Giving up my SmartPhone, Two Weeks on

Here's a huge reason why I gave up my Smartphone two weeks ago:

I see this.  Everywhere.
  • You're not at the event, you're watching it through your phone's viewfinder.
  • You're not interacting, you're looking at the palm of your hand.  It's quickly becoming normal to be 'social' while talking over or around a screen with 10% of your brain.
  • You're not thinking, you're regurgitating what you can find on Youtube, Imdb, Google, or Siri.  While this information may be instantly correct, it obviates the need for you.  
  • You're not driving, you're looking for the next point where you can zone out (straight stretch of road, stop sign, line at the drive-thru) so you can carry on whatever triviality you just hit on FB, Instragram, SMS, or whatever.
So, I took a step off the running train.  Blowback has been both expected and encountered:
  • "What is that?  A Crackberry?"
  • "You did WHAT?"
  • "What?  Couldn't afford a real phone?"
But, on the whole, here's the only comment that counts:  "Glad to have you back."

Glad to be back.  I've read more in the last 2 weeks than probably the last 3 years, finally finishing Coders at Work, currently tackling both Stephenson's Cryptonomicon and Putnam's Bowling Alone.  I've been working more in and around the house, and I've just been there. 

It's not all been great.  I like listening to music (especially podcasts) while I work, and I've not sorted that out fully.  My new phone does have .mp3 capabilities, but it requires a microSD card I haven't purchased yet.  That's intentional.   Detox means me not strutting around the house with earbuds plugged-in ignoring everything around me. 

I've really not missed being wired to twitter 20 hours a day.  Distance helps one gain perspective; that's really the overall theme.  If you never unplug (and in a way, I haven't since I was about 10 years old), then you never grow.

I know, I know...this is just another of 100 "epiphanies" you can read if you follow this blog back to its beginning.   We'll see if it sticks, or if I find something else with which I can ignore my primary relationships.

For two weeks, though, it's been sweet.

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