In this blog post, we look back on the important things we are missing, such as social relationships, leisure, and the value of experience, which are hidden behind the convenience of mobile phones.

 

Rapid penetration of mobile phones into our lives

Have you ever thought about how closely mobile phones have become a part of your life and how quickly they have become commonplace? Do you remember the days when we used to distinguish between analog and digital mobile phones? The first time I got a mobile phone at home, my father bought a digital mobile phone for a hefty $2,000 at the time. At the time, mobile phones were one of the luxuries that most office workers couldn’t afford even if they spent their entire monthly salary on them. This is something that is hard to understand now, but it was the case just 20 years ago. Mobile phones have now become a necessity in our lives, and they have become so close to us that they feel like a part of our body. It feels like a long time ago when mobile phones were considered the best if they could only make calls. In the past 20 years, mobile phones have changed faster and more consistently than any other device, and they have become a necessity in our lives, enabling us to do almost anything we can imagine. Mobile phones are always with us in our daily lives.
However, despite its overwhelming influence, we seem to be accepting the convenience of mobile phones without thinking. As a result, we are losing what we valued and our appearance is changing little by little.

 

First, changes in social connections through mobile phones

We are connected to society through our mobile phones. Mobile phones have become a very important medium that connects us to society. But the moment that connection is lost, we are left alone with the knowledge that all those connections have disappeared in an instant. If you have ever lost or broken your mobile phone, or had all your phone numbers deleted, you will know how helpless this situation can be. I once lived without a cell phone for about a week. I left it at the service center because it broke, and while I was without a cell phone for a week, I realized how many people I was connected to through my cell phone. I also realized how easily that connection could be broken for a very small reason: the absence of a cell phone.
In the days before cell phones, people must have maintained relationships in their own ways, and those ways would not have been as easy to break as they are now. Cell phones are certainly convenient and useful tools, but it is unfortunate that many relationships are tied to them.

 

Second, the sense of obligation to connect that has been created by cell phones

We now have an almost forced obligation to always carry our phones and be connected at all times. Most people, regardless of age or gender, own more than one phone. So whenever and wherever someone wants to contact us, we feel pressured to respond immediately. The situation has reversed. We are not connected when we need to be, but we are always connected because we can be connected.
Some companies give their employees smartphones as a group. There is no denying that smartphones are very convenient tools. However, they can be an inconvenience for employees because they must be connected at any time if the other party wants to contact them, even after work or when they want to relax.

 

Third, impatience and excessive leisure caused by mobile phones

We are always connected to our cell phones, so we often contact the other person and urge them to hurry up even if they are a little late. For example, if we are five minutes late for an appointment, we ask the other person’s location through our cell phone and let them know that we are almost there. On the other hand, cell phones make us feel complacent that we won’t have any problems if we are late for an appointment. “I told you I’d be late, so it’ll be fine,” and take away someone’s precious time. Wouldn’t you have kept your promise so casually if you didn’t have a cell phone?

 

Finally, experiences of cell phones taking away things

Mobile phones are so convenient, but there are things that we miss because of that convenience. When I went on a trip to Japan a while ago, I was wondering whether to sign up for a mobile phone data roaming service, but I decided not to because I thought it would be okay to go without my phone for a couple of days. On the first day, I got lost on my way back to the accommodation after sightseeing, and I couldn’t find the accommodation on a dark road with rain. It would have been easy to solve the problem by turning on Google Maps on my phone, but I couldn’t do that because I wasn’t roaming. In the end, I asked a passerby for help, and he kindly called the hotel and gave me directions. Thanks to him, I was able to return to my accommodation safely, and this experience has remained a good memory for a long time.
If I had a cell phone, this wouldn’t have happened. If I turn on GPS, I can easily find out where I am and where I need to go, so I wouldn’t have gotten lost. But is that really a good thing? Isn’t the true meaning of travel in the various experiences you have along the way rather than reaching your destination? Thanks to the convenience of cell phones, we can get things done quickly, but I feel that important experiences are increasingly being omitted in the process.

 

Conclusion

As I write this, I too am confused. I think that I am having a double attitude, taking the convenience of mobile phones for granted while feeling regretful about the things that I am losing because of them. Mobile phones are certainly enriching our lives, but there are many things that we have to pay for because of their convenience. For those of us living in the digital age, the inconvenience of analog is sometimes missed.