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I was an exchange student in rural Japan in the early 2000’s and I think that was the final moment you could see the world like this. There were no smartphones

I was an exchange student in rural Japan in the early 2000’s and I think that was the final moment you could see the world like this. There were no smartphones yet or ubiquitous internet. I had some guide books but they were very general. My host family didn’t speak English at all. Every day was like a puzzle: what does this building do? What are these tickets people have? What is this strange food, is it even food? How does this toilet even work? My only contact with home was an email I sent every month, because I had to go to a special place a different city that had internet. There were so many snacks, books, products, clothes, TV shows that no one at home had ever heard of. I went back in the 2010’s and everything had changed. The security of your phone makes the feeling of isolation, risk, and adventure disappear. You can look everything up, it’s been documented, you’ve heard of it already. You’re still texting and talking to your normal friends on social. Everything is everywhere, you don’t really detach from home. It really was a special window of time.

threatofrain 4y ago
You can still drop your phone if you want to, but if you don't, that implies that your judgment looked over the sum of all things and decided to keep the phone. Or not.
- tayo42 4y ago
  phones are to ingrained into everything. like i remember when i was younger if you got lost you could go somewhere like a gas station and maybe get directions. why would you do that now. so someone else can look it up on their phone for you? or tickets, payments, menus are on phones now
  - Markoff 4y ago
    > or tickets, payments, menus are on phones now I see you've never been to developing country. Good luck with your online menu in street restaurant or same with buying shady overpriced ticket where even locals dunno what's real price and you end up paying less than locals (Indonesian buses in general).
    - tayo42 4y ago
      I've been to Indonesia lol what kind of response is this. Everyone wants to chat over whatsapp to organize things
  - InfiniteRand 4y ago
    If your phone runs out of juice or signal, you can still get good directions from gas stations usually
creamyhorror 4y ago
Pros and cons. You can still selectively investigate things without looking them up. And sometimes you run across things you can't really find online. I think the way we relate to people in other countries has changed somewhat due to contemporary technology. We've gone from "encountering the Other" to "encountering distant cousins" - having additional slices of shared modernity. It's not entirely bad, and people and outlooks and cultural norms are still be very different around the world. (When I first went to Japan, I could barely communicate there and everything was mysterious and exciting a la Lost In Translation, but with my current language level and familiarity, there's still fun in wandering slightly less touristed areas and chatting with the locals. Whether they're familiar with foreigners or not, it's generally an interesting exchange to learn about their experiences, like with the Hokkaido man who singlehandedly built Japan's northernmost lotus pond to try to improve the tourism potential of his hometown, or the Sasebo jazz bar owner who took me to a tiny bar in a cave-like bomb shelter.)

threatofrain 4y ago

You can still drop your phone if you want to, but if you don't, that implies that your judgment looked over the sum of all things and decided to keep the phone. Or not.

tayo42 4y ago
phones are to ingrained into everything. like i remember when i was younger if you got lost you could go somewhere like a gas station and maybe get directions. why would you do that now. so someone else can look it up on their phone for you? or tickets, payments, menus are on phones now
- Markoff 4y ago
  > or tickets, payments, menus are on phones now I see you've never been to developing country. Good luck with your online menu in street restaurant or same with buying shady overpriced ticket where even locals dunno what's real price and you end up paying less than locals (Indonesian buses in general).
  - tayo42 4y ago
    I've been to Indonesia lol what kind of response is this. Everyone wants to chat over whatsapp to organize things
- InfiniteRand 4y ago
  If your phone runs out of juice or signal, you can still get good directions from gas stations usually

creamyhorror 4y ago

Pros and cons. You can still selectively investigate things without looking them up. And sometimes you run across things you can't really find online. I think the way we relate to people in other countries has changed somewhat due to contemporary technology. We've gone from "encountering the Other" to "encountering distant cousins" - having additional slices of shared modernity. It's not entirely bad, and people and outlooks and cultural norms are still be very different around the world. (When I first went to Japan, I could barely communicate there and everything was mysterious and exciting a la Lost In Translation, but with my current language level and familiarity, there's still fun in wandering slightly less touristed areas and chatting with the locals. Whether they're familiar with foreigners or not, it's generally an interesting exchange to learn about their experiences, like with the Hokkaido man who singlehandedly built Japan's northernmost lotus pond to try to improve the tourism potential of his hometown, or the Sasebo jazz bar owner who took me to a tiny bar in a cave-like bomb shelter.)