Can't believe I missed this thread. Some great discussion going on here. I believe I am eminently qualified to voice my opinion here (don't I always, though). Between my wife and I, we have four desktop computers (all mac), two ipads, and two iphones. My daughter could work an iphone (by that, I mean push the button, slide the finger across, scroll through pages to get to the right page, and start the app for whatever game she wanted to play) by the time she was two years old! Having just turned four, she is now a pro at the ipad and plays numerous games on it. Very useful when mom and dad want to have a nice dinner out somewhere and the kid otherwise doesn't want to sit in a boring restaurant for an hour. So, I guess you could say we are a very modern, connected family.
At the same time, I don't really use my cell phone that much. I text or email with friends occasionally, share a picture I took, or look up something on the web when I need to find a location or what have you. But I rarely talk on the phone with someone -- maybe just a few times a week at most. I can go weeks without using the phone feature of my cell phone. It is convenient to be able to access my wife or have her get in touch with me, but I don't feel I couldn't live without it in that regard. I find it much more important as a mobile information source. As for surfing the web or sending emails, I would much rather do those things on a desktop than on my ipad. The ipad is convenient for travel, but I don't use it that much at home. Give me a big screen and a fast keyboard, any day of the week.
Gordon, I do believe your concerns about safety are valid. Having been hit head on by a teenager who had dropped his cell phone in the floorboard and was reaching down for it. Luckily he wasn't going very fast and we were stationary in a turn lane. But I do think even where there aren't specific laws forbidding the use of cell phones while driving, those people who are driving dangerously because of cell phone use can still be cited under general reckless driving laws. But we do need to do a much better job overall of educating our drivers about the dangers of cell phone use. I mean, if you think about it, it really isn't that big of an inconvenience to pull over to the side of the road or a parking lot if you absolutely have to answer that text right this moment. But how many teens think that way?
Technology is ever increasing and moving forward, and that provides some great benefits, as well as detriments, to our society. I waste a lot of time ingesting useless information on the web and that time could be better spend doing a number of things. At the same time, I learn an awful lot about a lot of different things that interest me, all from the cozy comfort of my own home.
At the same time, I don't really use my cell phone that much. I text or email with friends occasionally, share a picture I took, or look up something on the web when I need to find a location or what have you. But I rarely talk on the phone with someone -- maybe just a few times a week at most. I can go weeks without using the phone feature of my cell phone. It is convenient to be able to access my wife or have her get in touch with me, but I don't feel I couldn't live without it in that regard. I find it much more important as a mobile information source. As for surfing the web or sending emails, I would much rather do those things on a desktop than on my ipad. The ipad is convenient for travel, but I don't use it that much at home. Give me a big screen and a fast keyboard, any day of the week.
Gordon, I do believe your concerns about safety are valid. Having been hit head on by a teenager who had dropped his cell phone in the floorboard and was reaching down for it. Luckily he wasn't going very fast and we were stationary in a turn lane. But I do think even where there aren't specific laws forbidding the use of cell phones while driving, those people who are driving dangerously because of cell phone use can still be cited under general reckless driving laws. But we do need to do a much better job overall of educating our drivers about the dangers of cell phone use. I mean, if you think about it, it really isn't that big of an inconvenience to pull over to the side of the road or a parking lot if you absolutely have to answer that text right this moment. But how many teens think that way?
Technology is ever increasing and moving forward, and that provides some great benefits, as well as detriments, to our society. I waste a lot of time ingesting useless information on the web and that time could be better spend doing a number of things. At the same time, I learn an awful lot about a lot of different things that interest me, all from the cozy comfort of my own home.
