Tomorrow will be the one month anniversary of the day I gave up my Blackberry. Seeing a friend play with her new iPhone today caused me to reflect on the last 30 days and the effect this decision has made on my life.
-There are a couple of friends that I do not have contact with as much without IM on my phone.
-I had to wait to make notes to send two emails when I got home this afternoon that I would have normally written from the aisles of Fry’s.
-I leave my phone in my office during meetings now. I lose it in my small apartment at times. (I NEVER left my Blackberry out of my sight before)
-My frequency of updating my Twitter has to be 40% of what it was with my BB.
Going back to a “normal phone” that only does phone calls and text messages has been a bit bizarre. And I still face the challenge of being present with people when I could be conversing with someone else electronically. I can still lose myself online for far longer than I would like to admit.
But I look back on this first month without my Blackberry and I see change. Real definitive change. And for that, I am very thankful. Whenever you can look at your life and see that from one point to another you made progress, I think that’s a moment for gratitude – to God and yourself.
Scott,
Glad you to hear you made it one month. I had given some thought of putting a Blackberry on a fishing line tossing it in the middle of 7th street to see the results. Regardless I think your generation is becoming the communication generation. There is safety in the lack of face to face communication. Looking at some of the milestone of my generation, remembering when my father told me that a computer would never be more than a toy; this is what I remember.
1. My first phone number was two longs and a short. It was a crank type phone that weighted about 15 pounds attached to the wall.
2. Rotary phones where the next and about the size of a small toaster.
3. The ten key phone came out and came in two colors…black and white, the first generation of 57K computers now had different graphic colors…providing different shades of grey qualify as color.
4. The first cell phone actually looked like a rotary phone and you had to be within five miles of the tower.
5.Pagers hit the market that’s when I discovered most pay phones carried a host of diseases.
6. I got my first PDA and carried a cell (Skytech).
This is transitional history taking almost 35 years to happen. Interesting enough, your generation some day will tell your children, “I remember when.” However I have a short list of things that people do that really tick me off pertaining to cell phones.
1. I don’t want to hear your conversation…stop shouting
2. While talking to me don’t check your text messages or answer your phone
3. While on the treadmill at the gym…get off your phone. This is a gym not Verizon
4. If you are pushing your shopping cart down the middle of the isle at Frys talking on your phone we are going to play bumper carts…I will win.
5. Turn off your phone while at church.
The other day I had forgotten my Blackberry which I always leave on vibrate. I could swear the phone continually went off as I reached for the clip reality hit me, almost like an amputee who thinks his missing leg still itches; it has become apparent I also need to amputate Verizon.
Good for you Scott for taking small steps and sharing the joy of your transition. My last question, are we subjects of addictions, phones, computers, cars, sex, business, our human nature?
Michael
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