Flip phone era > Smart phone era

Personally, i think the flip phone era was just the perfect amount of connecting people need. Sure with the fancy smartphones, you can doordash, watch endless videos, pay your bills, change your AC temp. But with all that convenience, making life easier and allowing us to save time there is an unintended consequence, screen time addiction. We've become a species of staring into our smart phone.

Every where I go...grocery stores, medical offices, coffee shops, or even walking in public, people are glued to the screen. I've seen many cases where 3 people sit at an eating place and all 3 are looking at their phones not talking to each other. And this is not just young people. I've seen middle age and old people do it. I've seen people abroad do it so it's not just a US problem. Last i checked we look at the screen 7 hours a day. That means a good amount people look at screens more each day than sleep. That can't be good.

I know that we must adapt to technology or get left behind. I needed an app on my phone to open the door of my kid's day care. It's just a part of life. Then this year with kindergarten starting, another app is needed. I recall we got by in early 2000 without any fricking apps. People looked at each other in public. We still connected without smartphones. No apps and texts were straight to the point not novels.