Context of Practice: March 2015

To aid with the re-restructure and new direction of my essay, I have begun to compile all of the relevant information, quotes, links and workings together in a document to work from. I have found this approach extremely useful so far in helping decipher what information I wish to include in the new draft of my essay and what direction I want it to take. I have accumulated so much information, that it was easy to become lost in it without this organisation.

New Structure

Title: “I cant live without my phone” - A study into the effects of advancing smartphone technology and it’s direct impact on today’s society.

Introduction (300 words)

Content/Aim: Outline argument, relevance

· Paragraph 1 (300 words)

Content/Aim: The smartphone as a platform – set the scene

· Internet and social media

· Statistics

· Positive effects of smartphone use

Paragraph 2 (300 words)

Content/Aim: Learning and productivity

Paragraph 3 (300 words)

Content/Aim: Health, Mind and brain

· Physical health

· Mental health

· Communication, behaviour, identities, social division, relationships

· The mind

Paragraph 4 (300 words)

Content/Aim:

· Paragraph 5 (400 words)

Content/Aim: Image 1 analysis – Art Meats Technology – Mads Peitersen

· Digital/smartphone technology being an extension of ourselves

· Inanimate object with human qualities – leading to a relationship with object

· Links to “I can’t live without my phone”. “My phone has died”. Connotes human relationships/qualities/characteristics.

· Apps need to be used to keep the digital world fed (represented by organs linked to apps in image)

· Image is indifferent. No positive/negative representation of technology on media. Left up to audience to decide for themselves what the message of this image is and if its positive/negative.

· Vast technological advancements – now human like in efficiency, productivity and output.

· The absence of a “brain” as such in this work and all other works in this series by Peitersen speaks volumes. Technology is “mindless”?

· Quotes about image by artist or others?

Paragraph 6 (400 words)

Content/Aim: Image 2 analysis – Digital Jailhouse

· Alienation/isolation

· May provide activities to occupy our time and attention (represented by basketball outdoor recreational area in image) however this itself serves as an imprisonment. Stopping us from interacting physically and mentally with the outside world.

· Bleak

· The setting and outside world around the digital jailhouse in this image is also bleak, suggesting that the world has been made bleaker as a result of the presence of these devices and how we use them.

· Quotes about image by artist or others?

· Unable to escape - jail

Paragraph 7 (400 words)

Content/Aim: Image 3 + 4 analysis – “Like” and “Social” by Luis Quiles

Controversial

Cultural references (apps like instagram and facebook etc)

“Like” Image notes

· Self gratification linked to “likes” received on social network

· Links to dopamine comment from Susan Greenfield

· In seek of a quick fix reward (a “like”) for a comment/picture

· Action and reward – easy satisfaction

· Online presence/popularity

· Quotes about image by artist or others?

“Social” Image notes

· Invasion of personal space

· Privacy

· Have to shut up and take it as this is what the digital world has become

· No escape

· This is how we communicate

· All avenues of communication via social networking are invasive

· Bombarding / force-fed

· What this does to our identity

· Quotes about image by artist or others?

Conclusion (300 words)

Content/Aim: Put across findings. Tie evidence together. Conclude personal argument and opinion. Answer questions outlined in title, introduction and throughout.

· Bibliography

Books

Internet

Images

**********************************

Quotes and Notes

Key for Quotes

‘SG’ = Susan Greenfield – Mind Change

‘RW’ = Richard Watson – Future Minds

‘GG’ = Gerard Goggin – Cell Phone Culture

‘DE’ = Deloitte Consumer Survey ‘14

‘IH’ = Ira Hyman (Psychologist)

‘PR’ = Pamela Rutledge

‘TCP’ = Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (Personality Expert)

‘GF’ = George Fieldman (Psychologist)

‘ML’ = Matthew Lieberman (Psychologist)

Main points

Smartphones as a platform – what they do for us

-an extension of ourselves

-what we use it for/what it does for us that we no longer have too

maps

keeps phone numbers

wakes us up

reminders

communication (across all social networks – as well as call/txt/video call)

shopping

keeps us healthy – health apps

time/weather

*Quotes

GG: “Mobiles have become hybrid devices that articulate with our new technologies such as digital cameras, portable digital assistance, or location technologies.” (pg. 2)

Statistics

Deloitte:

· “Tens of millions of us reach for our phones as soon as we wake; younger generations glance at their phones dozens of times a day; many of us ashamedly admit to looking at our phones before turning in for the night.”

· “More than two in three UK adults – about 35 million people – now have a smartphone.”

· “We don’t seem able to leave our smartphones alone. About one in six UK adults who own a smartphone (equivalent to about six million people) look at their phone more than 50 times a day”

· “About a third of UK adults who own a smartphone (equivalent to about 11 million people) look at their phone within five minutes of waking and almost half within 15 minutes”

· A massive 83% of all smartphone users check their phone within the first hour of waking up (not taking into consideration turning the off alarms)

· “The smartphone application that is used first thing in the morning by most respondents is SMS (accessed first by 33 per cent) followed by email (by 25 per cent) and social networks (by 14 per cent).”

· “The smartphone has rapidly become the device that many of us cannot live without.”

Positive effects of smartphones

-technology and information at our fingertips

-productivity – working “on-the-go”

-connectivity/communication – staying in contact with friends, families, colleagues & business. Making new connections – social media

-organisation – notes, reminders, alarms

-learning – access to information - internet

-How telecommunication companies and network providers promote mobile phone usage. (to be used as a positive argument to compare to all my negative findings)

SG: “There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected, to give everyone a voice and to help transform society for the future” – Mark Zuckerberg. (pg. 101) Find this quote from another source?

Apple IPhone 6 advert: https://www.apple.com/iphone-6/films/#huge

“They can change the way you see the world” Jimmy Fallon

“They can help you improve your health” Jimmy Fallon

IPhone 6 promises to be “bigger then bigger”

Tim Cook – Apple CEO on IPhone 6 release:

“the most loved smartphone in the world”

Samsung on IoT (The Internet of Things) – meaning the future of connectivity:

“the Internet of Things (IoT) is where phones, computers, smart watches, even washing machines communicate without us having to be involved.”

Samsung CEO – BK Yoon on Samsung galaxy S6 and S6 edge release:

"What we're holding in our hands is infinite possibilities; now it's up to us to unlock them.”

Nokia Lumia slogan:

“Powerful mobile devices that help you do more.”

Nokia slogan:

“Connecting People”

*Quotes

· GG: “Cell phones have come to be associated with qualities of mobility, portability, and customisation. They fit into new ways of being oneself (or constructing identity and belonging to a group); new ways of organising and conducting ones life; new ways of keeping in touch with friends, romantic intimates, and family; new ways of conducting business; new ways of accessing services or education.” (pg. 2)

· GG: “the cell phone has the ‘good’ power to increase dramatically our productivity and social capital, become our life-recorder, or help us powerfully organise a rally.” (pg. 206 – 207 …check)

· IH: “This isn’t addiction. This is social interaction. When you conduct your social life via text, keeping track of your cell phone takes on particular importance. Older adults, like me, shouldn’t make judgments about cell phone use in younger adults, or at least we should withhold the negative evaluations of people constantly checking their cell phones. Perhaps instead we can respect the cell phone and internet natives. These young adults have grown up using cell phones and the internet. They’ve learned to effectively maintain and enhance (and sometimes end) social relationships through the ether. Maybe they will be more engaged with and attached to their social groups than older adults who are still learning to keep in touch in the modern era.

· PR: ““Mobile technologies like smartphones and tablets have removed the geographic boundaries for use and significantly reduced socioeconomic barriers. The appeal of social media is tremendous—it triggers our fundamental drive for social connection and allows us more control over our world.”

· ML: “Technology always changes us in both good and bad ways and what counts as good or bad depends deeply on one’s perspective.”

· ML: “so many interesting connections with people that never would have happened without the internet.”

· ML: “Maybe these digital technologies will provide some sustenance for our social appetites, particularly during times of transition or travel. But if they aren’t enough, people will turn to other ways of connecting—maybe traditional and maybe some even more technological (e.g. virtual reality or holographic chatting?).”

· ML: “Adolescence is hard and technologies have always provided some way to cope with this difficulty.”

· ML: “when I look back at depictions of social interactions from the 19th century, when none of this technology was “getting in the way,” it usually seems far more awkward and restrained. Maybe technology has actually helped us understand each other better and get more information about what motivates us and other people.”

Learning and productivity

-cant think for ourselves

-no need to learn anything – Google tells us all

-intelligence

TCP: “technology will continue to evolve and the gap between what can be solved with and without it will only increase.”

therefore

“people who are able to keep up with technology will outsmart those who don't (even more than they do now).”

“Life has become more complex but we hardly ever notice it because technology has made complexity simpler than ever.”

TCP: “Humans today are like most smartphones and tablets - their ability to solve problems depends not on the knowledge they can store but on their capacity to connect to a place where they can retrieve the answer to find a solution. This is what some have labelled the "hyper-link" economy... the only knowledge we need to have is the knowledge of where to find stuff.”

RW: “Digital devices are turning us into a society of scatterbrains. If any piece of information can be recalled at the click of a mouse, why bother to learn anything? We are becoming Google-eyed, scrolling through our days without thinking deeply about what we are really doing or where we are really going.” (pg. 3)

RW: “We are in danger of developing…A society that has plenty of answers but very few good questions. A society composed of individuals who are unable to think by themselves in the real world.” (pg. 3)

-Distraction

RW: “To me it feels as if time itself is being compressed. Having even an hour during the day just to think or write, uninterrupted, is becoming a luxury, mainly due to digital technology.” (pg. 5)

RW: “Distraction isn’t merely available, it’s unavoidable.” - Caroline Johnson (pg. 123)

-Focus/Multi-tasking

RW: “We are finding it difficult to remain focused and we are becoming addicted to the screen.” (pg. 6)

SG: “When they (high multi-taskers) are in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, they’re not able to filter out what’s not relevant to their current goal. The failure to filter means they’re slowed down by that irrelevant information” – Anthony Wagner (pg. 228)

SG: “It’s no real surprise that concentration is the key and that multi-tasking can be counterproductive.” (pg. 229)

SG: “Evidence is mounting regarding the negative effects of attempting to process different streams of information simultaneously, and results now indicate that multi-tasking leads to increased time needed to achieve the same level of learning, as well as increase in mistakes while processing information, compared to those who sequentially or serially process the same information.” (pg. 230 – 231)

-Devoid of deeper thought

SG: Are our brains adapting and becoming a computer themselves, “a system responding efficiently and processing information very well, but devoid of deeper thought”. (pg 12)

-Impatience/rapid response

RW: “We are already so connected through digital networks that a culture of rapid response has developed. We are currently so continually available that we have left ourselves no time to think properly about what we are doing.” (pg. 2)

-Smartphones should be used as an aid – not a replacement – for our brain.

-Are we really “living” life, having machines do all the living for us?

*More Quotes

· GG: “Telephones have had something of an invisible presence in society and culture, but with the advent of cell phones the role of telecommunications has become much more central and harder to ignore.” (pg. 2)

· RW: “Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.” – Pablo Picasso (pg. 11)

· RW: “The twenty-first century teen, connected and multi-tasked, autonomous yet peer-mindful, marks no great leap forward in human intelligence or global thinking” – William Strauss and Neil Howe (pg. 21)

· RW: “If we are so smart, why do we seem so intent on giving our minds away to an array of digital distractions? Why doesn’t society have more time for slow thinking and single-tasking? And why are we allowing machines to destroy the very things that make us human and make life worth living?” (pg.61)

Health/Mind/Brain

· Mental Health

- Detached from reality

RW: “We are in danger of developing a society that is globally connected and collaborative, but one that is also impatient, isolated, and detached from reality.” (pg. 3)

SG: “for the first time ever, life in front of a computer screen is threatening to out-compete real life.” (pg. 17)

SG: “Experts have argued that the internet creates a unique world which adds an extra ‘disengagement’ from immoral actions.” (pg. 153)

- Anxiety, Depression, Isolation

SG: “the twenty-four-hour availability of social networking, plus an unedited and unrealistic snapshot of what everyone else is up to, are all factors that might prove to be a heady cocktail for some individuals” (pg. 151)

GF: "Social anxiety may also be heightened by mobile phones. This is because people can avoid full social contact, by means of texting and e-mail. Avoidance is fundamental to the maintenance of anxiety. People experiencing anxiety may also be less empathic, so enhancing selfish attitudes."

- Implications of being unable to switch off

RW: “What happens to the quality of our thinking when we never truly sit still or completely switch off?” (pg. 4)

· Physical

- Sleep deprivation

- Exercise

· The Mind

-Addiction/action & reward reflex

RW: “Email, SMS, social networks, and the like are addictive attention eaters.” (pg. 125)

-Dopamine

· SG: “It’s not difficult to see an overlap between feeling excited and feeling happy. Many activities in life that are arousing, such as fast-paced sports, are also rewarding. Suffice it to say that if various brain states relating to arousal and reward are consistently linked to raised levels of dopamine, and if social networking sites are rewarding and exciting, it is very likely that social networking might serve as another trigger for the release of dopamine in the brain.” (pg. 111) – find more info about dopamine & heroin in her book

-Dependency

-Nomophobia-fear/phobia of being without a mobile phone/smartphone

Smartphones changing our identities

SG: “it may be that a daily existence revolving around the smartphone, iPad, laptop and Xbox is radically changing not just our everyday lifestyles, but also our identities and even our inner thoughts.” (pg. 1)

Social identity

Obsessed with technology innovation

RW: “We have now become so obsessed with asking whether something can be done that we leave little or no time to consider whether it should be done.” (pg. 2)

I cant live without my phone – people’s reactions to being without their phone

RW: “50 percent of Blackberry users would be “concerned” if they were parted from their digital device and 10 percent would be “devastated”. (pg. 17)

Communication, relationships, social division, behaviour

Lack of face-to-face communication – human need for interaction

RW: “We are increasingly communicating via text message and email rather than face to face, we have hundreds of online “friends” yet we may not know the people next door, and the first place we look for information is Google.” (pg. 1)

RW: “We are connected globally, but our local relationships are becoming wafer thin and ephemeral.” (pg. 3)

RW: “But conversation is critical to ideas and innovation. Moreover, the very technologies that are bringing us closer together on one level are tearing us apart on another.” (pg. 125)

RW: “While we may be communicating with each other more, we may be listening and understanding each other less.” (pg. 126)

SG: “It seems that the benefits of dialogue, of face-to-face discussion of issues and problem-solving still exceed the benefits of virtual communication.” (pg. 240)

GF: "The advent of mobile phones, especially smart phones, has brought numerous advantages. It enables us to keep better connected to people who are known to us - but at the expense of those in front of us.

GF: "The attention of someone with a mobile phone can be instantly withdrawn from their immediate environment, depriving both the phone user and those around them of social involvement. This distraction from people in the phone user's vicinity accords with more selfish behaviour.

In comparison to reality…GF: "All mobile phones provide, essentially, 'narrow band' communications, compared with the 3D, stereo, full-colour, high resolution, real-time experience of talking to someone face-to-face.”

*More Quotes

· Definition: Nomophobia is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomophobia

· RW: “Technology such as cell phones, search engines, and email does the very opposite. It can create a cerebral whiteout.” (pg. 23)

· SG: “You wake. The first thing you do is check your smartphone (62% of us), and in all probability (79%), you’ll be checking your phone within the first 15 minutes of consciousness.” (pg. 17)

· GG: “mobile technologies are powerfully ‘bad’, inciting us to riot, affray, excessive sociability or solipsism, or crimes against grammar or cultural values.” (pg. 206 - 207)

· RW: “Being busy prevents us from asking deep and difficult questions about ourselves. We do not like being alone with our thoughts any more than we like to be seen doing nothing. They are the twin terrors of our electronic age. Further modern malaise is anxiety, which is soothed by the illusion of control that we gain from the constant technological connectedness. (pg. 123)

· SG: “the human brain will adapt to whatever environment in which it is placed; the cyber world of the twenty-first century is offering a new type of environment; the brain could therefore be changing in parallel, in correspondingly new ways.” (pg. 13)

Notes for essay:

Reliance on technology for information could be skewing reality and the truth about the information we find out and about the people we make relationships with whilst using it. If they aren’t portraying themselves truthfully, and if we only use digital means to find out about them/stay in contact – is this relationship a real one, where we have control over our own perceptions of reality? No. Are these relationships long lasting? More easily replaced than face-to-face contact.

· Mobile phones as a tool for social networking and internet usage

· More connected/less connected physically

· Psychological impact of mobile phones

· Positive impact

· Mental health

· Productivity

· How telecommunication companies and network providers promote mobile phone usage. (to be used as a positive argument to compare to all my negative findings)

· Forming a stronger relationship with our physical mobile phone because of all it can do, than the relationships upheld whilst using it.

· Future hungry and full of innovation and modern possibilities

· The next best thing – now. Samsung “This is Next”. “Next is now”

Nokia: “Connecting People”

Multi-tasking vs “deeper thought”

Positive impacts

-organisation

-information at your fingertips

-efficiency

-multitasking

-communication

Communication implications

The mind

-susan greenfield

-dopamine

-becoming a machine ourselves

-devoid of deeper thought

The internet and social media

The smartphone as a platform

statistics

are the relationships we build stronger or weaker through the use of technology?

Mobile phones. Everyone has one and technological advances in mobile technology rendering our new and improved phones as “smart” means that more and more of us are able to stay socially connected through other means than just the old fashioned phone-call.
In conclusion it is clear to see that not only are our day-to-day lives changing as a result of advancements in mobile and digital technology and all that comes with it, but that our minds are as well. The imposing and addictive nature of technology and our growing need to be constantly connected (yet truly disconnected) is quietly stripping us of our privacy, our sanity, our independence and our basic cognitive and communicative skills. Whilst this cyber world advancing before us may look shiny, new and full of endless possibilities, there is an increasing chance that this need to be digital may be our downfall and a step in the wrong direction for human intelligence, as we begin to become the mindless machines that serve us.

“ diminish personal communication”

Negative impacts of constant digital access and connectivity by way of smartphone use far outweigh the positives. Not to say that we need to slow down/remove technological advancements from our lives completely, but we should however consider seeking other forms of communication that are not electronic. Try to limit the digital hold on our lives and not forget the more beneficial and natural ways of communicating without a screen.

dependency

Mobile Phone Quotes

Richard Watson – Future Minds

· We are increasingly communicating via text message and email rather than face to face, we have hundreds of online “friends” yet we may not know the people next door, and the first place we look for information is Google. (pg. 1)

· What happens to the quality of our thinking when we never truly sit still or completely switch off? (pg. 4)

· To me it feels as if time itself is being compressed. Having even an hour during the day just to think or write, uninterrupted, is becoming a luxury, mainly due to digital technology. (pg. 5)

· 50 percent of Blackberry users would be “concerned” if they were parted from their digital device and 10 percent would be “devastated”. (pg. 17)

· Technology such as cell phones, search engines, and email does the very opposite. It can create a cerebral whiteout. (pg. 23)

Susan Greenfield – Mind Change

· it may be that a daily existence revolving around the smartphone, iPad, laptop and Xbox is radically changing not just our everyday lifestyles, but also our identities and even our inner thoughts. (pg. 1)

· You wake. The first thing you do is check your smartphone (62% of us), and in all probability (79%), you’ll be checking your phone within the first 15 minutes of consciousness. (pg. 17)

Gerard Goggin – Cell Phone Culture

· Cell phones have come to be associated with qualities of mobility, portability, and customisation. They fit into new ways of being oneself (or constructing identity and belonging to a group); new ways of organising and conducting ones life; new ways of keeping in touch with friends, romantic intimates, and family; new ways of conducting business; new ways of accessing services or education. (pg. 2)

· Mobiles have become hybrid devices that articulate with our new technologies such as digital cameras, portable digital assistance, or location technologies. (pg. 2)

· Telephones have had something of an invisible presence in society and culture, but with the advent of cell phones the role of telecommunications has become much more central and harder to ignore. (pg. 2)

· the cell phone has the ‘good’ power to increase dramatically our productivity and social capital, become our life-recorder, or help us powerfully organise a rally. The flip-side of this is the belief that mobile technologies are powerfully ‘bad’, inciting us to riot, affray, excessive sociability or solipsism, or crimes against grammar or cultural values. (pg. 206 - 207)

Digital / Other

Richard Watson – Future Minds

· We are already so connected through digital networks that a culture of rapid response has developed. We are currently so continually available that we have left ourselves no time to think properly about what we are doing. (pg. 2)

· We have now become so obsessed with asking whether something can be done that we leave little or no time to consider whether it should be done. (pg. 2)

· Digital devices are turning us into a society of scatterbrains. If any piece of information can be recalled at the click of a mouse, why bother to learn anything? We are becoming Google-eyed, scrolling through our days without thinking deeply about what we are really doing or where we are really going.

· We are connected globally, but our local relationships are becoming wafer thin and ephemeral. (pg. 3)

· We are in danger of developing a society that is globally connected and collaborative, but one that is also impatient, isolated, and detached from reality. A society that has plenty of answers but very few good questions. A society composed of individuals who are unable to think by themselves in the real world. (pg. 3)

· We are finding it difficult to remain focused and we are becoming addicted to the screen. (pg. 6)

· “Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.” – Pablo Picasso (pg. 11)

· “The twenty-first century teen, connected and multi-tasked, autonomous yet peer-mindful, marks no great leap forward in human intelligence or global thinking” – William Strauss and Neil Howe (pg. 21)

· If we are so smart, why do we seem so intent on giving our minds away to an array of digital distractions? Why doesn’t society have more time for slow thinking and single-tasking? And why are we allowing machines to destroy the very things that make us human and make life worth living? (pg.61)

· Being busy prevents us from asking deep and difficult questions about ourselves. We do not like being alone with our thoughts any more than we like to be seen doing nothing. They are the twin terrors of our electronic age. Further modern malaise is anxiety, which is soothed by the illusion of control that we gain from the constant technological connectedness. Writer Caroline Johnson sums things up succinctly: “Distraction isn’t merely available, it’s unavoidable.” (pg. 123)

· But conversation is critical to ideas and innovation. Moreover, the very technologies that are bringing us closer together on one level are tearing us apart on another. (pg. 125)

· Email, SMS, social networks, and the like are addictive attention eaters. (pg. 125)

· While we may be communicating with each other more, we may be listening and understanding each other less. (pg. 126)

Susan Greenfield – Mind Change

· Are our brains adapting and becoming a computer themselves, “a system responding efficiently and processing information very well, but devoid of deeper thought”. (pg 12)

· the human brain will adapt to whatever environment in which it is placed; the cyber world of the twenty-first century is offering a new type of environment; the brain could therefore be changing in parallel, in correspondingly new ways. (pg. 13)

· for the first time ever, life in front of a computer screen is threatening to out-compete real life. (pg. 17)

· “There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected, to give everyone a voice and to help transform society for the future” – Mark Zuckerberg. (pg. 101)

· It’s not difficult to see an overlap between feeling excited and feeling happy. Many activities in life that are arousing, such as fast-paced sports, are also rewarding. Suffice it to say that if various brain states relating to arousal and reward are consistently linked to raised levels of dopamine, and if social networking sites are rewarding and exciting, it is very likely that social networking might serve as another trigger for the release of dopamine in the brain. (pg. 111)

· the twenty-four-hour availability of social networking, plus an unedited and unrealistic snapshot of what everyone else is up to, are all factors that might prove to be a heady cocktail for some individuals (pg. 151)

· Experts have argued that the internet creates a unique world which adds an extra ‘disengagement’ from immoral actions. (pg. 153)

· “When they (high multi-taskers) are in situations where there are multiples sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, they’re not able to filter out what’s not relevant to their current goal. The failure to filter means they’re slowed down by that irrelevant information” – Anthony Wagner (pg. 228)

· It’s no real surprise that concentration is the key and that multi-tasking can be counterproductive. (pg. 229)

· Evidence is mounting regarding the negative effects of attempting to process different streams of information simultaneously, and results now indicate that multi-tasking leads to increased time needed to achieve the same level of learning, as well as increase in mistakes while processing information, compared to those who sequentially or serially process the same information. (pg. 230 – 231)

· It seems that the benefits of dialogue, of face-to-face discussion of issues and problem-solving still exceed the benefits of virtual communication. (pg. 240)

Internet Quotes

Deloitte UK Mobile Consumer Survey 2014
http://www.deloitte.co.uk/mobileuk/assets/pdf/Deloitte_Mobile_Consumer_2014.pdf
“Tens of millions of us reach for our phones as soon as we wake; younger generations glance at their phones dozens of times a day; many of us ashamedly admit to looking at our phones before turning in for the night.”
“More than two in three UK adults – about 35 million people – now have a smartphone.”
“We don’t seem able to leave our smartphones alone. About one in six UK adults who own a smartphone (equivalent to about six million people) look at their phone more than 50 times a day”
“About a third of UK adults who own a smartphone (equivalent to about 11 million people) look at their phone within five minutes of waking and almost half within 15 minutes”
A massive 83% of all smartphone users check their phone within the first hour of waking up (not taking into consideration turning the off alarms)

“The smartphone application that is used first thing in the morning by most respondents is SMS (accessed first by 33 per cent) followed by email (by 25 per cent) and social networks (by 14 per cent).”

“The smartphone has rapidly become the device that many of us cannot live without.”

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mental-mishaps/201401/cell-phones-are-changing-social-interaction

2014

Ira Hyman, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at Western Washington University.

This isn’t addiction. This is social interaction. When you conduct your social life via text, keeping track of your cell phone takes on particular importance. Older adults, like me, shouldn’t make judgments about cell phone use in younger adults, or at least we should withhold the negative evaluations of people constantly checking their cell phones. Perhaps instead we can respect the cell phone and internet natives. These young adults have grown up using cell phones and the internet. They’ve learned to effectively maintain and enhance (and sometimes end) social relationships through the ether. Maybe they will be more engaged with and attached to their social groups than older adults who are still learning to keep in touch in the modern era.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-media/201310/the-healthy-use-social-media

Pamela Rutledge, Ph.D., M.B.A.

“Mobile technologies like smartphones and tablets have removed the geographic boundaries for use and significantly reduced socioeconomic barriers. The appeal of social media is tremendous—it triggers our fundamental drive for social connection and allows us more control over our world.”

*******************

Look Up – Gary Turk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=48&v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

Ironic that you find out about the video via digital/online means – however this way it reaches a wider audience.

personality expert

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Ph.D.

argues that now digital technology is here to stay

“technology will continue to evolve and the gap between what can be solved with and without it will only increase.”

therefore

“people who are able to keep up with technology will outsmart those who don't (even more than they do now).”

“Life has become more complex but we hardly ever notice it because technology has made complexity simpler than ever.”

“Humans today are like most smartphones and tablets - their ability to solve problems depends not on the knowledge they can store but on their capacity to connect to a place where they can retrieve the answer to find a solution. This is what some have labelled the "hyper-link" economy... the only knowledge we need to have is the knowledge of where to find stuff.”

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mr-personality/201305/is-technology-making-us-stupid-and-smarter

The British Psychological Society

17/02/2012

http://www.bps.org.uk/news/mobile-phones-may-make-people-selfish

George Fieldman, Chartered Psychologist, commented:

"The advent of mobile phones, especially smart phones, has brought numerous advantages. It enables us to keep better connected to people who are known to us - but at the expense of those in front of us.

"The attention of someone with a mobile phone can be instantly withdrawn from their immediate environment, depriving both the phone user and those around them of social involvement. This distraction from people in the phone user's vicinity accords with more selfish behaviour.

"All mobile phones provide, essentially, 'narrow band' communications, compared with the 3D, stereo, full-colour, high resolution, real-time experience of talking to someone face-to-face.

"Social anxiety may also be heightened by mobile phones. This is because people can avoid full social contact, by means of texting and e-mail. Avoidance is fundamental to the maintenance of anxiety. People experiencing anxiety may also be less empathic, so enhancing selfish attitudes."

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apple iphone 6 – advert
https://www.apple.com/iphone-6/films/#huge
“They can change the way you see the world” Jimmy Fallon
“They can help you improve your health” Jimmy Fallon
promises to be “bigger then bigger”
https://www.apple.com/uk/pr/library/2014/09/09Apple-Announces-iPhone-6-iPhone-6-Plus-The-Biggest-Advancements-in-iPhone-History.html
Tim Cook – Apple CEO

“the most loved smartphone in the world”

http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/highlights-ces-2015-keynote-address-by-bk-yoon/

CES (Consumer Electronics Association) 2015 Keynote Address by BK Yoon (Samsung Electronics CEO)

"What we're holding in our hands is infinite possibilities; now it's up to us to unlock them.”

http://www.samsung.com/uk/discover/in_the_home/whats-next-for-the-internet-of-things/

By David on 25th Feb, 2015

“the Internet of Things (IoT) is where phones, computers, smart watches, even washing machines communicate without us having to be involved.”

“it's more likely that our phones will be the only thing we need, working as identification devices, digital wallets and, oh yes, a way to make phone calls.”

Lumia

Powerful mobile devices that help you do more.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/mobile/phones/lumia/?gclid=CNqdx7vn6cQCFcsBwwodAEwAOA

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/social-brain-social-mind/201310/is-facebook-ruining-our-brains

published by Matthew D. Lieberman Ph.D. on Oct 21, 2013

“Technology always changes us in both good and bad ways and what counts as good or bad depends deeply on one’s perspective.”

“so many interesting connections with people that never would have happened without the internet.”

“Maybe these digital technologies will provide some sustenance for our social appetites, particularly during times of transition or travel. But if they aren’t enough, people will turn to other ways of connecting—maybe traditional and maybe some even more technological (e.g. virtual reality or holographic chatting?).”

“Adolescence is hard and technologies have always provided some way to cope with this difficulty.”

“when I look back at depictions of social interactions from the 19th century, when none of this technology was “getting in the way,” it usually seems far more awkward and restrained. Maybe technology has actually helped us understand each other better and get more information about what motivates us and other people.”

Sunday, 29 March 2015

Studio Brief 2: Research - Look Up

Essay: Research, Structure, Workings, Quotes and Useful Information