6 ms·
This is part of the reason why I obnoxiously refuse to get a smartphone. My phone is still the cheapest Nokia phone I could get. The social behaviour they gene
by weland 13y ago
This is part of the reason why I obnoxiously refuse to get a smartphone. My phone is still the cheapest Nokia phone I could get.
The social behaviour they generate is interesting on every front. For instance, there's this shopping mall close to the center of the city where I live. On the last floor, there are a bunch of restaurants, a small tobacco shop and the toilets. I go there fairly often, either for the tobacco or to hit the toilet.
Every restaurant has incredibly pushy promoters; the moment you set foot on that floor, these people immediately start handing you flyers, telling you about their restaurant, following you a couple of steps. I do my best to be polite with them; I know they're working on next to no payment, for imbecile bosses who think this is a good sales technique, so I'm never rude with them or anything. I just smile and say "Yeah, maybe some other time".
Sometimes, however, I'm just not in the mood for that. Long days, my own retarded boss, the incredible urge to go to the toilet (for some reason, there's no toilet around the place...), my hurry to get home and, until about a year ago, a lingering depression, simply mean I'm sometimes not up even to the little human interaction I need in order to politely refuse them.
So I just pop up my phone and pretend I'm reading a message or dialing a number. Suddenly, everyone's OK. No one would even dare disturb me. If I pretend I'm talking on the phone, the pushier ones will apologize for disturbing me, but will otherwise eagerly present me their offering. But if I have my eyes buried in it, it's like I'm suddenly invisible. One time, I even had to wait there for one of my friends to arrive, and stood there for at least five or ten minutes. No one even approached me as long as I kept my eyes down. I put the phone in my pocket for like five seconds because I thought I'd lost my wallet -- poof, two chicks appear to invite me to the marvelous restaurant that just opened and has a special offer just for me.
- AznHisoka 13y agoI think I would excuse this behavior in large cities, or when you feel overexposed to stimulation. I mean, it DOES take a ton of effort to be attentive to every single human that you encounter, whether it's in an mundane setting like a subway/shopping mall, or at work. Especially if you live in a huge city like SF, or NYC. If you don't distract yourself once in awhile, by immersing yourself with something like a smartphone, I imagine it's very easy to get drained out with so much stimulation. I mean, if we lived in the caveman age, or even the medieval ages where we encountered the same 20 or so people every single day, then yes, there's no need for the smartphone, but in the modern day, I think it's almost necessary to survive mentally. I look at it this way: Humans were not meant to live in highly populated areas where they interact with a thousand strangers every single day.
- spongle 13y agoIsn't a better solution to live in a less populated area than stuff your face in a smart phone though[1]? This is what I'm working on, slowly. [1] I'm being a hypocrite there as I'm sitting in an ASDA car park on my smartphone at the moment.mm
- weland 13y agoIt would. I've actually considered it and warmly recommend it to anyone who can. It's not an option for me due to personal reasons, but if I could do it, I wouldn't wait a single minute.
- mercer 13y agoSo true. I'm extremely sensitive to my surroundings, so I find that the only way to comfortably be around lots of people is by having something that keeps me focused. This is usually my phone, sometimes a book, and occasionally a podcast (both of which could be on my phone). That said, I really hate this new phenomenon, so my solution to this is to have a smartphone, but no internet. As a result, when I do employ my device as a way to avoid being overstimulated, the 'distraction' is at least of some quality, be it a long-form Instapaper article, a chapter of a book, or a podcast that spends an hour on a single topic. It's not perfect, and I still put my phone away whenever I can handle my surroundings, but it works.
- Datsundere 13y agoRocking my nokia n95. I refuse to pay for SMS that should be free (requires less data to be transmitted than voice call). I don't like to text anyway, I'd prefer to call people.
- ShillAccount 13y agoI'm waiting for this phone to hit the U.S. this fall. If your N95 ever breaks, you should check it out. http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/08/28/iconic-style-meet-the-nokia-515/ http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/08/28/iconic-style-meet-...
- stackcollision 13y agoHah! Nokia phones break?
- weland 13y agoNo, no, "the cheapest Nokia I could find" should be taken literally, I have a Nokia 1280 :-).