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“A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.” -- Frederik Pohl Car, meet traffic jam. But few, if any saw th
by Octokiddie 3y ago
“A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.” -- Frederik Pohl
Car, meet traffic jam. But few, if any saw this one coming. Oddly enough, today's readers would find any story based on this premise mundane - kind of like a story about a traffic jam.
From the article:
> “We do see a huge, huge difference in the way students are connecting with each other,” Smith said, later adding: “Just a short two years ago, they spent more time just looking down at their phones every moment that they could, and so it has become the culture of our building, and again, the kids seem happy.”
In the 1990s, a cell phone was an expensive toy. Today it's almost impossible to function as a member of society without one. Everyone, even, kids under 8, simply must own one of these damned devices, carry it around at all times, and respond to its every demand.
Public schools were a mess before all of this. But the cell phone has turned all of the problems in school up to 11. It has done so while offering little to nothing in return.
- riversflow 3y ago> Everyone, even, kids under 8 Is this satire? I don’t need a smartphone, anything that lets me answer a call would work, and I’m in my 30s. Always connected internet isn’t necessary, it’s a crutch.
- WolfeReader 3y agoThe sentence you're quoting is an exaggerated expression of a common viewpoint. Not exactly satire. The unexaggerated version would be "Many people, including children and their parents, feel compelled to buy smartphones in order to fully participate in modern society." Whether they are right to feel that way is a good point to ponder. If all of your friends and family communicate with video calls, do you want to be the one guy with a flip phone? Maybe you do! But not everyone shares that view.
- harryfyx 3y agoTo recommend good science fiction, "Three Body Problem" from Liu. He predicts the "traffic jam" and all other social impacts from tech.
- hackernewds 3y agohe is a computer engineer by training after all.
- hackernewds 3y ago> Today it's almost impossible to function as a member of society without one. Everyone, even, kids under 8, simply must own one of these damned devices, carry it around at all times, and respond to its every demand. the fallacy of limited choices. you could most certainly make-do with a dumb phone. I for one, would buy a phone that had a strong camera + only basic features built with the aim of reducing distractions.