Cell |

It’s the time of year where we say our thanks to the things we’ve taken for granted, and being without a phone for the second time this semester has caused me to realize all the things I’m truly thankful for when it comes to my phone. Being without a phone has made me acknowledge not only the many things I take for granted regarding my phone, but also the things that having a phone has caused me to take for granted. Here are some things I’ve become thankful for that may just influence you to put your phone down for a couple of hours this holiday season.

1. Reminders

I’m always busy, and with being busy comes needing a way to stay organized and on top of things. My phone has all of my alarms, appointments, birthdays, and random notes in it in order to keep my daily life together. Being without it has definitely made me thankful for my little partner in crime!

2. Email

After missing out on the email for my 8:30am class being cancelled and getting up and lugging myself to class, I have definitely taken having access to email on my phone for granted. Being able to have my email on my phone allows me to check it straight when I get up; along with any cancellations that go with it!

3. Social Media

Not being able to Instagram on the daily may or may not be causing me to have withdrawals. Social media helps me keep in touch with my friends at school, as well as my friends and family at home. Being without easy access to all my social media sites has made it a lot more difficult for me to stay up-to-date on everyone’s lives.

4. Nature

Though being without a phone has given me my share of hardships, it has also helped me to realize how beautiful my campus truly is. Instead of scrolling through my feeds while walking to class, instead I look around and notice the beautiful flowers, trees, and architecture that I so easily took for granted.

5. Friends

My relationships with those who are my true friends, as well as my family, clearly deepened without a phone involved. It brought back emailing and direct messaging on Twitter, which although may be annoying, shows me who my true friends are when having to make an effort. It has also pushed me to spend more time talking to my friends and family face-to-face rather than texting them 24/7. Not having a phone has allowed me to be more social and have better relationships in general.

Though having a phone is a great thing that many of us take for granted, it’s also important to acknowledge the little things that we overlook when we’re absorbed in our screens.

Image: Jonathan Velasquez

With a bigger screen and a slimmer body, the iPhone 6 is at the forefront of news today. Companies like Apple have cornered the market on technology, with owning an iPhone becoming a social norm. However, this makes me wonder why such large companies like Apple choose to waver back and forth between menial physical characteristics, like screen size, rather than focus on serious technological advancements?

Apple and Co. possess the most power and means of evolving the technical side of phone production and use, and yet their time is geared toward the technological phenotypes. Financial gain is the impetus behind Apple and other phone companies focusing on smaller issues. Satisfying the public’s demand of larger screens is cheaper than, say, the demand for better battery power. Apple focuses all publicity on appeasing these fewer requests while appearing as though they are at the forefront of technological advancements.

It’s the foot-in-the-door phenomenon in real life: by satisfying more basic demands, these companies expect the public to comply with buying their expensive products. However, this approach is detrimental. Like a politician looking for re-election, Apple and other hegemonic companies are thinking about the short term: financial gain over scientific growth. There is no such thing as a new and improved phone these days; by changing the screen size or the accessibility of certain applications, phone production companies have fooled the masses into believing that advancements are being made.

For example, I checked Google for comparisons between the new iPhone 6 and its competitors, the Nexus 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4. The consensus was that all of the phones performed the same functions relatively, with the major difference being in screen size. If the only contrast in these products is screen size, which is still a nice commodity, then consumers have been conned. Reiterating what was said earlier, financial gain is the impetus behind cellular phone production, and will continue to be so long as the public believes that buying newer models of phones is upgrading in terms of technical abilities.

Image: Carlos Hergueta, Flickr