And Here I Thought I Barely Used To My Smartphone

Was I wrong, or was I wrong….

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

It was just another Saturday; I woke up, took my iPhone off the charger, and checked my emails, social media, and news. I was about to put it down when I got a call. It was an unknown number, and I was contemplating whether to answer it or not when the choice was taken out of my hands. My screen went translucent, and I couldn’t control my phone anymore.

I tried to swipe the call to the decline red button, but none of my touch movements registered on the phone. Essentially it just froze on me. I could see the messages and notifications, but I couldn’t access them. I know what you’re thinking; why am I still trying to work the phone when I can be on Google trying to find out what’s wrong with it and fix it?

After 2 hours on Google, researching the issue, finding various discussion forums offering solutions, and watching YouTube videos trying to help resolve the problem, I was still no closer to resolving the issue. In the meantime, I had more than 20 notifications showing up telling me my life was passing me by online, and I had no clue what was going on.

I quickly realized a few crucial facts about myself:

1. I don’t remember any of my passwords. My face is my ID now, and it does all the work with my phone
2. I have been lazy and haven’t backed up my phone in the last three months
3. All my pictures (including receipts for an expense report not yet filed) are inaccessible from any other device except the phone
4. I can’t call the store as the only phone in the house is my cellphone, which is currently not working, and I gave up my landline last year.
5. I can’t even go for a run to clear my mind as the running app is on the phone.
6. I Can’t relax listening to music while I work a solution out since Spotify is on the phone. Remember, I don’t recall the password to access anything on the web anymore.
7. I don’t even remember my tasks for the day. My task reminder on the phone does that for me now.
8. I don’t even remember the directions to the Apple store anymore as I sit in the car to go there, and my phone is no help as I can’t access the GPS app.

Finally, I got back into the house from the car, printed directions to the Apple store, and made my way there. The touch screen had gone rogue and had to be replaced. They took my phone in for four hours.

This whole Saturday experience made me realize how dependent my life is on the smartphone. I prided myself on many things, like remembering phone numbers, knowing all the directions in the town, and staying on top of essential tasks such as keeping receipts in one place. Well, no more; it was eye-opening to see that we all become prey to the luxuries of our lives. I vowed to myself that I would get on with updating my cloud space, regularly backing up my phone, and, if possible, going back to not looking or/and using my smartphone for at least three activities each day.

I’m curious to see if anyone else went through such a realization, and what did you come up with?