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My smartphone has changed the way I feel about waiting. Instead of dismay I now can look forward to a lengthy pause. It never really feels like waiting for me a

My smartphone has changed the way I feel about waiting. Instead of dismay I now can look forward to a lengthy pause. It never really feels like waiting for me anymore. Unless it's in my car and I can't use my smartphone. Another exception is when I am with people and it is socially unacceptable for me to focus on my phone. If we have nothing interesting to talk about, the wait is as painful as ever, perhaps even worse if I am jonesing for my phone. Standing up a long time can cause physical pain, so that part doesn't go away even if I have a phone. Also I wonder if smartphones have decreased impulse buys of candy and that other stuff in supermarket lines.

smsm42 14y ago
Second that. As long as I've got my trusty electronic device with me, any wait below 2 hours is nothing to me. With the charger and internet connection, make that 2 days ;) Of course, if you don't have such an electronic device, some people say a thing where entertaining or illuminating texts are permanently fixed to a pieces of processed plants, also known as "book", often helps. I've used that remedy many times too, and can vouch for its effectiveness.
- pjscott 14y ago
  I remember when the swine flu was a big deal, and there was a huge line for public vaccinations in my town. I was waiting in that line for at least an hour, but it didn't feel that way, because I wasn't waiting in a line. I was reading a paperback book that I had brought with me, in a line. It was only a peculiarity of circumstance that there were long lines of people on either side of me during this whole process, and that my reading session concluded with a needle in my arm. Surprisingly pleasant! I just wish that books tended to be more trivially portable, so I could carry them with me all the time. Cell phones with books on them are nice, but the tiny, backlit screen is less than ideal.
  - tomjen3 14y ago
    Kindle?
yason 14y ago
Personally, to the contrary. With a smart device you'll end up going and doing something all the time, and you get used to that keeping you going and going through the day. And this means you never stop doing and start being. I don't have a smartphone and I probably won't get one until I need some of its functions desperately enough. I like waiting and doing nothing: it's the time to be, it's time for myself. I never run for the bus or tram or train, instead I walk as if it was waiting for me forever. If it leaves before I hop in, I just consider it some time for not-doing. Actually, this removes the meaning of "waiting" and "pause". If the "pause" doesn't actually break anything in your day then you're not "waiting" either. It's just your day, sometimes going forward, something stalling, sometimes going backwards, like a little toy boat whirling along in a stream. There's nothing to pause from and nothing to wait because everything just is.
- maratd 14y ago
  > I don't have a smartphone and I probably won't get one until I need some of its functions desperately enough. My smartphone has only one essential function. Provide access to the internet. I consider that a necessity. Apparently you do too or I wouldn't be reading your comment. > I like waiting and doing nothing: it's the time to be, it's time for myself. I can understand not wanting to be connected all the time. However, for myself, I only want to disconnect when I'm with other people ... when I'm by myself, I want to spend that time on my interests, which are conveniently found on the net.
  - _delirium 14y ago
    On the latter point, I find it useful to disconnect to read and take notes sometimes. I find that if the internet is available, any resistance/difficulty in thought results in an instinctive impulse towards alt+tab (or the mobile equivalent). Whereas if I'm sitting out in the park with a book and notepad and I run into a stumbling block, I just stare into the distance, or maybe walk around a bit, until something comes to me.
  - dbaupp 14y ago
    > I consider that a necessity. Apparently you do too or I wouldn't be reading your comment. This doesn't follow. Commenting on HN doesn't imply that the commenter requires the internet. It doesn't even imply that the commenter likes the internet or thinks that overall it is a net-gain.
khet 14y ago
It may be true that smartphones and books can get you through a long queue, it does not solve the problem though, only makes it worse. Queues can be indicative of a more serious issue - indifference. Government offices have earned their way up to the top of this list. Government queues could very easily be improved by either getting larger offices, hiring more officers, optimizing queue lines, estimating times and allowing you to return after 3 hours instead of making you wait and a hundred other ways any of you could come up with in less than 5 minutes. The problem is not the queue but the organization.

smsm42 14y ago

Second that. As long as I've got my trusty electronic device with me, any wait below 2 hours is nothing to me. With the charger and internet connection, make that 2 days ;) Of course, if you don't have such an electronic device, some people say a thing where entertaining or illuminating texts are permanently fixed to a pieces of processed plants, also known as "book", often helps. I've used that remedy many times too, and can vouch for its effectiveness.

pjscott 14y ago
I remember when the swine flu was a big deal, and there was a huge line for public vaccinations in my town. I was waiting in that line for at least an hour, but it didn't feel that way, because I wasn't waiting in a line. I was reading a paperback book that I had brought with me, in a line. It was only a peculiarity of circumstance that there were long lines of people on either side of me during this whole process, and that my reading session concluded with a needle in my arm. Surprisingly pleasant! I just wish that books tended to be more trivially portable, so I could carry them with me all the time. Cell phones with books on them are nice, but the tiny, backlit screen is less than ideal.
- tomjen3 14y ago
  Kindle?

yason 14y ago

Personally, to the contrary. With a smart device you'll end up going and doing something all the time, and you get used to that keeping you going and going through the day. And this means you never stop doing and start being. I don't have a smartphone and I probably won't get one until I need some of its functions desperately enough. I like waiting and doing nothing: it's the time to be, it's time for myself. I never run for the bus or tram or train, instead I walk as if it was waiting for me forever. If it leaves before I hop in, I just consider it some time for not-doing. Actually, this removes the meaning of "waiting" and "pause". If the "pause" doesn't actually break anything in your day then you're not "waiting" either. It's just your day, sometimes going forward, something stalling, sometimes going backwards, like a little toy boat whirling along in a stream. There's nothing to pause from and nothing to wait because everything just is.

maratd 14y ago
> I don't have a smartphone and I probably won't get one until I need some of its functions desperately enough. My smartphone has only one essential function. Provide access to the internet. I consider that a necessity. Apparently you do too or I wouldn't be reading your comment. > I like waiting and doing nothing: it's the time to be, it's time for myself. I can understand not wanting to be connected all the time. However, for myself, I only want to disconnect when I'm with other people ... when I'm by myself, I want to spend that time on my interests, which are conveniently found on the net.
- _delirium 14y ago
  On the latter point, I find it useful to disconnect to read and take notes sometimes. I find that if the internet is available, any resistance/difficulty in thought results in an instinctive impulse towards alt+tab (or the mobile equivalent). Whereas if I'm sitting out in the park with a book and notepad and I run into a stumbling block, I just stare into the distance, or maybe walk around a bit, until something comes to me.
- dbaupp 14y ago
  > I consider that a necessity. Apparently you do too or I wouldn't be reading your comment. This doesn't follow. Commenting on HN doesn't imply that the commenter requires the internet. It doesn't even imply that the commenter likes the internet or thinks that overall it is a net-gain.

khet 14y ago

It may be true that smartphones and books can get you through a long queue, it does not solve the problem though, only makes it worse. Queues can be indicative of a more serious issue - indifference. Government offices have earned their way up to the top of this list. Government queues could very easily be improved by either getting larger offices, hiring more officers, optimizing queue lines, estimating times and allowing you to return after 3 hours instead of making you wait and a hundred other ways any of you could come up with in less than 5 minutes. The problem is not the queue but the organization.