Without our smartphones, where would we be in 2025?

[hankypankee]

Well, we might be lost, literally. Without digital micro-maps in our pockets, travel would suddenly require more planning. Good, or bad? Personal finance would also slow down. No more instant digital payments or transferring money in seconds. Access to information would feel like going from the Autobahn to a traffic packed soi. We’d need to think, ask, remember, and not know things right away. How novel. 

 

And what about the form of our lives? We wouldn’t be glued to curated feeds and algorithmic chosen drivel. Social media would still exist, but only on computers, not a 24-hour drip. The need for some people to perform constantly, feed the machine, to compare, to doom scroll for validation or outrage, that would be gone. Lovely idea. Conversations might return to being natural, unshared, and unfiltered. Friendships could grow again in the absence of likes and shares, measured again by time spent together rather than digital pings.

 

And what about news? The world would still be on fire, but maybe we wouldn’t be forced to watch it burn in real time. The doom cycle, the fear economy of headlines and push notifications, could lose some of its grip. Brilliant! We might read the paper again, watch the news occasionally, and then go about our lives, instead of being caught in an endless scroll of outrage, anxiety, and distraction. Would we feel less informed, or simply less bombarded?

 

And the final question: what would we do with all that free time? Without the quick dopamine squirts and constant mental clutter, would we write more, talk more, think more? We could suddenly meet up with people more often again and maybe we’d get bored enough to become more interesting people ourselves. Yeah, we’d lose a few things. But maybe we’d find a few things too. A different kind of connection to the world. A slower rhythm. A real version of ourselves with a little more space to breathe.

[hotsun]

The invention of the cell phone changed the world for the better. Smartphones made it worse

[Digitalbanana]

While we'd lose the convenience of smartphones, we might gain a slower pace of life, more genuine connections, and more opportunities for personal reflection and creativity. But we'd just create the smart phone again and be where we are now so what's the point?

[blaze master]

9 minutes ago, hotsun said:

The invention of the cell phone changed the world for the better. Smartphones made it worse

 

What has it done to peoples brainwaves and attention span.

 

Goldfish comes to mind.

 

 

. 

[Gsxrnz]

I wonder what would happen if you placed in the hands of the average human being, a device capable of accessing every piece of literature ever written, every piece of music ever composed, every piece of scientific knowledge known to man (with the possible exception of what hotdogs are made from), and the potential to extend your knowledge and wisdom far beyond that of the world's hitherto greatest philosophers and scientists?

 

Oh yeah - Onlyfans and Tik Tok. Sorted. 

[ignis]

Long before Mobile phones or Smartphones how did we manage ?

 

All my life have always lived o0ut in the sticks, one place applied for a Landline, fine but waiting time 7 years,  

Cannot for the life of me remember how we got in touch with each other,  sure most had CB's in our cars but that was limited and short range..

 

[Lacessit]

Smartphones are just a tool. Like any tool, they can be misused.

 

I really wonder what the Thais did before smartphones.

[Alpha84]

At least people wouldn’t be photographing every single little uninteresting thing in their lives. All those boring pictures of people’s meals, their pets, the coffee they drink every morning, and the endless flow of selfies that no one asked for and doesn't want. 

[ColeBOzbourne]

I've never gotten around to buying a smart phone, and it's not a high priority on my list. I still travel anywhere in the world, do pretty much anything I want to do, all the old school way. I enjoy living that way, and it's a small sense of pride that I don't rely on anything but my own wits and common sense. 

[jumbo]

I guess the same place we were in 1992 without the PC

[EVENKEEL]

I was a late bloomer with both cel phones and smart phones. In Isaan an enjoyable day was finding an English Bangkok Post and having a few beers while reading. But not all of it, no no no. Have to save the good articles for the next day's reading enjoyment with morning coffee.

 

 

[Gottfrid]

58 minutes ago, hankypankee said:

Well, we might be lost, literally. Without digital micro-maps in our pockets, travel would suddenly require more planning. Good, or bad? Personal finance would also slow down. No more instant digital payments or transferring money in seconds. Access to information would feel like going from the Autobahn to a traffic packed soi. We’d need to think, ask, remember, and not know things right away. How novel. 

 

And what about the form of our lives? We wouldn’t be glued to curated feeds and algorithmic chosen drivel. Social media would still exist, but only on computers, not a 24-hour drip. The need for some people to perform constantly, feed the machine, to compare, to doom scroll for validation or outrage, that would be gone. Lovely idea. Conversations might return to being natural, unshared, and unfiltered. Friendships could grow again in the absence of likes and shares, measured again by time spent together rather than digital pings.

 

And what about news? The world would still be on fire, but maybe we wouldn’t be forced to watch it burn in real time. The doom cycle, the fear economy of headlines and push notifications, could lose some of its grip. Brilliant! We might read the paper again, watch the news occasionally, and then go about our lives, instead of being caught in an endless scroll of outrage, anxiety, and distraction. Would we feel less informed, or simply less bombarded?

 

And the final question: what would we do with all that free time? Without the quick dopamine squirts and constant mental clutter, would we write more, talk more, think more? We could suddenly meet up with people more often again and maybe we’d get bored enough to become more interesting people ourselves. Yeah, we’d lose a few things. But maybe we’d find a few things too. A different kind of connection to the world. A slower rhythm. A real version of ourselves with a little more space to breathe.

Oh dear! Where should we begin?

Why would we be lost? People were not lost before the smart phones. Actually a lot of people were smarter and more social. For one thing, could count without a calculator and knew things without the need to Google it. Also, why the hurry? Before, people had no problem waiting 3 days for an international transfer, as they could plan their lives. Today, that is also lost, and people just get angry when they can´t have their way as quick as possible.

And, as you point out we would have time to be more social and meet up, Just do things in real life. It would be wonderful, but unfortunately, that is a lost era. Anyway, thanks for the 5 minutes of happy dreams. 🙂 

[FolkGuitar]

A fantastic tool... or a mind-capturing monster.

It's your choice.

My smartphone stays in my pocket until I need one of its functions.
I make less than 3-4 calls a month, but use the phone two dozen times a day for paying bills, looking for traffic jams, checking the weather, looking for an answer to a question (at least 3-4 times a day,) taking a picture, listening to music, or reading a book.

 

It's a tool. Like any tool, it can be misused in the wrong hands.

[jvs]

For us older people it would be a small inconvenience but the younger peoples lives would be difficult

Without the internet the world would stop being the way it is now.

Remember the power outage in Spain and Portugal?

Panic all around and all of a sudden cash is king again.

Why are not more people banning cell phones in their businesses?

Oh yes of course money flow would stop without.

I go to the gym and see almost everyone spend more time taking selfies than actually exercising.

I use the internet everyday but i hardly ever carry my phone around.

I find missed calls from a few days ago a lot.

 

[dddave]

My sister recently traveled to India, 40 years after traveling there as a student.  Of the many changes, one she found most remarkable was that every taxi driver, even the ones still driving bicycle taxis, had a smartphone.  That these people, once pretty much locked out from the rest of the world now carried in their pocket an informational device more powerful than an IBM-360 from 40 years back and that for better or for worse, were connected to a far larger world. 

Social Media has served to trivialize and obscure the huge impact this is now having and will have in the future.

[Ralf001]

if there was no smart phones I'd be walking round with a tablet in my pocket !

 

[pomchop]

57 minutes ago, Alpha84 said:

At least people wouldn’t be photographing every single little uninteresting thing in their lives. All those boring pictures of people’s meals, their pets, the coffee they drink every morning, and the endless flow of selfies that no one asked for and doesn't want. 

 

I am so tired of people who want to show me all sorts of pics and videos on their phones ; even when I try to be polite and look at one or two then try and change subject and look away they go on and on and on. 

 

HINT:  I do not care or want to see all your girlfriends or kids or grandkids or pics of your cat  or cars etc.

[Dmaxdan]

29 minutes ago, jvs said:

For us older people it would be a small inconvenience but the younger peoples lives would be difficult

Without the internet the world would stop being the way it is now.

Remember the power outage in Spain and Portugal?

Panic all around and all of a sudden cash is king again.

Why are not more people banning cell phones in their businesses?

Oh yes of course money flow would stop without.

I go to the gym and see almost everyone spend more time taking selfies than actually exercising.

I use the internet everyday but i hardly ever carry my phone around.

I find missed calls from a few days ago a lot.

 

I think you've nailed it. My 9 year old grandson asked me recently what phone I had when I was a kid and I replied 'One with a rotary dial and a curly cable'. He looked at me blankly so I had to Google it and show him a picture!

[Yagoda]

48 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I was a late bloomer with both cel phones and smart phones. In Isaan an enjoyable day was finding an English Bangkok Post and having a few beers while reading. But not all of it, no no no. Have to save the good articles for the next day's reading enjoyment with morning coffee.

 

 

Hell, Im old enough to remember reading folded newspapers (the Times and the Post) on the  train from Wall Street all the way up to the GWB. Instead of folks with noses in cell phones, it was noses buried in newspapers

[Asean Tiger]

Everything in consumer techology since the original Sony cassette tape walkman has been an overall  negative 

[EVENKEEL]

1 minute ago, Yagoda said:

Hell, Im old enough to remember reading folded newspapers (the Times and the Post) on the A train all the way up to the GWB. Instead of folks with noses in cell phones, it was noses buried in newspapers

A city slicker ehh.

[Alpha84]

1 minute ago, Yagoda said:

Hell, Im old enough to remember reading folded newspapers (the Times and the Post) on the A train all the way up to the GWB. Instead of folks with noses in cell phones, it was noses buried in newspapers

And the Post is still garbage. Best used as blankets for the subway bums. At least the Daily News is gone. 

[Yagoda]

5 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

My 9 year old grandson asked me recently what phone I had when I was a kid and I replied 'One with a rotary dial and a curly cable'. He looked at me blankly so I had to Google it and show him a picture!

Teach him about party lines and Operators. Thats a job class thats gone.

[hughrection]

Much happier I think. Smartphones are a constant distraction and take us away from the things that are actually important in this life.

[Alpha84]

1 minute ago, Asean Tiger said:

Everything in consumer techology since the original Sony cassette tape walkman has been an overall  negative 

iPod was a good thing, but made functionally obsolete by smartphones. But I had an iPod Nano before. Was great. About the size of postage stamp and a metal clip to attach it to your shirt. But now smartwatches can carry all your music loaded onto your wrist. Even better. 

[Yagoda]

3 minutes ago, Alpha84 said:

And the Post is still garbage. Best used as blankets for the subway bums. At least the Daily News is gone. 

When was the last time you read it LOL. True journalism at that paper. Anybody else report on the laptop?

[Yagoda]

5 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

A city slicker ehh.

One develops an interesting weltanschauung spending ones early 20s in NYC attending university. 

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, hughrection said:

Much happier I think. Smartphones are a constant distraction and take us away from the things that are actually important in this life.

 

Life can be boring.

We need distractions. 

 

[Hummin]

Without smartphone and Skype, or the original messenger, I would not been Thai married, and most likely not in Thailand anymore. 

 

 

[pomchop]

Would todays kids rather have a phone or a bike?  I hate to say probably most would go for the phone. 

 

Hard to say but glad I did not have to make that choice.  Heck I was lucky to even get a second hand me down bike which to me was about one of the best things ever. I sometimes see kids sitting staring at their phones for hours on end and feel sorry that so many missed some of life's simple pleasures.