Life Without a Smartphone is Not as Hard as you Think

Before you read: some questions to help you think about the topic and the words you might need.

How much do you love you smartphone?

How would you be if you didn’t have one?

When James took a small black plastic Nokia phone out of his pocket, it gets strange looks. And people say, "Is that a joke?""How old is that?" and "Wow, do they still make those things?"

He gets these questions every week and people look at him like he is strange. It is like not having a smartphone means he has gone crazy. But he is not alone - famous people like Warren Buffet, Tom Cruise, Tyra Banks and others don’t have or don’t want one.

Some say that swapping their smartphones for an old-fashioned phone was a way to stop constantly checking emails and start to "live in the moment." That it feels like freedom.

Last August James said his phone broke twice, and Apple refused to exchange it for a new one because he had once had the screen repaired by a non authorized A/S center. So while it was not working, he bought a cheap Nokia and realized he quite liked it.

He says “At first I was very embarrassed about having it in business meetings. Part of my work is in digital media with famous brands and advertising agencies. I would be explaining our website has two million unique page views a month and a very active Twitter following. And the next I would be making a call on something that looks like it comes from a museum.

I would be telling everyone that I'd bought it when my iPhone was in for repair and that I enjoyed the freedom from social media. When I explained this to an advertising conference recently, so many people tweeted about it that I ended up doing an interview about it on Radio. Yes, it's true, I don't have a smart phone any more.

Living without a smartphone isn't as hard as you think it might be. I can text on my little Nokia. If I need a battery when I'm traveling I just buy a new phone cheaply.

And if I ever drop my phone, it simply falls apart, nothing breaks and I put it back together. But I don't drop it very often because I don't have it in my hand all the time, constantly glancing at it.

Sure, I can't go on social media and email, but I've only missed one small job and that didn't cause me too much loss. Also, it turns out people don't actually mind if you don't immediately reply to an email. The feeling of peace this has given me has been exhilarating. I choose when I go online and when I don't. It's a real pleasure similar to that feeling when you leave a city and go to the country – a simple life.

I do miss not having a camera in my phone and at the beginning I found myself needing the map - but now before I leave my home I look up my destination on my laptop and remember the directions. Also there's many other people around with smartphones. All offices have computers.

We have gone into a spiral. A spiral of must-have Consumerism of modern digital communication technology. This is crazy. The need to increase your camera speed slightly every year makes us replace a phone that is working okay. Just so we can have the newest technology like everyone else.

People drop them a lot. Where else would you tolerate a screen that kept breaking? You would not tolerate it on a car or a TV.

People believe smartphones can take you away to somewhere better, funnier, more stimulating and better than where you are.

But I'm now happily enjoying what I am doing now and the people I am with now. Now I see more of the world.  But I'm not sure how long this will last. I recently sent a text on a friend’s iPhone and it just felt so easy compared to my old-fashioned push buttons.

Also, I've some serious work in America impending and my girlfriend said I'd need a "proper phone" and bought me an expensive one for Christmas. It's still sitting in its box. I haven't opened it yet. You see, I've become very attached to my old-fashioned piece of black plastic. I could buy 65 Nokia phones for the price of the smartphone and have telephones and batteries for life and no one would change the headphone socket.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=3, B=1, C=8, D=5, E=7, F=2, G=6, H=4

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. I glanced at my watch and saw that we were going to be late.

2. From the research it turns out that we have family in England.

3. Riding on a rollercoaster is exhilarating.

4. The price of oil has been spiraling down.

5. A lot of advertising causes consumerism because we feel we need to buy things all the time.

6. I can’t tolerate this cold weather.

7. Coffee in the morning is stimulating for some people.

8. There is an impending storm.

    

    

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. Do you have a problem glancing at your phone when you are with other people? Why?

2. In what ways has smartphone technology turned out well for your life? In what ways has it turned out badly?

3. Describe an exhilarating time in your life. Maybe an exhilarating experience.

4. How do people spiral into consumerism?

5. What do you think of consumerism?

6. Can you tolerate people looking at their phones when they are meeting with you? Why or why not?

7. What technology stimulates you?

8. Can you see impending problems for people and smartphones in the future? Describe them.