Let me say at the outset and unequivocally: I love my smartphone --- mostly. It allows me to have my own personal alarm clock, a text messaging and email service that keeps me in touch with my loved (even just liked) ones, and lets me play word games when I need to take a break from serious work like writing this column. Also I get a “free” spreadsheet (I know, I know, anything touted as “free” on the Internet makes me and my information the actual product they are selling but I sold out years ago). I use this spreadsheet to keep track of finances for that wonderful hidden-gem organization, “Friends of Point Au Roche”.
I have access to reasonably-priced news from the New Yorker, The Atlantic and The Economist magazines. I can easily visit millions of websites around the world. According to “internetlivestats” there are over 1.5 billion websites in the world wide web today and of these, less than 200 million are active. As you read this there are 4,000,000,001 users of the Internet (I just read that there are over four billion users, so this updated estimate includes you if you are reading the online version of the PR).
Of course, this virtual (literally) cornucopia of goodies and services is not without costs --- in real life every endeavor has pros and cons. The first cost is that I’ll need security for my software and hardware to search and destroy various viruses, phishing attacks, and other malware which may cause harm to others as well as myself. Like spies and counter-spies, antivirus protection must be continually updated as hackers learn and improve their methods.
Another cost is that there is always the possibility of internet addiction inyo which smartphones have afforded a seamless entry. Lately, lots have been said about internet addiction but if you need to refresh, just visit my website at: tec-soc.blogspot.com, scroll to the end and enter “addiction” into the search box.
Oh, and they may or may not cause cancer. Your cell emits radiation when it’s used which may possibly cause a cancer to erupt near the location where you put it most which I surmise is either your ear or your that portion of your anatomy directly across from your back pocket..
I don’t want to play Cassandra and react like some folks did to the advent of television where parents were alarmed about the effects of TV --- not only the radiation (don’t sit too close to the TV) but also the effects of violent shows, on children. I recall them worrying about their kids becoming ‘couch potatos” and forcing them to play outside like they did when they were kids. In fact, there was a New Yorker cartoon a few years ago updating this dilemma where the mom is chastising her kid on his cellphone to, “Stop spending so much time on your cell, go upstairs and watch TV”
Like the advertising biz, websites develop methods to keep you engaged with the products they advertise. Back in the fifties, when TV started to take off, there was talk of “subliminal messages” being flashed on your screen for a few microseconds urging you to buy Ivory soap or some such product. The theory was that a message to buy the product was planted in your subconscious mind which would pop up later while you were shopping. Did it work? I’ll tell you. I don’t know (sorry about that Tevye). But the same impetus still exists as websites such as Facebook, Google and Amazon run with algorithms that purportedly encourage you to keep your eyeballs on their websites.. Why? This I do Know: because the longer you stay on their site, the more they can charge their advertisers and, as we all know, from the Beatles that “Love is all you need.” but the message from the musical, “Caberet” is also true: “Money makes the world go round”.
Also it’s a good idea to remember the Russian proverb touted by former president Ronald Reagan:, “Trust but Verify”.
