Life before cell phones seems like ancient history, but it’s not long ago.
Cell phones became a thing in the early 2000s, but even then, they did not occupy much space in our lives.
They served for what is their primary purpose, calls, and messages.
You could also take a low-resolution photo or insert a few favorite songs, and that’s it.
A real revolution begins with the beginning of smartphones, which have changed our world completely.
The total integration of phones into our lives happened in the 2010s, and there seems to be no turning back.
Computers and the Internet have not impacted our lives like cell phones. Smartphones are a perfect symbiosis of everything, all in one tiny device.
One gets the impression that cell phones are part of our body.
You don’t like that and miss the good old days before cell phones.
Unlike the new generations, you remember how it was before.
You remember those naive first cell phones before they were so smart. And you also remember how it was before them when only an ordinary telephone was in use.
What do you miss most from that time? Is it just nostalgia, or were some things really better? Let’s find out.
More Free Time
How is a lack of free time possible when cell phones have made our lives easier?
Yes, they made it easier for us, but they also got us hooked on them.
They have stolen our free time by making us addicted to various applications.
Maybe you ordered dinner over the phone, and you won’t have to bother preparing it, but your phone stole your time in another way.
The average person spends 3 hours and 15 minutes daily on their phones. Imagine that you have three more hours available every day.
Patience Instead of Panic
Have you noticed how many people are panicking now more than before?
If you don’t get back to someone immediately, panic sets in.
Today, if someone doesn’t answer you immediately, you can think the worst or be offended because they don’t answer you.
Someone says he didn’t see your message? You know if they’re lying; there is that famous “Seen” that tells us if someone has read what we wrote to them.
You don’t have to be available only to important people, but to everyone.
There are not only calls. There are also messages, emails, zoom meetings, facetime, etc.
Even in the business world, you must always be available, often someone will write to you when the working hours are over.
Everyone must be available 24/7. When there is no signal or internet, people feel nervous and anxious until it changes. It is as if they cannot function until they are available again.
You remember when you were a child, you went with your friends and were outside all day. No one calls you every hour to check where you are.
Real Connections Between People
Is it a bit of an exaggeration to say that the connections between people were better before?
You have often heard the story of someone sitting in a restaurant, and no one is talking to anyone. Everyone is just looking at their phones. This story has become dull because everyone is telling it, but is it true.
It probably happens to you daily. People are on their phones everywhere you turn, and no one is talking to anyone.
Even that is entirely normalized and not rude.
You are highly annoyed by that terrible habit of staring at the phone while talking to someone.
We also often don’t have anything to discuss with people because we’ve already seen everything about them on social media.
There is no need for someone to tell us some news live because we have already seen them all.
Our friend got a new job, went on vacation, you know everything. You even know what he had for breakfast and what hashtag he wrote next to the breakfast picture.
You used to have to look at the interlocutor and listen to him, but now just go to his profile, and you will see everything.
It’s simply not natural for you to get a complete impression of a person with a few taps or clicks.
Some will now say that with the help of the phone, they have connected with essential people in reality.
For you, only good old-fashioned face-to-face communication is the best.
You Didn’t Have to Know Everything Right Away
We have become too information-hungry and impatient.
Fear of missing out is stronger than ever today.
How can we not become like that when every information is immediately available to us?
We have to know everything from the information of global interest to information about who hit whom on the red carpet (We’re looking at you, Will Smith).
If you do not immediately know what is happening, a severe form of FOMO sets in, and you feel as if you are entirely unaware of everything.
And there have always been happenings non-stop, only now we have to find out about them immediately because we will not know what is being talked about around us.
Does it annoy you that nowadays we have to know everything all the time? Sometimes we can skip some information. The world will not fall apart from it.
Has it happened to you that you meet up with friends and are totally out of date because you didn’t catch who Kim Kardashian is dating now? We totally understand you on this.
People Enjoyed The Little Things More
Does the availability of everything actually prevent us from enjoying it like before?
Let’s take the example of listening to music before and now.
Before music was listened to on records, discs, and mp3 players, there was no Spotify and iTunes.
And before smartphones, you could put a limited number of songs on your phone.
Today, absolutely everything is available to you, all artists and all discographies.
And yet you get the impression that music is generally listened to with less enjoyment because it is too accessible.
In the past, entire albums were listened to with attention to every song.
Today, we have all the music on our phones, and everyone only listens to the top hits. Listening to albums is a thing of the past.
This example of music can be applied to other things too.
Everything is made easier for us through cell phones, but that does not mean we enjoy it more.
It was also more about enjoying the moment before cell phones. People weren’t obsessed with having to share everything with everyone immediately on social media.
A beautiful sunset is a feast for the eyes. Most will look through the camera on the phone because they have to share the story on Instagram.
Overall, Everything Was Better
Everything was better before cell phones, according to you.
You are nostalgic, and you think you were much happier before.
You’re not a fan of technology because you think it’s making us dumber.
People who walk like zombies down the street while staring at their phones annoy you. Many people can’t even go to the bathroom without their phones.
Freedom of the past is lost, and you regret that the good old days will not return.
“Life is what happens while you are looking at your cell phone.”
You know that, but everyone around you doesn’t.
How to Come to Terms With The New Age of Smartphones?
If you don’t have a time machine, you can’t go back in time.
Phones are necessary unless you live alone on a mountain, although even there, they would find a way to disturb you.
Just because they are necessary doesn’t mean they have to control your life.
You can always reduce the use of the phone.
It is impossible to tell everyone that it is impolite to look at the phone while talking to others. You can at least introduce a phone-free lunch in your family so that you all can connect more instead of everyone looking at their phones.
Countless notifications burden you and disturb your peace? Turn them off or delete them.
Has social media become too much for you? You can always try to disappear from social networks, at least for a while. You might even see some benefits of that decision.
You saw something beautiful. Keep that special moment to yourself. Not everyone needs to see it.
If cell phones bother you too much, try not to use them for a while. On YouTube, you have a lot of experiences of people with the same decision, so you can try it yourself.
To Summarize, You Cannot Escape Technology
As much as you think it was much better before cell phones, they opened up many amazing possibilities for everyone.
Technology is advancing, and we can’t stop it because we disagree with it.
However, we don’t have to be dependent on it. We can leave some good habits from the past.
You control your life, not your phones. They are just a tool. Remember that.