I've been using the same phone for more than 2 and 1/2 years. That's not really that big a deal, except for the fact that it's an iPhone 4s still operating on iOS 6. So while my phone can call and text, it doesn't do so easily. It freezes frequently or every move seems extremely delayed. Apple's business model is clever and a little evil. For those with older iPhones operating on newer operating systems, you know you've noticed that your phone doesn't work as smoothly as it used to. (Sidenote to Diana's post from last week. At least for iPhones, people might feel the need to upgrade all the time for the simple reason of noticeably better quality.) Anyhow, my mom actually decided that it's time I get a new phone. Mind you, I've wanted a new phone for a long time, but I also didn't want to spend the money on it (college student on a budget what up.) I'll have a new phone by this Tuesday, making it that much easier to coyly use my phone in class Wednesday morning (just kidding, that's a preposterous idea.) As I mentioned, my phone has been useable despite lags and cracked screens. However, after 8 months of a cracked screen, my phone had its final fatal fall. The screen is completely gone with no hope of revival. So here I am: a 19 year old who can't think of a single thing she does without technology forced to part with arguably the most important piece of technology she owns for two whole days. I laughed at the idea of voluntarily deciding to take part in a digital sabbath last week, mentioning that my digital sabbaths are always unintentional. It's coincidental; it's a little humorous; it's going to be hard.
The moment it happened, my entire mood changed instantaneously. I went from spending some much needed quality time with my immediate family to being incredibly irritated. I could not stop thinking about important emails or calls I would miss. It is internship interview and Founder's Day Ball seasons afterall. After trying to figure out to back up everything and being reassured by Verizon's customer service that all my data can be restored, I finally calmed down. I use my phone and other technology to keep connected, and the biggest fear is that in these two days I'm going to miss on certain connections. A digital sabbath is supposed to help you be connected to the world apart from technology, to be connected without constant distraction; however, I use technology to be connected to my world - my family and friends. The idea of a digital sabbath is only truly going to improve connections with people if the realization is reached that it's not technologies that inhibit true connections. Even while having dinner with friends, there are the the friends that are checking twitter. It's an attempt to connect with everyone and everything all at once. Of course you want to be present and enjoy the company of your friends at dinner, but you also want to be connected to friends far away from you; you want to respond with the witty comment before anyone else gets to it. We want it all; we want to do it all. In the time that we've grown up and been groomed by society around us, we know that with the help of technology, this is all possible. We've gotten rid of the idea of opportunity cost of our time, because maybe you just don't have to give up the next best option. Yet, to genuinely value that time you spend with one group of friends, you have to think about the fact that you're giving up that time away from doing other things.
Right now, it's technically harder to reach my friends and family. It's not for long, thank goodness. I'm curious to see how jumpy I'm going to keep feeling about not knowing what's going on with my friends every hour - we essentially use group chat as a live twitter feed. I'll only be able to check my email when I'm on a computer. Maybe this will get rid of the disappointed feeling when I realize no one had anything important to email me since fifteen minutes ago. My Gmail is definitely the service I use most. I honestly can't picture how I would live without it. Disclaimer: I'm not that melodramatic; it's probably not a bad idea to learn that only checking my email three to five times a day is just as effective as every fifteen minutes. I'm going to have to try a little harder to meet up and keep in touch with my friends. Thankfully, most of them that I contact daily live in the same square mile. I haven't had my phone for a day now; and surprise(*hint hint sarcasm*)I'm still surviving. I'll miss some funny tweets and classic instagram shots. Aw dang it, I just realized I'll probably miss some hilarious snapchat stories. I never thought I'd be taking a digital sabbath, but here I am curiously looking forward to what another day and a half of the sabbath bring.
Funny enough, I had to go through something similar last year, and I also had an iPhone 4S. The phone got wet, and while the old put-it-in-a-bag-of-rice trick seemed to save it, there had to be some moisture still in there (not like I could take the battery out to see if there was anything in that compartment); to make a long story short, there was…well, a short, and my phone’s charging port (among other parts, I’m sure) fried. My phone lost the ability to charge, and it was having some performance issues in the time between the short and the battery running out of charge. I wound up having to get the thing replaced (for another 4S) and I’ve had that one since. But in that time before I got the replacement, after the demise of my poor, poor phone (which was held together by unique security screws that wouldn’t let me open the battery compartment and potentially prevent an electrical short...I'm still mad about that even now), I was in a sort of half-digital Sabbath. Sure, I used my laptop to check emails, do schoolwork, and collaborate with group members on projects, but I didn’t have a phone constantly by my side, and I almost felt naked. I couldn’t text anyone, I couldn’t make or check memos on my notepad app, I couldn’t use my phone as an alarm clock (probably wound up being the thing I missed the most), and I couldn’t check Facebook on the go. I realized then how much I depended on my phone, and how much time I wasted each day just staring at it and doing nothing productive. And it sucked. As soon as I got my replacement phone, I went back to my old ways, because that’s just what feels comfortable. If I undergo a digital Sabbath (or at least another partial one), it’ll probably be completely by accident and due to circumstances out of my control; you don’t think about it much when you have a working phone on you, but once it’s gone, you realize how much you’ve adapted to take advantage of it, for better or for worse. Once it’s no longer readily available, it feels like a part of you is missing.
ReplyDeleteOh, and on a side note, I also noticed newer updates worsening my phone’s performance. What’s more, newer updates for outdated iPhones seem to have a nasty habit of PERMANENTLY taking up storage space once installed. Clever move, Apple.