Category:Everyday Tools

How the smartphone has affected everyday life
There is no denying that smart phones are changing the way we work, play and manage our money. Pew Research found that half of American adults own a smart phone and that the rate of ownership is expanding quickly in every age cohort except those 65 and older[]. Smartphones have taken the place of many everyday tools and improved the access and usage of information for communicating with the world. In the near future, people will be using smartphones regularly to do things like check traffic conditions in real time or determine which hospital is closest with the shortest wait time for a particular medical condition.[]

Just to name a few, the following are items that the smartphone has affected through its popularity and usage:

Alarm Clocks – The days of slamming your fist into the audible beacon of the waking world have been dwindling into obscurity for years now. Your smartphone can be programmed to go off to any song you desire at multiple times to allow for maximum snoozing. Alarms can even be set to go off based on the user’s location, so if you’re getting some shut eye on the train, you can set that Prince ringtone to go off when you reach your stop. It’s a pretty amazing world we live in when you can reign supreme over the infamous sandman.

Newspapers – Almost every aspect of printed media has made its way to our tapping fingertips, which means the newspaper has migrated in a big way. Developers now create apps, e-readers, RSS feeds and social media tools to push information to the masses. Nearly every major newspaper or magazine in the country has made their content available on mobile devices at this point. At long last, you can read the latest issue of ‘Grapes Monthly’ when you’re not within throwing distance of the nearest magazine stand.

Asking “What band is this?” – Let’s be honest, smartphones replaced the Walkman a long time ago, but what improvements has it made to music on-the-go? No longer simply playing content loaded on the device itself, we’re able to stream almost any form of aural media, from music or podcasts to audio books or even police scanner feeds. The most mind-blowing aspect (in my opinion) is the app ‘Shazam’ which prompts you to hold your phone to the sky so it can analyze the waveform and spit back the song artist and title. You can then choose to purchase the newly identified song and stream it immediately, how convenient.

Postal Service – Gone are the days of paying bills by mail and writing checks now that everything can be done through your smartphone. When someone might have sent a postcard in the past, now they can Instagram a picturesque landscape and tag the other person in the photo as a “Wish you were here” gesture of the utmost impersonal degree.

Losing Weight – Smartphones have a bevy of weight loss apps that help you track your run times, distances and calories burnt. Logging the food you eat and your daily workout regimen is a huge win for those who want to get in shape and stay fit. []

We clearly love our devices. A Lookout Mobile Security study on Mobile Mindset found that just about all smart-phone owners (94%) worry about losing their phone, and 73% have felt panicky when they’ve misplaced their phone. Hardly any (6%) worry about security issues related to their smart phone’s access to financial accounts. Far more (38%) say their biggest financial concern when it comes to smart phones is the cost and hassle of replacing it, should it go missing. According to the Lookout study:

•	Nearly 60% of smart-phone owners don’t go an hour without checking their phones.

•	Some 54% check their phones while in bed — before they go to sleep, after they wake up or in the middle of the night. And 1 in 5 checks immediately after sex.

•	Nearly 40% check their phones while on the toilet.

•	Some 30% check their phones during a meal with others, and 9% check their phones during religious services. []

Let's admit it, the smartphone has taken over many functions of our life that we either had to manually keep track of before or basically ignored using them prior to the creation of an app for it. We now have the ability to check pricing of items to shop smarter, to get directions to wherever we want to and never get lost, we basically have a traveling encyclopedia with the answer to any question based on our access to the internet. We use the smartphone to entertain ourselves throughout the day, either by playing games like Candy Crush or updating our status through posting Facebook comments or pics through the camera on the phone or even finding food through Yelp to see what restaurants are near. The smartphone and the apps related to them, make our lives either more enjoyable or miserable based on the information that you have available at your fingertips.

On a more serious note, the usage of smartphones has had some negative affects on others based on the obsessive behavior of having to use the smartphone at all times of the day. Legislation is either being enacted or in effect to limit the usage of the smartphone while driving, as it serves as a distraction and puts the driver along with others on the road is a dangerous situation. Stories have been published where people were so enthralled with their phone that they have walked out in traffic and been struck, or comically disasterous, fell into an open manhole and died because of the fall. Addiction to smartphones and the internet isn’t uncommon. There are even clinics for internet addicts 0n the other side of the world, South Korea. What is the root of our new found dependability on a tiny gadget?[]

In a few years’ time, many of the gadgets will be obsolete because of the smartphone: the calculator, telephone, voice recorder, alarm clock, video camera and even the flashlight. In a few years time it may also replace the PC.?[]

As Apple always says: ‘I have an app for that!’