Disruptions: Resolved in 2012: To Enjoy the View Without Help From an iPhone
By NICK BILTONNick Bilton/The New York Times
Last week, I drove to Pacifica, a beach community just south of San Francisco, where I climbed a large rocky hill as the sun descended on the horizon. It painted a typically astounding California sunset across the Pacific Ocean. What did I do next?
What any normal person would do in 2011: I pulled out my iPhone and began snapping pictures to share on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
I spent 10 minutes trying to compose the perfect shot, moving my phone from side to side, adjusting light settings and picking the perfect filter.
Then, I stopped. Here I was, watching this magnificent sunset, and all I could do is peer at it through a tiny four-inch screen.
“What’s wrong with me?” I thought. “I can’t seem to enjoy anything without trying to digitally capture it or spew it onto the Internet.”
Hence my New Year’s resolution: In 2012, I plan to spend at least 30 minutes a day without my iPhone. Without Internet, Twitter, Facebook and my iPad. Spending a half-hour a day without electronics might sound easy for most, but for me, 30 unconnected minutes produces the same anxious feelings of a child left accidentally at the mall.
I made this resolution out of a sense that I habitually reached for the iPhone even when I really didn’t need to, when I might have just enjoyed an experience, like the sunset, without any technology. And after talking to people who do research on subjects like this, I realized that there were some good reasons to give up a little tech.
3 comments:
Interesting article...it reminds me of those tour groups going to site where people get out, take loads of pictures ,with their cheers, and happily go back to their coaches and off to another site...now I guess they must be texting and sending those pictures to their friends (including those on the same coach!) en route to their next destination!!!
I deliberately limit my time on the internet and I tend to be a follower when it comes to technology.
My phone is 4 years old and doesn't have a camera.
My strongest memory of visiting Kinkakuji (Golden Temple) in Kyoto is of being processed through the grounds like piles of sardines with everyone holding their camera phones overhead trying to get pictures. It is then I saw very clearly two of my biggest pet peeves: huge crowds and getting out a camera everytime you see something interesting. I'm with you Rick in that I'm definitely a follower when it comes to technology.
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