8 ms·

Photos of everyone clutching their phones now are going to look as cringe as those photos of people holding cigarettes in the 70s. “Why couldn’t grandma put it

by pbj1968 2y ago

Photos of everyone clutching their phones now are going to look as cringe as those photos of people holding cigarettes in the 70s. “Why couldn’t grandma put it down for the picture?” Indeed.

LeoPanthera 2y ago
This is absurd, no it won't, just as people clutching newspapers don't look cringe now. https://i.redd.it/rgy54u9x37x71.jpg https://i.redd.it/rgy54u9x37x71.jpg
- _heimdall 2y ago
  Mobile phones and newspapers are very different. I think he GP was making the comparison based on both phones and cigarettes being addictive. What's the comparison with newspapers that makes one productive of the other?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- karaterobot 2y ago
  https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/bVb_5f6XxD4UCVvVMSMQZRzrbUA=/1200x800/media/img/photo/2018/11/smartphones-are-everywhere/s01_RTS1EOPQ/original.jpg https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/bVb_5f6XxD4UCVvVMSMQZRzr... Tell me which one already looks dumber.
  - picture 2y ago
    This is AI generated which makes it more uncanny than it needs to be. But honestly, what's wrong with wanting to document something by taking picture or video? It's a natural thing that humans want to do, whether by writing it down or sketching picture. Digital photography and videography has now just become much more accessible due to lower cost and near ubiquity of high resolution imaging devices.
    - karaterobot 2y ago
      All true, but that wasn't what we were talking about. It's which looks dumber.
- II2II 2y ago
  Are you sure that picture of a man relaxing with a news paper while waiting for his wife to serve breakfast/dinner isn't cringe? I'm pretty sure the post was making a reference to the addictive properties of cigarettes and smartphones. Yet, either way, society's values change.
SoftTalker 2y ago
They already do. Look at an old photo of the crowd at a music festival from the 1990s or earlier, and look at one from today.
marttt 2y ago
I remember wondering whether this photo with the elderly lady was a fake: https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/201595/rs_1024x759-151005162757-1024-woman-no-cell-phone-black-mass.ls10515_copy.jpg https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20159... I've intentionally never owned a smartphone myself. Our kids don't have it either. It is always fun to suddenly notice during train trips that we're more or less the only family here occupied with actual, real-life talking that also involves actual eye contact, lol. That being said, maybe the communication pattern of two smartphone users sitting side by side is nonetheless still signaling the same humanly care, warmth, etc. Yes, there is a (IMO silly) technical device in between, but I'm not sure if all this would actually mean that it is "less humane" etc. It's just... different. Maybe.
- marcus_holmes 2y ago
  I remember train commutes where everyone was reading a book or newspaper instead of looking at their phone. There's nothing special about phones (in this sense). Most people just aren't interested in interacting with the other people around them. Or that might just be the famous British Reserve in action.
  - marttt 2y ago
    "Most people just aren't interested in interacting with the other people around them." Very good point, thanks for this. Might indeed be first and foremost simply a personality trait (they would have been "introverts" and reluctant to conversation also in the pre-smartphones era, or even in the 19th century).
  - elbasti 2y ago
    I used to have a smartphone and have basically gotten rid of it. I'll tell you the main difference between taking a train/bus/whatever with a phone vs a book: The book ends. You may be engrossed for a while, or a long while, or even a very long while, but eventually you get bored. You have to close it for a while and look around, or talk to someone, or just sit there. A phone with internet is infinite. You get bored of (a) and then you can go to (b) then (c) then back to (a) for hours and hours and hours and hours on end.
IncreasePosts 2y ago
I don't think it will be cringe, it might even be back on-trend in 25 years, after everyone has had AR contacts with neural implants for a decade and yearns for the simpler times where the internet was only on an external device.

Photos of everyone clutching their phones now are going to look as cringe as those photos of people holding cigarettes in the 70s. “Why couldn’t grandma put it down for the picture?” Indeed.

LeoPanthera 2y ago

This is absurd, no it won't, just as people clutching newspapers don't look cringe now. https://i.redd.it/rgy54u9x37x71.jpg https://i.redd.it/rgy54u9x37x71.jpg

_heimdall 2y ago
Mobile phones and newspapers are very different. I think he GP was making the comparison based on both phones and cigarettes being addictive. What's the comparison with newspapers that makes one productive of the other?
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
karaterobot 2y ago
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/bVb_5f6XxD4UCVvVMSMQZRzrbUA=/1200x800/media/img/photo/2018/11/smartphones-are-everywhere/s01_RTS1EOPQ/original.jpg https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/bVb_5f6XxD4UCVvVMSMQZRzr... Tell me which one already looks dumber.
- picture 2y ago
  This is AI generated which makes it more uncanny than it needs to be. But honestly, what's wrong with wanting to document something by taking picture or video? It's a natural thing that humans want to do, whether by writing it down or sketching picture. Digital photography and videography has now just become much more accessible due to lower cost and near ubiquity of high resolution imaging devices.
  - karaterobot 2y ago
    All true, but that wasn't what we were talking about. It's which looks dumber.
II2II 2y ago
Are you sure that picture of a man relaxing with a news paper while waiting for his wife to serve breakfast/dinner isn't cringe? I'm pretty sure the post was making a reference to the addictive properties of cigarettes and smartphones. Yet, either way, society's values change.

SoftTalker 2y ago

They already do. Look at an old photo of the crowd at a music festival from the 1990s or earlier, and look at one from today.

marttt 2y ago

I remember wondering whether this photo with the elderly lady was a fake: https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/201595/rs_1024x759-151005162757-1024-woman-no-cell-phone-black-mass.ls10515_copy.jpg https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20159... I've intentionally never owned a smartphone myself. Our kids don't have it either. It is always fun to suddenly notice during train trips that we're more or less the only family here occupied with actual, real-life talking that also involves actual eye contact, lol. That being said, maybe the communication pattern of two smartphone users sitting side by side is nonetheless still signaling the same humanly care, warmth, etc. Yes, there is a (IMO silly) technical device in between, but I'm not sure if all this would actually mean that it is "less humane" etc. It's just... different. Maybe.

marcus_holmes 2y ago
I remember train commutes where everyone was reading a book or newspaper instead of looking at their phone. There's nothing special about phones (in this sense). Most people just aren't interested in interacting with the other people around them. Or that might just be the famous British Reserve in action.
- marttt 2y ago
  "Most people just aren't interested in interacting with the other people around them." Very good point, thanks for this. Might indeed be first and foremost simply a personality trait (they would have been "introverts" and reluctant to conversation also in the pre-smartphones era, or even in the 19th century).
- elbasti 2y ago
  I used to have a smartphone and have basically gotten rid of it. I'll tell you the main difference between taking a train/bus/whatever with a phone vs a book: The book ends. You may be engrossed for a while, or a long while, or even a very long while, but eventually you get bored. You have to close it for a while and look around, or talk to someone, or just sit there. A phone with internet is infinite. You get bored of (a) and then you can go to (b) then (c) then back to (a) for hours and hours and hours and hours on end.

IncreasePosts 2y ago

I don't think it will be cringe, it might even be back on-trend in 25 years, after everyone has had AR contacts with neural implants for a decade and yearns for the simpler times where the internet was only on an external device.