Smart phones = Dumb people

[Jonrox]

Smart phones are 100% producing smart people.

[Jlabute]

Thankfully, there have been a few instances when a smartphone has saved a dumb life.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/03/23/ ... -life.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/201 ... 322140001/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 70641.html

http://www.cultofmac.com/285528/siri-ma ... hers-life/

http://fortune.com/2015/08/18/siri-911-saved-life/

[Queen K]

I had a nightmare last night. I was lost in Vancouver. Took a wrong bus, or tram, or skytrain or something. Had to get back to where I came from. Only I knew where, but didn't have a proper address, like being able to describe where your in-laws live based on house colour three driveways down to the left of a mailbox, only their house is across the street from that yellow house.

So now I have no smartphone. It's not that it's dead, the power ran down, I don't have one. Find a phone book. What century are we in now? It's getting dark. I don't know anybody. I'm now in East Vancouver.

No wait, this really did happen. I was 19 in East Vancouver and had to get back to West Vancouver, Marine Drive no less, a house overlooking the ocean. That narrows it down.

There is a thread here thanking EMTs for their action for assisting someone's dad. He fell from a ladder but had a iphone in his pocket and was able to call 911.

How many people call their friends? Wasting precious moments when the friend may or may not be able to pick up, or check the text or feel really really mad, "why not call 911 dude, what can I do for you?"

[Jlabute]

I was lost in Vancouver just a few years back trying to find SW Marine drive. Ok, I am not too familiar with Vancouver. So, I try to plug 'SW Marine', 'S.W. Marine' etc, in to my Tomtom GPS by doing a search... and NorthWest marine drive and others come up but no SW marine drive. So, I am thinking if I can find North, maybe that'll help me find south... lol. I totally got lost ending up in North Vancouver.
So, I whip out my !!SMART!! phone (which I should had done in the beginning)... I find SouthWest Marine drive in a jiffy with google maps and drive to my destination.
I then ask my GPS where I currently am and it told me S.w.Marine. I never thought to look it up with a capital 'S' and lowercase 'w'. So, SMART PHONE 1 point. Tomtom GPS 0 points.

[Queen K]

A woman took GPS to heart, ended up stuck on a deadend desert road, was able to walk out to cell phone reach and call for help. Saved her life.

A man fell while hiking in Australia, his cell phone signal was bounced to England where his dad got the message and was able to call Australian authorities and have his son rescued.

Here in Okanagan, a woman fell off a wet log in the bush while walking her dogs, was able to use her cell phone to call for help after the fall broke her leg/hip.

And on and on it goes. A guy was found down an embankment after the ping off his cell gave a location as to where to look.

[forum]

Mobile Phone are givng us the ability to better plan and schedule our days.
We are more efficient and smarter because of them. They teach better routes to take, and alert us of all sorts of things.

A phone number is an old concept. It's unnecessary anymore.
My wife and I communicate through mostly Google. Hardly ever need to call.

We already know each others locations using Google Maps.
We share our calendars, and have eliminated useless communications.

Instead of memorizing phone numbers, the brain has room to memorize other things.

All you need to know is your login to your Google account and all your contacts etc are in there, accessable from any device.

No need to remember numbers, let Google remember.

Or Apple. Whatever platform you're on.

[Dizzy1]

Instead of memorizing phone numbers, the brain has room to memorize other things.

Like the passwords for all our apps

[Queen K]

Agreed.

As long as you always have your phone. Would you be completely lost without it?

[TylerM4]

Shortsighted. That's what I call people who think this way (Smart phones make dumb people).

Our knowledge set grows and changes with the tools we have available.

Most of you forget that your own grandparents thought the same way about calculators. And their grandparents thought that way about telephones.

One of the worst things you could do to a child in this day and age is prevent them from using smart phones and computers. These are the tools of the future. Don't know how to work them and you're not going to fit in well with society. Texting and IM is the future. This isn't something that's going away when teenagers turn 20. This is the new world - get used to living in it or get used to be an out of touch old fart.

It won't be long before being proficient with a smart device/computer will be more important that being proficient at driving a vehicle.

[Dizzy1]

Shortsighted. That's what I call people who think this way (Smart phones make dumb people).

Our knowledge set grows and changes with the tools we have available.

Most of you forget that your own grandparents thought the same way about calculators. And their grandparents thought that way about telephones.

One of the worst things you could do to a child in this day and age is prevent them from using smart phones and computers. These are the tools of the future. Don't know how to work them and you're not going to fit in well with society. Texting and IM is the future. This isn't something that's going away when teenagers turn 20. This is the new world - get used to living in it or get used to be an out of touch old fart.

It won't be long before being proficient with a smart device/computer will be more important that being proficient at driving a vehicle.

While I agree with you, but people do seem to be getting dumber. I mean, you have a world of information in the palm of your hand - a simple Google search away to look up anything and everything - yet just reading some comments on places like FB or forums, it seems like people really have been losing a few IQ points here and there.

[forum]

Instead of memorizing phone numbers, the brain has room to memorize other things.

Like the passwords for all our apps

Lastpass.com

[TylerM4]

While I agree with you, but people do seem to be getting dumber. I mean, you have a world of information in the palm of your hand - a simple Google search away to look up anything and everything - yet just reading some comments on places like FB or forums, it seems like people really have been losing a few IQ points here and there.

Ah. Yes, I see where you are going here.

When I look at my facebook feed. The people who post the dumbest content - they're not young. I think there's a strong correlation here. It's usually the 50+ crowd posting the worst of the "Coca Cola syrup concentrate is classified as a hazardous material" or "If you see a note on your windshield don't get out of your car to check it" crap.

People who grew up before the internet became mainstream grew up in a world where "If you read it in print or saw it on TV you could be reasonably sure it was factual and accurate". They grew up completely trusting the media they consumed. They never learnt the importance of citing sources, or understanding the credentials of the author. Thus they read something and if it sounds like it's true (or they want it to be true) they forward and repost.

Young people know to check their sources - especially when it comes from the internet. Long story short, it's the perfect example of why keeping children away from smart devices/internet is a bad thing.

[Woodenhead]

When is the last time you made an effort to memorize a phone number?

Is there some benefit to remembering phone numbers?

Yes - it took me quite a while, admittedly, because my memory isn't what it used to be, but I managed to memorize the number for 911 and it's come in handy.

[forum]

After you finish watching this, you'll probably feel like your not keeping up with the pack.

[Poindexter]

Turns out I should have titled this thread; "Smart phones = Neurotic people".

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.theatla ... le/534198/