smartphone gawpers

firefinga

firefinga

Well-known member
There is this very disturbing trend in the German speaking world of "smartphone gawpers" of late.

Meaning: there is an accident, and people, instead of helping, stand around and in the way, film the accident, the firemen, the paramedics and post this immediatley on their friggin social media channels. There have been cases reported where people were cheering on suicidal persons to jump off buildings in order for them to have "a good movie".

Sometimes it just feels being a misanthrope is just the accurate approach.

You had such cunts in the 90s already (I remember one personally as a teen filming the firemen helping people during a flood in my area using his video cam) but since everyone got a smartphone this has become a widespread unpleasent phenomenon.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Society of the spectacle etc - I saw a similar thing in Croydon recently with an apartment fire. Huge crowd thronged outside with smartphones. I guess people have always enjoyed gawping at an accident/misfortune though, so the phone is just an extension of that.

I generally don't understand the need to take phone video of everything, unless there's something absolutely unrepeatable happening and it will translate well to amateur video - most smartphone captured pieces are abysmal quality and weren't worth the bother.
 
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trilliam

Well-known member
broke my smart phone at the very end of last year so i had to make do with a brick phone till recently

everything from the commute to work (no music), courtship with women (pre-relations :D), socialising with friends and staying on top of music was effected

bottom line is (shocker) the internet is hella important and without it life as we know it would cease to exist
 
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trilliam

Well-known member
ftr it was credit rating problems and ridiculous smart phone prices that stopped me from copping a S7

i now have a comfy one plus 3:D
 
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CrowleyHead

Well-known member
Are there thinkpieces about how checking the pocketwatch doomed humanity? Stupid thing really, who cares about the time all the time? You don't have anywhere to be.
 
Leo

Leo

Well-known member
i had problems last week with my iPhone camera (wouldn't focus), so took it in to the WTC apple store genius bar. it was still under warranty, so they offered to replace the camera for free. i brought it in at 1:30 pm, they said it would be ready at around 3:00 pm, so i was forced to wander the streets of nyc (financial district) and kill time without a smart phone.

it was a weirdly enjoyable experience, albeit an anxiety ridden one. it feels so odd at this point to be totally disconnected from the world: couldn't listen to music, breaking news didn't matter, emails/texts/calls didn't matter, social fucking media didn't matter, and i had to continually estimate how much time had passed.

one of the best experiences was in determining who, when and how often to ask complete strangers what time it was. i found myself debating who to ask...should i consult a younger or older person? a business man on the sidewalk or a bored security guard in a store? regardless, most of them seemed a bit leery, as if i was attempting to engage them in some sort of scam because who in their right mind doesn't have a smart phone nowadays, right? what a weird fucking few hours in the afternoon.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
top tip - withdraw some money and the receipt will tell you the time

I try to leave my phone at home occasionally just to experience that 1998 feeling all over again. It is liberating.
 
Leo

Leo

Well-known member
firefinga said:
Funny I think those constantly staring at their phones are the ones disconnected from the world.
Click to expand...

i get your point, they are disconnected from the world immediately around them. but surely being unable to communicate with others outside if your immediate surroundings and not having instant access to world news constitutes disconnection too.
 
firefinga

firefinga

Well-known member
baboon2004 said:
top tip - withdraw some money and the receipt will tell you the time
Click to expand...

Back in the dark ages before cars got tft/lcd dashboards screens you could also have a look at the analog clocks of the traditional dashboards.
 
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Leo

Leo

Well-known member
we go on to an annual 4-5 day beach holiday family reunion and often go entire days with the phone left on the bedroom side table, and it's really a great feeling. never need to be anywhere, so you go for a swim when you feel like it, lay on the beach a while, eat when you feel hungry, sleep when you get tired, wake up in the morning when you're no longer tired, etc.

too bad it's impossible to survive that way (aka, earn a living) the other 51 weeks of the year.
 
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yyaldrin

yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
DannyL said:
Posted this in another thread: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazin...the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/

I got rid of my smartphone about two years ago, and I thoroughly recommend it. Only thing I miss is having a camera on me, but if I cared that much I'd buy a separate one.
Click to expand...

If it wasn't for message services like imessage or whatsapp I'd do it the same thing right away, it's just that I have quite some foreign contacts that I have regular contact with. Texting them over SMS would cost me a lot more. I wish they'd made a really simple telephone that would just allow you to use those services. I don't need anything else really.
 
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DannyL

Wild Horses
yyaldrin said:
If it wasn't for message services like imessage or whatsapp I'd do it the same thing right away, it's just that I have quite some foreign contacts that I have regular contact with. Texting them over SMS would cost me a lot more. I wish they'd made a really simple telephone that would just allow you to use those services. I don't need anything else really.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised to see simple phones becoming a trend at some point. There's this for instance: https://www.thelightphone.com/
though don't think its quite taken off.

I was horrified to read an interview with David Cameon's top office wanker, Steve Hilton where he was humblebragging about not having a smart phone. Nothing has ever made me want to buy one back more.
 
Leo

Leo

Well-known member
as much as i enjoyed the experience of temporarily not having my iPhone, i think there are lots of practical reasons why they are a good thing. when you're out and don't know the address of a restaurant, you can do a quick search to get the address, find the closest subway stop (and then check to see if there are train delays on that line) or most direct walking route, see the restaurant menu and hours of operation, etc. that's all a good thing, right? the problem is when people get obsessed with them. everything in moderation.
 
firefinga

firefinga

Well-known member
Leo said:
as much as i enjoyed the experience of temporarily not having my iPhone, i think there are lots of practical reasons why they are a good thing. when you're out and don't know the address of a restaurant, you can do a quick search to get the address, find the closest subway stop (and then check to see if there are train delays on that line) or most direct walking route, see the restaurant menu and hours of operation, etc. that's all a good thing, right? the problem is when people get obsessed with them. everything in moderation.
Click to expand...

Thing is even I have a smartphone. I need a mobile phone jobwise and my network provider gives me one for free so why not take it - and I use fairly a lot of its functions, though moderately - except listening to music or watch videos on it. What I don't get and never will are those people who outsource their damn life to those things (and thus to the companies that run the software on em and the network providers) - or those who let themselves being enslaved by them.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
DannyL said:
I wouldn't be surprised to see simple phones becoming a trend at some point. There's this for instance: https://www.thelightphone.com/
though don't think its quite taken off.
Click to expand...

I've often thought that I would go for a minimalist phone with the only apps being maps and camera (and camera is negotiable). Anything else can wait til later.

One insidious thing I notice is how people (obvs including me) use their phone as a crutch when they're alone in a public place - waiting for someone, waiting for a bus, waiting for friend to come back from the bathroom etc etc. I'm trying to train myself away from doing that, but it's not easy....
 
sufi

sufi

lala
Leo said:
as much as i enjoyed the experience of temporarily not having my iPhone, i think there are lots of practical reasons why they are a good thing. when you're out and don't know the address of a restaurant, you can do a quick search to get the address, find the closest subway stop (and then check to see if there are train delays on that line) or most direct walking route, see the restaurant menu and hours of operation, etc. that's all a good thing, right? the problem is when people get obsessed with them. everything in moderation.
Click to expand...
My most used apps are the flashlight and the local busstop timetable webpage
If it was a really smart f'ing phone it would also include actually useful functions like a fag lighter and a tv remote control
skymap is the best of all

I don't think these practical applications are what are zombifying the public though - that's social media and the web in yr pocket

my favey thought experiment (when my data allowance is exhausted) is to track my brain signals down my arm when I'm reaching for wikipedia to supplement my own puny flesh brain, or google maps, or the web, to see where the disconnect occurs down the fresh neural tracks that my bonce uses to connect to the internet, the muscle memory has almost got the phone out of my pocket before the i realise that there's no conexion
 
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