Gen Z (The Cell Phone Zombies)

[black_son_of_gray]

Earlier generations do not have much identity/relation tied up online. They're users. No interaction.

Reminds me of some of Jaron Lanier's words.

"If you're old enough to have a job and to have a life, you use Facebook exactly as advertised, you look up old friends," says Lanier. "I don't think you're doing anything wrong. If you're 17 you're caught up in reputation maintenance in a way that's really unhealthy. You have to constantly be on guard. It's like you're running for office. The degree to which you have to be on guard is so total and so clinically precise that you're not given any off-time to try another persona."

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 94257.html
You Are Not a Gadget is an interesting read, btw.

[Chad]

On a contrarian note, when I quit smoking, the hardest part after I'd quit for a month, was all the dead time. As a smoker, I always had something to do. Waiting for an appointment? Have a smoke. Got to work early, have a smoke. Etc etc. When I quit, filling these small time blocks was a real issue for me.
Now I have my smart phone. All those dead times, I can just pull out the phone, read something until it's time to do something else. I imagine anyone quitting today will have it easier because of smart phones.
Also, working with headphones on, listening to audio books or music makes the day fly by.
So long as the zombies don't drive, I'm fine with them.

I never smoked, but I love the smartphone for a dead time filler. As Dragline mentioned, you can get a lot of reading done during these times and the smartphone makes this unbelievably convient for me. It's also great for audiobooks and podcasts.

[workathome]

I agree with the making-wasted-time-productive argument.

Except, personal experience, sometimes w/o my smartphone I will actually spend some time thinking or being introspective, and maybe more of that beneficial activity would go on (instead of defaulting to smartphone reading) if I didn't have one.

[cmonkey]

Edit: During one of my classes last year we had to interact with a facebook page during class. Now outside of a couple months, I didn't have a facebook during college. When they asked if everyone had a facebook, I was the only one in the class who didn't have one (which I expected). There was a lot of whispered conversations going on and someone actually asked, "how do I live?" As if someone couldn't survive without a facebook profile.

In another class, we were working as consultants for a small start-up company. In a group meeting with our professor and the client, the client said to like us on facebook, follow us on twitter etc. I said I didn't have either (time to learn to keep my mouth shut! ) My professor was disgusted and said that was unacceptable (at not having social media accounts).

This actually made me laugh out loud. Being 28 and not having Facebook, Twitter, Flitter & Flutter (or whatever?), I can totally relate to this.

I also don't have a smart phone, having only a pay per use tracphone that I use only for emergencies (break down, for instance). I bought the original droid when it came out, but quickly became creeped out by the giant red eye. I never even used it, so I got rid of it after about a year.

Ultimately, I think the smart phone fad is just a manifestation of what Barry Swartz talks about in his Paradox of Choice TED talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM

Hopping from phone to phone ( super duper better this time! )app to app, notification to notification looking for something to satisfy that feeling of being dissatisfied because we've been led to believe we should expect perfection in everything, yet it never makes us feel complete. It is the ultimate consumer-feeding tool, providing constant stimulus in a world where too many choices for stimulus has completely rotted away what it means to enjoy something.

I also get hints of late Roman gladiatorial entertainment in mind when I think about all the video streaming and video gaming that is done (mostly on smart phones). I'm sure there is a WWF streaming app out there? Constant entertainment due to deep dissatisfaction with reality and a growing sense that something isn't right in the world make people connect with a 'reality' that is shiny and fun.

[NewReality]

There's no doubt that the Gen Z could be considered cell phone zombies, and that there is something absurd in the sight of a group of people gathered together yet staring into little impersonal consumer devices rather than interacting with the real world.

When speaking of this as a sociological (or, antisocial) phenomenon, I'm a believer in the idea that people are generally always the same wherever--and, relatively, whenever--you go. I'm not sure I would believe that this new mode of living replaced an earlier one in which people instead happily and beneficially interacted with reality.

Those that value a genuine connection with reality and their peers have and will always seek it out regardless of the times. Certainly, smart phones can provide utility without significantly impacting your life in a negative way.

Those that don't value these connections in the same way have and will always instead engage in some other pointless distraction. In the old days, there was likely just more TV watching and small talk going on, with an equal amount of indifference and dissatisfaction.

[jacob]

@lilacorchid - I did a Z-count on my commute today. I counted every instance I saw of texting while walking. I did not count people across the street, nor did I count people sitting while texting, nor people walking and talking. I saw a total of 49 zombies and even elbow-tagged someone who was walking down the middle of the side-walk. Today's temperature was 10-20F and the observation period was about 25 minutes, so about once every 30 seconds.

[lilacorchid]

@jacob - I am obviously hanging out in the wrong area. Next time I'm downtown I will pay more attention. Or I'll start counting people texting and driving while I'm walking.

BTW, did the elbow tagger even notice???

[dalralmi]

@Bigato - If you live close to a military town you might be able to find a flip phone easy enough. Around here 50% of the population needs a "non-camera" phone for work. There is normally only one option at the store, but they tend to keep it in stock. I think they do this cause people end up buying two phones here (a smartphone and a flip phone for work).

Overall though I'd shop online for phone I have a feeling a bunch of old phones pop up there for cheap since people find them worthless apparently.

[KevinW]

... my other hypothesis is that "smart phones were invented for people who are too computer illiterate for a computer". It just seems to me that the people I know whose noses are glued to their smart phones are the exact declared anti-nerds of yesteryear.

Observation: approximately 50% of the visible surface area of a PC workstation is dedicated to input/creation (keyboard, mouse, mouse pad, microphone) and the other 50% to output/consumption (monitor, speakers).

On a phone or tablet, the ratio is more like 5% creation / 95% consumption.

Compare the ease of creating vs. consuming writing or technical work on the two platforms.

Given this, it's unsurprising what kinds of people, activities, and commercial interests gravitate toward each.

FWIW, I did break down and buy a Republic smartphone with no data plan. It finally became cheaper and more convenient than keeping a separate dumb phone, camera, music player, and notepad. They're powerful tools.

If that's the case I worry about the havoc a mutant with face to face interaction skills will wreak among the zombies.

I think I'm one of those mutants. I'm not a schmoozer by any means, but I did have to learn to be a mediocre salesman in a former job. Now sometimes I feel like some kind of Machiavellian manipulator. A lot of folks seem to be unable to read faces, tone of voice, steer conversations, deflect obvious nonsense, etc. Yikes.

[Sclass]

A lot of folks seem to be unable to read faces, tone of voice, steer conversations, deflect obvious nonsense, etc. Yikes.

Right. Who is worried about aspies when you have zombies?

But have you noticed how good people are getting at interpreting a lengthy delay when replying to a text message?

[GandK]

But have you noticed how good people are getting at interpreting a lengthy delay when replying to a text message?

LOL! Yes! You should hear our teenagers!

"OMG, Mom! She saw my text 11 minutes ago and she hasn't responded yet! What do I do?!?"

What did you say that was of such earth-shattering importance that it had to be responded to in ten minutes or less?

"It was a smiley face! Does this mean she doesn't like me?!"

[Sclass]

But have you noticed how good people are getting at interpreting a lengthy delay when replying to a text message?

LOL! Yes! You should hear our teenagers!

"OMG, Mom! She saw my text 11 minutes ago and she hasn't responded yet! What do I do?!?"

What did you say that was of such earth-shattering importance that it had to be responded to in ten minutes or less?

"It was a smiley face! Does this mean she doesn't like me?!"

I actually find this funny because it shows there must be information in the absence of a message. There is of course but it seems philosophically odd.

Laugh I will but the times are a changing. Remember getting bumped by a love interest on call waiting in the late 80s vs. having a love interest ignore the other party? It usually was a bad sign to get bumped. Ima old!

[Ego]

It just seems to me that the people I know whose noses are glued to their smart phones are the exact declared anti-nerds of yesteryear.

Yesteryear is calling.
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[fiby41]

I found the blog on mobile so there's that.

[ertyu]

Two things: 1. Helicopter parenting has intensified. Kids are constantly in activities with little “negative time.” Being on cell phone is how you carve out a space to be with friends and have a self in the face of the demands placed on you. 2. Many of the younger generation have done away with the need for laptop/desktop. Fiction is written tapping into google docs, pictures and video are edited on mobile, digital art created on screen, too. One could argue obviating the need for a whole category of appliance is actually the more frugal, more simple-living, less resource intensive, and more minimalist choice. I am an old (pushing 40) but imo while there are many legit criticisms of cell phone use, a lot of the sentiment against is rooted in ignorance and inability to harness new technologies