that?
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I would also argue the point that smartphones is the reason why a lot of people report that time is speeding up. Collectively we spend so much time scrolling leaving little time to be present.
Personally, I despise email. It’s just none stop. Expectations from clients is that you get back to them by the end of the day or at latest the next day. Get bent.
If it wasn’t smartphone, it would have been handheld consoles, music players, or electronic dictionaries that would have taken its place instead.
There are other gadgets that would have replaced what it does today. Nothing would change.
This is purely a people/social/corporate problem. A smartphone is a tool, an internet connected handheld computer. And I’m not ready to revert decades in technology just because other people (users, corporations) can’t control themselves.
I’m guessing you didn’t grow up in an era where all those items were singular or non existent. They’re very useful devices. Social media on the other hand is potentially one of the worst inventions ever.
I literally need music to be in my life and I didn’t keep my boombox.
Smart phones truly suck, can’t make people go missing anymore lol. I can’t go undercover in middle of the night and just take out someone who’s my rival to the chick I like 👍🤫
It isn’t the device. It is the content that is being delivered on the device. You can be just as addicted to your computer as your phone.
>>You don’t really need the internet in your pocket. Notes, music, camera, calendar, calculator, alarms, phone and texting were also there on phones before they became smart.
Counter point: we do
I know whenever this idea comes up it “feels” extreme. But making social media illegal for children under 16 or 18 is a very reasonable law imo.
Smartphones and the internet make a huge difference in my life personally – as a truck driver I can stay connected with my family and my friend group, look up everything I need to, play my music, entertain myself, navigate, read, do my banking, even scan the paperwork for my job, all from something that turns on instantly and fits in my hand instead of having to balance a laptop somewhere.
That said, I feel like part of the reason the world is in such a horrifying state right now is because we all see everything bad all at once – everyone’s always angry about something, it’s always different, and it’s extremely hard to get people focused on one thing as a group anymore. We are more aware, but less focused, and I wonder if that’s part of the reason we seem to have so little power over those at the top of the food chain anymore.
They’re just a tool. People thought the same about TV back in the day.
Smartphones arent the issue its how we use them.
Future generations will look back and see how irresponsible we were
Smart phones are one of the best inventions of all time.
I need the internet in my pocket
Nuclear weapons, WMD’s, cigarettes, alcohol and fentanyl have entered the chat
Yet you’re posting on reddit… and before you even say “I’m on a computer” you’re still going against what you’re saying
phone bad
Speak for yourself. Smartphones make my life easier and better in many ways.
Smartphones can be extremely helpful for people with disabilities. I agree that they have major downsides, I just wanted to point out that they have irreplaceable functions for some people. There are technically other methods of meeting most of these accommodations, but they tend to be far less effective and efficient.
“I decide what’s valuable”
They’re amazing, just not as a phone. I keep one exclusively for playing emulated games, watching movies, and running Zoom the handful of times I actually need it. It’s actually pretty relaxing, since I’ve also (deliberately) made sure I don’t have a web browser or apps like Reddit.
All my messaging either goes through my computer or old-fashioned flip phone.
OP. Did you post this from your phone?
You’re right and destroying society. Especially the newer generation
I can feel my attention span shrink by the day, and I have to manually remember to put my phone away when my kid gets home every day so I dont feel the pull to constantly check it. I often wish they were never invented, because I dont have the will power to get rid of mine.
lol
Ok
Literally ruining society. Not to mention all the shit that’s inside them. Strip mine the earth for our convenience. This is the best post I’ve ever seen in this sub. As I type this comment on my smart phone. Ugh
Apparently you’ve forgotten the 90s and early 2000s. Where we were all carrying around 5-6 different devices everywhere we went. Walkman/ipod, digital camera, palm pilots, cell phone, and more. Smart phones just make things so much easier
Learn some to have some self control. If you weren’t on your phone you would probably just sit in front of a TV, game console, or just listen to music. Your problem is social media combined with short format video. Those things are designed to be short lived temporary experiences it’s hard to go back and shift through information.
Another technology that humans become dependant on. Story as old as time. Imagine what it will be like in a few centuries.
The real problem is that it’s impossible to live without them if you work. I’ve tried a lot, but my life becomes extremely more difficult (and often unviable) without a smartphone. How am I going to cure my cell phone addiction if I always have a cell phone in my pocket? My current job would be literally impossible without a phone because the app I use to clock-in is mandatory and doesn’t have a desktop version.
Social media is.
Well, with how busy most people need to be to make a living, smartphones have become more than a convenience.
You can now take calls while you drive, answer emails on the toilet, google questions on the spot, work on an essay on the bus, and so on. It allows you to be productive amidst a system that requires exactly that from you.
Should they be less important in our lives? Absolutely. But that would require a societal overhaul where things move slower and people are less connected.
Take my downvote
This is like blaming the car for a drunk driving accident, or the knife for a murder.
They may be one of the most corrupted inventions ever, in terms of their potential utility vs what they’re actually used for. Comparable to cars.
What? of course we need them, maps and translate are not trivial, are one of the most useful features for everyday, in this world having internet in your pocket is a must.
If the problem is they are distracting this is 100% an user problem.
Your whole rant is about people problem. Not technology advancement problem. It is true that you don’t need all these tools in your pocket but it’s extremely convenient to have. If you don’t have the self discipline to live your life without being distracted by a smartphone that’s a you problem.
I’ll admit, I scroll endlessly on reddit in between activities and it’s not providing anything fundamental besides filling that spare time. One could argue it likely makes it much more difficult to process or digest experiences, especially when we seek validation online to confer with the popular opinion versus weighing out how we feel about things and independently coming to our own conclusions.
They are increasing productivity and knowledge as well. I mean fuck i probably look up a couple dozen things a day to get more information. I can use it to lookup how to fix my cat, dishwasher, do plumbing its the best.
You have joined the ranks of old people complaining about new things. Automobiles, zippers, radio, tv, MTV, metal music, rap, being gay, atheism, living with a long term partner
It’s not really the phones themselves, it’s a social media/addiction problem
Man I forgot my phone one day at the doctors and had to wait for an hour with no phone. It was crazy.
people wouldn’t have anything better to do anyways, your argument is too optimist of what people did with their time before smartphones, don’t forget that staying on the internet is still better than watching TV or flipping your thumbs
I mean, this sounds a lot like the generational argument that always happens with tech– that photo cameras/radio/television/calculators/internet/movies/books/art/AI are ruining society/making people bad, stupid, or lazy.
Yes. They are.
Your phone is a tool. You have the greatest encyclopedia know to man in your pocket. Not just the access to information, but you can literally use it to learn a new skill. Yet. Noone is taught this. 90% of the population can’t use or won’t use it to it’s full potential. It’s dumbing people down? no, it’s not the phone. People are dumbing themselves down.
So a redditor ranting on a smartphone on the internet is a better inventor than Steve Jobs, right?
In terms of great inventions that actually backfired on society, I think the Cotton ‘Gin is probably the worst. It was invented to eliminate slavery. They thought that since a machine could now do the work of a slave, there wouldn’t be a need for slavery anymore. But it wound up accelerating slavery instead, because it made slaves more efficient.
The classic guns kill people argument
Incredible invention. We just choose to use them like absolute clowns.
“Just a bit more convenient”
Okay so every time you leave your house, bring a flip phone, a camera, a calculator, a pen and notebook, a calendar, a music player/ipod, and also bring a dictionary, thesaurus, physical map, and some encyclopedias.
That means everywhere you go, you put all those in a backpack and bring it with you even to run errands.
The smartphone makes many people’s lives much easier. If I am at work and me and my coworkers are curious about a topic, we look it up on our phones. We aren’t going to head to the library during our break which will “take so much time away”.
Same thing with many other functions of a smartphone. It’s WAY more convenient than carrying each individual item on me every day or having to go to a library/ the nearest computer to look something up.
It’s on the individual person if they are addicted to their smartphones and spend too much time scrolling on social media or playing games. But using the actual tools like you mentioned, save way more time being all on a smartphone than pulling out each individual item from a backpack or from the car.
I 1000% need my phone at work. Thanks. My protocol app works via…the phone.
What I find insulting is the price of Data plans and not necessarily phones themselves. To have data on your phone companies are really scummy snf s bit scam a times of you srent in the right periods of the seadon or year
Life has not been made easier in anyway with them. They have only added complexity and more responsibility to our lives. I miss the days when work not being able to get a hold of you or expected to be able to get in touch with existed. Now work thinks it is okay to call you whenever and gets pissy if you don’t answer. While also expecting more productivity out of you or to do things that you would normally do in the clock before them, at home while thinning on your phone. I admit I’m addicted to it and play on mine alot , but I would trade a world without them for it in heartbeat.
I honestly don’t think this is an unpopular view. Just that a lot of society haven’t realized this yet. I fully agree.
Its how it’s used really. We have access to more information available at our fingertips than ever before, and some choose to doom scroll.
I tend to look up shit I’m interested in and read articles.
And we have the greatest encyclopedia in the world in our pockets, if you want to learn about something, or learn something, you can.
I like how it gives me a certain convenience in accessing information but I hate how it has an impact on most people.
Istg, situational and social awareness gone down the drain…
Probably great on a personal level, but terrible for society.
I use smart phones so much in work that I disagree with this. The access to the amount of info I can have easily, as well as access to my old notes and books in my pocket, as well as updated guidelines is great.
The biggest problem isn’t the smartphone itself. It’s social media. Remove Facebook, Tiktok, X, Snapchat, etc, and it would be a good tool.
Reddit falls in a weird in between where there’s so much info here because of presence of niche subs for specific fields where you can ask experts/people who actually study the topic and enthusiasts, but there’s also a bunch of subs that are more social media like in aspect.
Smartphones is cheaper than a PC be it a laptop or a desktop( like with a budget of 30$, the best you could buy is a secondhand outdated PC with an HDD hardrive) Coming from a person living in a third world country, it’s honestly a god send helping us do our research without having to go to a computer shop.
I agree, but I’m older and lived most of my life without one. People were way better at being humans before smartphones.
Smart phones good. Social media bad.
… he typed as he banged away in r/unpopular opinion on Reddit…
No no no
Truly an unpopular opinion.
Smartphone has absolutely changed our lives.
However, there are pros and cons to how you use them.
Good : Knowledge, entertainment, navigation, and communication.
Bad : Excessive social media usage, distraction, gaming, and procrastination.
You sound like my mom.
I use mine for work. I have to call several countries for work.
I lost mine less than an hour ago and I was in panic mode.
I could only think… what am I going to do on Monday! 🤔
Smartphone replaced many devices one had to have separately. Math teacher saying you will not always have a calculator with you turned out to be false. I do always have a calculator with me, as well as a phone, computer, radio etc.
especially kids, who many times have no choice but to have one.
>In like 20 years I’ll probably have young kids that are going to hate my ass for not letting them have a phone, because all of their schoolmates will have one and they will be the weirdos for not having one. How fucked up is that?
In 20 years? This has BEEN happening with kids for at least 10 years.
This and cars
In 3rd world countries there are villages where smartphones are a persons only way of connecting to internet.
wrong. having a hand held computer that allows you to remain in contact with others and can do basically anyhting was one of the best inventions ever.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. I ditched my smart phone for a dumb phone last year and my life has gotten so much better. I don’t waste time doom scrolling anymore. I don’t use it a social anxiety pacifier anymore. Not having the worlds information at my fingertips has led me to be more curious and take more initiative to figure things out myself. My social skills have improved greatly too. It’s hurting people and they don’t know it, and because it makes their lives ‘easier’ it’s not harmful in their eyes. Idk man the older I get the more I realize convenience isn’t everything. Takes away the spice of life. Love your post.
You have crafted the perfect unpopular opinion, please take my upvote
My smart phone makes it to where I can find where I need to go in a place I’ve never been without having to pull off or consult a map. It also allows me to call for help if something happens to the car I’m driving. It gives me the ability to look up certain information that can help me save a life if need be (brother has AGS, almost ate something that would have put him into an allergic reaction because it didn’t say it had certain things in it and I looked it up just to be safe, glad I did). My smartphone allows me to send important information to any contact needed in case of an accident or something similar.
Smartphones aren’t perfect, they create a lot of issues but to say they are bad is absurd.
Inventions are only bad based on the individual that uses it.
If a cell phone is so distracting, that’s attributed to the individual not the device.
It’s what you make of it. If you fuck around and waste time scrolling through endless garbage content, that’s on you. If you use it to be more organized, save time, and learn things, that’s what it’s for. None of those are bad things. What’s the problem?
Don’t need internet in your pocket? Smartphones are like the greatest invention ever you have unlimited knowledge with you at all times, if you are addicted to it for social media and can’t put it down that’s your personal issue.
I think smart phones are actually making us less connected
I kind of agree. I don’t use my smartphone much – almost all of my activities and data are on the computer, where you have much more control and convenience.
The invention is OK – by the way, it is mostly a comminucation device, for messages and calls (videocalls included). It is possible to browse the Internet or write stuff on it, but (personally, for me) it is super uncomfortable due to its small size and lack of control over the OS and absence of peripheral devices. It’s how most people use this invention that matters here. How many people use it to read electronic books in PDF/DJVU? Probably not very many. Doing serious work on such a limited device is also a hassle – for example, most heavy production software simply doesn’t exist for smartphones. So people use it for entertainment, which boils down to social networks, music and movies (the last one is also kind of subpar because of the small screen). The negative consequence of prolonged and exclusive smartphone use is people’s unlearning of technology. Many of today’s young people don’t even know what a file is, thus their technology knowledge is approaching and falling behind that of their grandparents.
Your opinion is technically correct but there is a broader perspective to consider.
The only thing worse than having to adopt new technologies is getting wiped out by some other tribe who was successful in adopting them. You’d rather be the Spaniards who had guns than the Incans who didn’t.
Right now, we are in a tumultuous period where mobile devices are prevalent but our society hasn’t figured them out yet. Kinda similar to 1919, when our relationship with alcohol had gotten so bad that the country voted to ban it entirely. In time we will find a way to integrate these devices properly, but it it will take a few generations.
A baseball bat can be used for playing baseball and also you can use it to smash the head of a person. It is a tool. It is about how you use it. Smartphones are really useful and make life easier on many things. If someone doesn’t have self control or discipline to use it properly it is their issue.
I grew up as a kid in love with technology but now as an adult i hate it.
I hate being out in the world and seeing people walking around oblivious of what’s in front of them because they’re so distracted by their phone.
Phones could be a tool to improve intelligence for sure, but for the great majority of people they are simply pacifiers to let people cope with existence because the idea of being bored for even a minute is unacceptable
I don’t doomscroll because I have a phone, I doom scroll because I got unmedicated ADHD.
It isn’t the object that’s the issue, like most things, it’s the people that are the issue.
Front facing cameras started it all, in my opinion. I think one of the first was a Motorola with a plug in rotating attachment that took photos the quality of garbage. Then people loved it. Platforms were revolutionized and social media became a thing. Now the basest impulses are rewarded heavily.
The is a personal problem not a technological one and it’s your own fault if you can’t control yourself with it.
You don’t need internet? It’s very useful to check information, buy tickets or other stuff any time you want.
Do you personally use smartfon, or only an older phone?
Why is OP complaining about the price of smart phones. You could buy the cheap models. Nobody says you have to spend over $1k for a phone.
Yep ive been on this thing for two hours almost and have shit i need to do. It can wait.
having access to the internet at all points is uhh pretty good actually
It’s not the phone that is the problem. It’s social media
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1934/08/25/phonophobia?utm_source=chatgpt.com