The Mechanical Part of Us

Have you ever had the experience where you are waiting for someone and there is nothing to do? What is the most probable thing you will do? Well, I guess most of us will take out our handphone and check for any new messages. Even if there isn't any new message, we'll just do anything to keep ourselves 'busy', like looking back at old messages, clearing inbox, look at pictures, browse through data files, play games etc. Stoning is always an option, but when there is really nothing of interest to look at, and you just don't feel like staring into space, why not just fiddle with our personal gadgets?

This is probably a kind of dependence modern people have on gadgets. Many will feel uneasy without them. Nowadays I seldom hear about people forgetting to bring their HP, because it's already part of them. It's like, how can you ever forget to wear your clothes out? That said, my parents often forget to bring their HP to work, and they don't seem to be flustered at all. This tells a lot about how independent they are on gadgets.

From: http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201102240036-224632.html

Gen Y too dependent on gadgets, finds survey

UNDERGRADUATE Candy Phua fiddles constantly with her smartphone, surfing the Internet and checking her social-networking account.

But the 23-year-old is not alone. When she catches up with friends at social gatherings, there are often moments of silence when her friends, too, are glued to their mobile devices.　Ms Phua said: "Friends might be sitting across from me, but we would be having a conversation over Twitter, instead of a real one."

A recent Nanyang Technological University survey showed that three quarters of its 600 respondents, aged 17 to 25, suffer from gadget overdependence.

The survey was conducted by final-year students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information.　About half of those surveyed said they preferred communicating using technology rather than face-to-face.

Psychologists warn that overdependence on gadgets may impede the development of social skills.

Said psychologist Nicholas Gabriel Lim: "They may have difficulty dealing with real-life situations, especially difficult ones like confrontations or aggression. It's much easier to hide behind a gadget."

This coincides with the survey's findings, in which 79.2 per cent of respondents said they would use gadgets to deal with an awkward situation.

About 48 per cent of respondents were found to turn to gadgets to escape from problems, negative feelings or stress. Often, the youth in question are oblivious to the problem.

Mr Lim said: "Gadget overdependency may be a larger problem than you think, as people are oblivious to the effects of their gadget use and behaviour." He added: "They don't think it is a problem. So, parents or teachers usually have to seek help for them."

The physical well-being of gadget users can also be affected.

The study found that an increasing number of young people are seeking treatment for chronic pain caused by gadget use. Some of the more common complaints are back and neck aches, as well as injury to the thumb due to repeated typing.

When my paper asked Ms Phua if she could do without her gadgets, she said: "I would be very frustrated. It would feel like a part of me was missing."

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Compared to friends around me, I think I'm less reliant on HP. I don't initiate chats through HP, be it by call or SMS. I only call or message to inform, ask or confirm things. And I'm often the "terminator" - SMS conversations mostly stop at my side.

I don't play games in my HP. They don't really appeal much to me, and it can zap up a lot of battery power. Perhaps the games in my HP so far are too simplistic. If I have an iphone, I would probably be engrossed in its puzzle and mahjong games haha.

My current phone is not that 'smart' enough yet, so I rarely utilise its networking applications. I don't use the organizer or calendar functions to note down important dates and events. I seldom take photos with my phone camera, as I can't stand the resolution. I don't store music in my HP, though I listen to FM radio. (underground MRT gets into my nerves when I do that)

But there is one thing I definitely have to rely on my HP for - telling time. Ever since my NS technician days, when I wasn't allowed to wear a watch due to safety reasons, I haven't been donning watches at all after that. I panic when my HP battery is low, not because I can't receive/send calls or messages, but because I'll lose track of time. If the battery runs out in the middle of the night, there will be no alarm to wake me up the next morning.

In this aspect, you can say I'm pretty dependent on HP after all.

And this brings me to the frequently asked question: How did we survive in the past without HP?!