IS IT A QUESTION FREQUENTLY ASKED ?

There appears to be an outcry against smart phones. In particular ‘parents’ are worried about the effects of mobile phone usage by children and teenagers. On a more political business level, the United States Government is suing Apple in an antitrust iPhone monopoly lawsuit. It is claiming that the company has illegally prevented competition by restricting access to its software and hardware. “Apple has maintained its power not because of its superiority, but because of its unlawful exclusionary behaviour” according to US attorney general Merrick Garland.

 

So on the one hand, excessive and addictive mobile phone usage is causing deep psychological and behavioural problems in children and teens, and on the other, exclusivity by one manufacturer is restricting other companies from greater competition and proliferation of mobile phones.

 

Indeed, the usage of mobile phones has dramatically changed a lot of human behaviour and social interaction. The increasing technical capability of mobile phones, from simple phones to include voice messaging, then text messaging and on to internet connectivity and a variety of video connections (face time, WhatsApp etc..) has indeed been a technical revolution which has dramatically changed social interaction. The drive to combine computer innovation with personal communication and enhanced capabilities has been relentless.

 

Before any of this got going, I can recall reading the ‘funny papers’ and marvelling at Dick Tracy’s two way wrist radio which began in 1946.  Now, we have the smart watch which seems to be an even more compact personal computer. The implanted chip may well be on the verge of making us all cyborgs.

 

So where do we go from here? There is no doubt that the addictive effects of the smart phone are causing significant disruption and changes in our behaviour, and not just in children and teens. Sleep patterns and other aspects of our behaviour have been modified. How did we manage before the proliferation of mobiles? It takes an effort to remember. The telephone box or kiosk in stores, on the street, at airports and railway stations were prolific. The dial was eventually changed to push button and the method of payment and connection was simplified. Can you remember “Push button B” or was it A? Some people could somehow tap the cradle buttons and get connected for free. All very different now.

 

As to meeting up with friends, arrangements were made in advance or one just turned up. It was a more fluid and clearly more interactive approach to relationships. One spent more time with friends and relations in person, out of necessity and circumstance. Of course one could spend a lot of time on long phone calls, but that was more to do with distance and with close friends and family. It was also in addition to personal contact.

 

The telephone was usually on a table in the hall. The long lead, the extension and multiple phones around the flat or house came along for convenience and increased usage. So far as businesses were concerned the installations of multiple lines and switch boards were introduced. There were many operators and an information service along with telephone directories galore. So much paraphernalia and many people were involved with telephones. When one called one always spoke to a person. It took a while before the answerphone was introduced but one would generally speak to a living being. On the whole, the telephone industry employed a lot of people and became widespread multinational public as well as private companies.  In any event it was all people. First and foremost we interacted with people.

 

Much has changed. Now any interaction with organisations is met with interrogation and instruction by a voice telling us what number to tap, or what to say, with advice to go on line in the first place. The website should be the first port of call with its list of frequently asked questions, none of which are the one you want to ask. Also one no longer taps buttons, one speaks or swipes across an image. The style and method of interaction has dramatically changed.  The days when people walking down the street, talking to themselves and gesticulating, might be considered in need of help, have become an everyday fact of life. One does have to admire the dexterity and skill which some people - generally the young - demonstrate when texting. Of course the language we use has significantly change. When did access and impact or text become a verb? One used to have access to something or make an impact on something or someone and write a text or send a message. We now access, impact and text all over the place.

 

In any event, people being born into this world have an entirely different perspective and approach. Much of it seems to be great cause for concern. Children are apparently becoming more isolated and perhaps actually less communicative despite the ease with which they can communicate through their smart phones. They are also prone to be influenced in a negative way by the myriad of stuff that comes through to them because so much of it is crap and deeply worrying. Sadly, the scams, bullying and scatological material is as prolific as the very valuable information that is also available on the net. Unfortunately, the sad character of a great number of human beings has led to the creation of the dark web and hacking. All of this has given great cause for concern.

 

Controlling and policing the internet is extremely problematic. Blocking and editing material is far more difficult that one can imagine. The difficulty of using technology to control technology has become apparent. To attempt to ban and control the use of technology in any way is equally problematic. Making it illegal for children to have smart phones is not a solution. Because of the rather sad nature of our society and for matters of safety, for a child to be able to contact a parent or call for help in an emergency is perhaps something of a necessity.

 

The tragedy is that the use of the internet has become a weapon in the hands of some people. One finds oneself thinking about it as one does about the use of guns in the United States.  In the absence of being able to ban guns, because of a constitutional amendment, many citizens speak of “responsible gun ownership”. It is only a matter of teaching people, and children in particular,  how to look after guns and use them ‘responsibly’. What on earth does that mean?  

 

Should we now be speaking of teaching responsible use of the internet in the hope that the phishing and other forms of scamming and negative social engineering will disappear? How far can one legislate and criminalise internet activity without massive infringements of civil liberties and damaging political social engineering as well. I feel for the parents whose anxiety over their children’s stress and anxiety apparently brought about by the proliferation of smartphones, is overwhelming. I heard a mother this morning, on radio 4’s Today program, seeking to find a way forward and trying to set up a group or lobby of parents to find a solution. It only adds to one’s own stress and anxiety.

 

I confess I spend a lot of time on the internet. I enjoy the stuff I find surfing around the web. It keeps my 80+ year old brain engaged. It can be very helpful as well as deeply frustrating when dealing with officialdom; but on the whole, it’s a great invention, despite the number of scams and chicanery all over the place. One can be alert to these things. As an instance in point, when you get an email informing you that a package has failed to be delivered and you are not expecting any such package, how did the delivery firm, you’ve probably never heard of, know your particular email address? Not difficult to work out it’s for the bin. Yes there is a lot of it, and of great concern, but there is so much more to enjoy and to share.

 

I do not know what the solution is. That education should make the difference is a given, but education, like stiff sentencing for deterrence, has made little difference in world affairs. The problems in Middle Europe, the Middle and Far East, and the African continent are all conducted, discussed and debated by educated people who cannot seem to find common ground and closure of hostilities. It is not so much that one must make children aware and to beware of scams and chicanery, one must make children not want to become mendacious scammers, thugs and bullies. With the likes of Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and, yes, Boris Johnson and others, so easy to spout lies and give voice to delusions, is it any wonder that some think it’s ok to behave in that way.

 

But if you want a bit of diversion and cultural education in the artistry of writers Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, director Mitchell Leisen, producer Arthur Hornblow Jr under the banner of Paramount Pictures go to this site: https://ok.ru/video/3084433033961

 

Called Midnight, it was released in 1939, the same year as Gone With The Wind and Wizard of Oz to name but two in that extraordinary year which took the world into quite another era from which I believe we are still recovering. Anyway it’s worth an hour and a half of your time. You won’t regret it. You’ll like the acting as well.