People are becoming way too addicted to their phones and being connected

Not going to lie, I love the internet. I love reading articles, coming on ATS. etc.

BUT, I can 100000% guarantee I can live without it. I'm not so sure about other people.

So last night we had a pretty bad outage in my area. I went on my phone to see what was up on down detector.

The comments were hilarious. It made me realize how hooked people are, absolutely addicted to being connected.
What happens when shtf. Are we going to have a bunch of people in withdraw going crazy?

I have a cell phone but don't use it very much. Some people get angry if I don't response within 5 minutes of a text etc. Some days I don't even turn it on!! I guess that is very rare these days.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Wow, you're so much more superior to everyone else. You must be very woke.

I switched to a old school flip phone that has never been connected to the internet(actually really hard to find a phone that can't)
Despite the terrible service and the phone being a total piece of laggy, badly programmed POS, I'm not temped to stare at it during dinners, bedtime, ect. I get too see how addicted everyone else is.
It's like going to a party as a sober person, looking at all the drunk people.
$12.00/month for 'service' aint bad either.
Miss the GPS the most.

a reply to: JAGStorm

You get to see how bad it is when you are trying to do an exam on a teen after a reported trauma, and you can't get them to put their phone down. They insist that they can continue to text while you are performing the exam and asking questions.

Even with parents present, there is a battle to get them to let go of their phones for a mere twenty minutes or so.

If that was the only problem with phone addiction, I may not be as disturbed by it, but the phone also plays a huge role the crime that brought them to me in the first place.

I have to agree, and say guilty as charged.

I hate(d) mobile phones and went for years without, as I saw where it was all leading and where it all eventually ended up.

I was waiting on a phone call from the hospital one day, for x-ray results, I did have a cheap £20 'phone-in-a-box' at the time as I had (have) kids in school, I needed to be reachable.

Anyway, this cheap-ass phone died on me the night before I was expecting the call, and the hospital had no other way of contacting me.

My Mumsy, being the saviour that she is, piped-up to say that she had a spare phone that I could have.

Turns out it was a smartphone, the same tech I'd been resisting and bitching about for years.

Well, I'm typing this comment on that very phone, and if I'm brutally honest, the damn thing has got me by the gonads and it's often difficult to put it down.

Let's put it this way, I read the news and check here for new threads many, many, times a day.

Lol, I think? 🤔

And on the first day there was a great wailing and multitudes of despondent people aimlessly shuffling among the ruins while staring at their palms and I knew the zombie apocalypse had begun...

a reply to: JAGStorm

becoming??? where have you been???

Frankly, I'd rather email than text. I do have a smartphone, but texting is a pain. The keyboard is easy to get a letter wrong. It's fine for when you are out running errands and you have split to take care of things faster and you have one of you on each end of the store I suppose.

And I hate, hate, hate it when I'm driving and my front end is nearly taken off because some jack wagon in the lane next to me is driving and using their phone and therefore oblivious to my presence in the lane next to them.

I can count on a few work related calls or a flurry of texts on the cell phone when I have my hands in dishwater or if I am painting. Oh, and my nose will suddenly develop an itch too.

I do miss the days when I could drive somewhere and not have to worry about talking to someone on the phone along the way.

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: JAGStorm

Wow, you're so much more superior to everyone else. You must be very woke.

I will be if the grid goes down!

a reply to: JAGStorm

What happens when shtf. Are we going to have a bunch of people in withdraw going crazy?

I have a huge crack rock.... It gives you way more dopamine than a phone.

Ill be fine.

I have been pulling shifts in a bar since 2006, one year before the iphone was released.

We intentionally didn't put a tv in the place because we didn't want people just sitting around staring at screens, there are plenty of other places for that, our focus has always been on live music, either on or off of the stage. The first few years there were no concerns, but as the iphone/smartphone became more and more popular I started noticing people staring at their crotches when they were sitting at the bar (it wasn't yet socially acceptable to just play with your phone on the table). A few years later it became common occurrence to see people out on a date, but both of them just staring at their phones all night. Fast forward to last night, people sitting with their phones streaming internet to their tablets so that they can use them as portable tvs on our bar.

I hate what these things have done to the people around me, no one has any manners.

I must admit though, that a few years ago I relented and got an old school flip phone (no internet on it), I like it because it make me feel like Captain Kirk.

a reply to: wheresthebody

A few years later it became common occurrence to see people out on a date, but both of them just staring at their phones all night.

The weird thing is sometimes they are texting each other.... Maybe this is why aliens don't talk? Maybe they are super evolved humans that lost vocal communication?

a reply to: JAGStorm

Are you serious? Texting each other?!

I am so out of the loop

I own a business where I find employees for employers. Not a temp service, it's more of a search for labor related to certain skills.

I've literally had people answer texts and check Instagram posts while I was interviewing them.
This is not just an addiction, its becoming culturally acceptable to play on your phone while you should be focusing on people.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if they check messages during sex...
Maybe that's why we are not replacing our population.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Whenever I'm on this topic I love telling people this right here, not only because it's funny, but because in many ways it will be true. The real zombie apocalypse will happen when the internet goes down around the world. That's when people will go full force "28 Days Later" and be aggressive monsters and tear each other apart.

I used to work for a Verizon retailer in town that was, well, very slow. Whoever opened up this branch wasn't very bright because they opened a block from another Verizon retailer. What makes this folly is that people would see our sign from the highway, but with how the roads are to get off the highway, you'll encounter the other Verizon store first. Long story short, our sign gave them business, which in turn made it so we'd on average get 1-2 customers a day.

Well, one Saturday a boulder fell down and crushed one of the giant lines feeding the town with internet, which in turn caused Verizon/AT&T towers to stop working as well as blocking Century Link internet/cable access. During that time we had on average 40-45 customers an hour, all angry, all yelling, all demanding answers and compensation.

Worst part is we were just a retailer, we weren't actual Verizon. We can't give them any compensation, plus, compensation for what?? An act of "god"?? That's pretty much what that was.

So with how angry everyone was even with the answer that it's being worked on, I can only imagine how bad they'd get if they found out there is no fix. If that theorized solar flare ever hits and takes out our infrastructure, I think everyone will go mad and eat each other. XD

a reply to: JAGStorm


Type in "Accidents while on cell phone" into youtube search!

]]

a reply to: Ahabstar

At least one of us appreciated the verse:

Ats25/04 ..

And so begins the Puerto Ricolypse ...

May the pork be with you ...

The main pleasures I get out of life now are: sleeping, eating, browsing the internet and watching movies/shows on my 60" flatscreen TV. I only make $40 per hour so I don't have enough money to travel like I'd like to. I took a week vacation twice last year but I couldn't afford to pay my bills recently because of those vacations. I had to sell my .45 Kimber pistol & 100 ounces of silver just to get caught up with my bills & I will no longer travel during my vacation time ever again. I've been eating food from the dollar store for past few months now. I went from spending $20+ a day on food to $5 a day on food which helps drastically. My truck payment is @ $530 per month for a basic no frills truck. My auto. Insurance is @ $220 per month & my fuel costs are @ $200 per month. I own my condo outright but it still costs me @ $600 per month to live in it. My health insurance is @ 20% pf my paycheck. My taxes are @ 20% of my paycheck & my student loans are @ 20% of my paycheck. I consider myself well off financially & I'm living paycheck to paycheck. I can't even imagine how hard it is for people who rent their homes or who have children & make less than $40 per hour. I blame it on the Federal Reserve Bank for devaluing our currency & widening the wealth gap between the rich & poor. The dollar has lost @ 90% of its value since we went off the Gold Standard in 1971. Every dollar one makes today is worth less tomorrow, while our wages remain the same. The government is very lucky we have smartphones, computers & TVs to keep the masses occupied. If we ever lose these things, all politician's, corporate executive's, lawyer's & law enforcement's heads will be rolling down the streets.

The digital world is the only world most can afford to live in. I own a 22' center console boat which costs @ $5K per year to operate just in maintenance. If I go fishing on it I spend at least $100 on bait/drinks/food & another $100 on fuel/oil. For $50 I can buy a fishing video game & have more fun. Most can't afford an exotic sports car but for $50 you can buy a video game & own/drive any exotic car you want. Same with hunting, golfing & countless other sports/activities. I can't afford a multi-million dollar mansion in the real world but can own one in games like Grand Theft Auto.. I can't afford a trip to an exotic location but I can visit them by watching documentaries on YouTube or TV. I can't afford to go to Dismey World but I can watch Disney movies for free on my TV. The digital world is the real world for the vast majority of people.

a reply to: JBIZZ

You could not be more right.. the smartphones, internet, et all are the elites only saving grace from the guillotines right now.

I make less than 20$ an hour with a child. And student loans with a degree in CS mind you.

Young people are so screwed right now I dont think the gravity has hit yet. Literally every single one of my coworkers is living with room mates paycheck to paycheck. We have no savings. We have relevant degrees - it does not matter. Without just the right connections, employers will demand talent but only pay entry level and they get away with it because people are hungry and this is America now.

The only reason me and mine can survive and are not homeless is because my deceased great grandfather purchased rental properties around town back in the day one of which we live in for free.

Honestly the only way out is entrepreneurship but who has the time or energy..very few of us.



It is by design.