Could People Live Without Their Smartphone?

2013-01-09 Rabbie Kao

英文課的assignment。

Nowadays, people have become overly dependent on smartphones. TIME Magazine conducted a survey asking “How long could you live without your smartphone?” in 2012. They gathered results from approximately 5,000 people of all age groups and income levels in eight countries, the US, UK, China, India, South Korea, South Africa, Indonesia and Brazil. There is a crucial fact revealing the poll surprises me a lot. It says that 84 percent of respondents said that they could not go a single day without their cellphones. From my observation, it seems like more and more people could not live without their smartphone because they have got smartphone obsession, informaiton anxiety, and trouble sleeping with their smartphone.

Some people may say think that they are not addicted to their smartphone. They just use it for work, entertainment, and something else. In my opinion, there are more and more smartphone addicts these days. According to an article posted by “gizbot.com”, there was around 60% of the people stated that they used their smartphones about 13 times in a day for varying activities. These people also agreed to use smartphones even in between meals, while bathing and also while driving. However, it does not surprise me at all. Since every time I take the MRT or a bus, I can see dozens of smartphone addicts tapping away on their phones. When I go to school, I can see lots of students playing games on their phones under their desks during class. These smartphone owners are so obsessed with their devices, they have got smartphone obsession when they started using a smartphone all the time.

Some people may say that they do not have informaiton anxiety because there are three reasons why they check their smartphone all the time. First, they check their emails mainly for work, business, bills, and something important as a routine job. Second, they check their messages because they do not want to miss the important information sent by their friends or family. Third, they check their friends’ status on social network platforms like facebook not only to kill time but also to follow the latest news from their social network. Therefore, we can know that people have become anxious about checking their emails, messages, and status from social network platforms from the above statements. In a recently conducted survey from DNAIndia.com, almost 86 percent of respondents used their smartphone to check their email messages, tweets or to update their Facebook status. The survey also found that while 65 percent admitted using their smartphone during meetings and while having meals with others, 59 percent confessed to being on the phone while they were driving. Those who own a smartphone crave for more information to alleviate their information anxiety.

Finally, some people claim that they take their smartphone with them even when they go to bed because they just use it as a clock and a phone. From my observation, smartphone addicts are afraid that they might miss something . Therefore, they slumber next to their smartphones. More than a third of U.S. adults now own a smartphone, according to the Pew Research Center, and two-thirds of them sleep with their phones right next to their beds. And another survey from Pew Research Center says that 54% of American adults check their phones while in bed, before they go to sleep, after they wake up or in the middle of the night.

In conclusion, I think people could not live without their smartphone and become overly dependent on their smartphone in every respect. Take myself for example. I checked my smartphone even when I had dinner with my friends who used their smartphone at the same time. We are so-called “Smartphone Addicts”. Here is my advice. Do not use your smartphone more than two hours a day, otherwise you may have become smartphone addicts and find yourself have trouble using your smartphone.