I've often quipped that my generation may have been the very last ones to experience their primary education without devices.
I don't understand why schools decided to allow students to use phones during the day.
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).
I love my phone, it gives me directions on the road, streams all my content, the camera literally protected and helped me evict my violent neighbor. I wouldn’t have had a camera on me.
Just look back at all the things we used to carry around. It’s truly a wonderful device, the most versatile and easy to use device we’ll see for a long time. But us users are in the infant stages. We trust everything about it then point the finger at the whole device when it’s the software that’s the problem.
The problem is the companies that run them. If you go out and get a new android phone, you cannot uninstall or remove youtube, instagram, or in some situations facebook.
You can "remove all data" and "force stop" and "disable" them, in that order, but that's not as easy for layperson who has no idea about technology.
The powers that be, don't give you access to technology in order to improve your life, they give it to you so they can profit from your lifelong dedication to it.
> Technology is natural. A seed is technology.
A seed is not (necessarily) technology.
> like reading a book, watching a film
Those are technology. And each generation has had its fill of panic of "over consumption" of the new technology; see Plato re:writing. Every generation has panicked over books/movies/music/tv/internet/games. Yes, even books. I remember as a kid they encouraged us to read but not TOO much.
“Technology is everything that doesn't work yet.” - W. Danny Hillis
Just wanted to add this. I'm sure there are a few more. Coming from these, they _were_ technology.
Which is a good advice: too much of a good thing isn't a good thing..
Just like you wouldn't lump tiktok comments and a thought-provoking book into "reading".
you can get profound insight from random youtube comments. A book can be a waste of time.
To separate them is to put a value on it that isn't there by any objective measure.
I'd argue "take a break from tech" does definitely involve putting down the books. go be with yourself for a bit. let your own thoughts develop, go "touch grass"