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As powerful as our phones are, I feel they are incredibly under-utilized. There is this super computer in my pocket and I use it to check 3 websites and play so

As powerful as our phones are, I feel they are incredibly under-utilized. There is this super computer in my pocket and I use it to check 3 websites and play some games.

phkahler 7y ago
Technology isn't really relevant unless we figure out a use for it.
ryanmercer 7y ago
>and I use it to check 3 websites That is a powerful use. You're connecting to a source of data that is likely weeks of travel by foot away, if not on another continent. If even one of them is a social site, like HN/Reddit/Facebook, it grants you access to the collective thoughts and works of thousands to millions of people. "I wonder what other movies so and so was in" used to be something you'd have to ask multiple individuals. "I wonder how a nuclear reactor works" was something that would have required a trip to a library and might have left you unsatisfied, now you can go on YouTube and actually see a tour of a reactor at a university and find many articles (some from nuclear/energy organizations on the first page of Google) that contain descriptions that even someone plucked form a random grade school could understand. "How do I change my oil/hang a door/learn to program/knit a scarf/sew something/plan for my retirement/order illicit goods on the darknet/repair my item" now brings you more articles and videos than you could possibly want for countless topics. While you might do these things on a daily basis, or a monthly basis, many people do use that nifty pocket computer that is their smartphone to find such things. I learn more from listening to YouTube videos and podcasts at work in a month of work days about history than I did in all of my k-12 education. For that matter I probably learn more just during my commute in a month than I did in all of my k-12 education. I can also whip that phone out and learn all sorts of things via Khan Academy, I can fire up Duolingo and TALL Drill and practice foreign language skills. I can chat with friends all over the world in real time via text, via image and video video thanks to Marco Polo/Skype/ FB Messenger/FaceTime etc. That phone is my planner, my own personal weather forecaster, my full-time navigator, a camera and a video capture device, grants me access to all manner of data I've stored in Drive/Evernote/Sheets/Docs, can give me basic translation of foreign languages in real time with the camera, allows me to manage my investments/credit cards/bank accounts and get instant notification of transactions, grants me access to insane amounts of music, let's me get a very good estimate of my dietary deficiencies via cronometer. I'd call that quite a technological accomplishment. That little black rectangle gives me the same abilities and conveniences that someone might have required an entire staff to have even 30 years ago.
- rescbr 7y ago
  Still, most are things that old Presario could do with a dial-up connection. Sure, some might require a Pentium 4 and ADSL, but the smartphone isn't a revolution. The Personal Computer and the Internet were.
Can_Not 7y ago
You do as little as you want with your phone, I have more useful and reliable information enter my head in a month than would enter my grandfather's in a year. Back in the day you'd have to memorize more, search longer, and in other cases, hope your cousin wasn't just making stuff up.

As powerful as our phones are, I feel they are incredibly under-utilized. There is this super computer in my pocket and I use it to check 3 websites and play some games.

phkahler 7y ago

Technology isn't really relevant unless we figure out a use for it.

ryanmercer 7y ago

>and I use it to check 3 websites That is a powerful use. You're connecting to a source of data that is likely weeks of travel by foot away, if not on another continent. If even one of them is a social site, like HN/Reddit/Facebook, it grants you access to the collective thoughts and works of thousands to millions of people. "I wonder what other movies so and so was in" used to be something you'd have to ask multiple individuals. "I wonder how a nuclear reactor works" was something that would have required a trip to a library and might have left you unsatisfied, now you can go on YouTube and actually see a tour of a reactor at a university and find many articles (some from nuclear/energy organizations on the first page of Google) that contain descriptions that even someone plucked form a random grade school could understand. "How do I change my oil/hang a door/learn to program/knit a scarf/sew something/plan for my retirement/order illicit goods on the darknet/repair my item" now brings you more articles and videos than you could possibly want for countless topics. While you might do these things on a daily basis, or a monthly basis, many people do use that nifty pocket computer that is their smartphone to find such things. I learn more from listening to YouTube videos and podcasts at work in a month of work days about history than I did in all of my k-12 education. For that matter I probably learn more just during my commute in a month than I did in all of my k-12 education. I can also whip that phone out and learn all sorts of things via Khan Academy, I can fire up Duolingo and TALL Drill and practice foreign language skills. I can chat with friends all over the world in real time via text, via image and video video thanks to Marco Polo/Skype/ FB Messenger/FaceTime etc. That phone is my planner, my own personal weather forecaster, my full-time navigator, a camera and a video capture device, grants me access to all manner of data I've stored in Drive/Evernote/Sheets/Docs, can give me basic translation of foreign languages in real time with the camera, allows me to manage my investments/credit cards/bank accounts and get instant notification of transactions, grants me access to insane amounts of music, let's me get a very good estimate of my dietary deficiencies via cronometer. I'd call that quite a technological accomplishment. That little black rectangle gives me the same abilities and conveniences that someone might have required an entire staff to have even 30 years ago.

rescbr 7y ago
Still, most are things that old Presario could do with a dial-up connection. Sure, some might require a Pentium 4 and ADSL, but the smartphone isn't a revolution. The Personal Computer and the Internet were.

Can_Not 7y ago

You do as little as you want with your phone, I have more useful and reliable information enter my head in a month than would enter my grandfather's in a year. Back in the day you'd have to memorize more, search longer, and in other cases, hope your cousin wasn't just making stuff up.