In Singapore, at the movies or even formal music concerts, like the symphony orchestra, the audience is full of people doing who knows what on their mobile phones throughout the entire event. It is so obnoxious. Best thing that's improved in my life since leaving Southeast Asia is being around people who aren't so intimately attached all the time with their silly phones. Even at a nice restaurant there, the table next to you is often a middle-aged couple watching a whole movie on their phone together -- speakers fully turned up.
I know it happens elsewhere, but it's insane here in China: People using their phone while on the road. Whether it be crossing the street, driving their car, or trying to keep balance while holding the phone with both hands and driving their scooter with their elbows.<p>I even see the police doing that.
I don't even know what people do all day on their smartphones. I only use mine when I need to quickly check a fact, e.g. when my train departs or where a building that I've never been to is located. I dislike the touchscreen interface. Gaming on it is horrible, typing is horrible, navigation is passable if the buttons are big enough. Overall, the desktop is vastly superior in every way and when I'm on the road, I prefer looking at my surroundings and sorting out my thoughts because I couldn't do serious computer work anyway.
"But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another - slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think."<p>"Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman seems appropriate here.
This makes the lack of consumer HUDs/AR glasses even more perplexing.<p>The technology is here, so why are companies toying around with smartwatches (a very limited concept, imo, might as well strap a small smartphone on your wrist :-)) instead of making these a reality for everyone:<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass</a><p><a href="http://www.lumus-optical.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.lumus-optical.com/</a>
Amazed in Bangkok at the degree to which I only ever see Samsung or Apple phones. Many more for sale in the shops, but I feel like Samsung and Apple absolutely dominate. Lots of very old phones, mind you.
Although I like the saying "smart phones dumb people", I think this is just a subset of computer addiction; but in this case, the computer is so easily portable that people become even more preoccupied with it and become unaware of their physical environment.