5 ms·

It's constantly startling to me describing to people I consider not that much younger than me (I am an elder millennial) that in highschool almost no one had a

It's constantly startling to me describing to people I consider not that much younger than me (I am an elder millennial) that in highschool almost no one had a cell phone (or if you did, you didnt necessarily always have it on you, was just for emergencies) and it absolutely was not a problem. I'm usually met with complete disbelief or "how did you do X then" kind of questions. Almost nothing else makes me feel older, but this really wasn't a super long time ago that we comfortably existed without smart devices in our palms 24/7/365. The only utility I've gained is I can do desktop-like activities like banking etc. on my smart device now, but it's still very little problem to just do that stuff on a laptop. I've often quipped that my generation may have been the very last ones to experience their primary education without devices.

everforward 2y ago
I think that's constant. Look back far enough and there are a lot of questions. A lot of conspiracy theories are based on not understanding how to do things without modern technology. The pyramids are famous for that; people will happily believe aliens helped with them because they can't fathom how level and even they are without a modern laser level and cranes and saws etc. I'm on the younger end of millenials and I find use in my phone, but could live without. The camera is the biggest one; I still remember how absolutely dreadful dumb phone cameras were and I would strongly prefer not to carry a "real" camera these days. The calendar is also pretty integral. I know I could get by with a paper calendar and thinking ahead, but I'd really prefer not to. A lot of the rest I could get by without. I like Snapchat for the streak feature nudging me to talk to people important to me once a day (though it's always weird to me when 30-somethings are rabid about maintaining them).
dcchambers 2y ago
Agreed...I was in High School from 2006-2010, at the dawn of the Smart Phone revolution. Virtually everyone had phones of some kind, but they were explicitly banned from use during school hours. Yes, people would use them in secret (eg texting under a desk), but teachers would take them away if they noticed. I don't understand why schools decided to allow students to use phones during the day.

everforward 2y ago

I think that's constant. Look back far enough and there are a lot of questions. A lot of conspiracy theories are based on not understanding how to do things without modern technology. The pyramids are famous for that; people will happily believe aliens helped with them because they can't fathom how level and even they are without a modern laser level and cranes and saws etc. I'm on the younger end of millenials and I find use in my phone, but could live without. The camera is the biggest one; I still remember how absolutely dreadful dumb phone cameras were and I would strongly prefer not to carry a "real" camera these days. The calendar is also pretty integral. I know I could get by with a paper calendar and thinking ahead, but I'd really prefer not to. A lot of the rest I could get by without. I like Snapchat for the streak feature nudging me to talk to people important to me once a day (though it's always weird to me when 30-somethings are rabid about maintaining them).

dcchambers 2y ago

Agreed...I was in High School from 2006-2010, at the dawn of the Smart Phone revolution. Virtually everyone had phones of some kind, but they were explicitly banned from use during school hours. Yes, people would use them in secret (eg texting under a desk), but teachers would take them away if they noticed. I don't understand why schools decided to allow students to use phones during the day.