The smartphone is unarguably one of those few inventions of mankind which have led to the most dramatic and significant shifts in our lifestyles. From morning till bedtime it helps us achieve many different things, and its importance in our lives has only increased as time has passed.
Whether you’ve an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy S8 or something else… as long as it’s a smartphone, it can help you with almost everything related to your life. Let’s take a look of 5 different ways in which smartphones have transformed our lives:
#1. Consuming Information
The way of getting to know about things has changed dramatically. The progression of this change has looked something like this:
- Talking to each other
- Reading newspaper
- Watching TV
- Finding info on web using a computer
- Finding info through smartphone apps
Each of these steps has provided us more information than the step preceding it, but the smartphones have increased the amount of information that we can find much more than anything else. Today we can find infinite amount of information about anything, anytime as long as we’ve a smartphone in our hands.
By bringing the power of internet to masses smartphone has truly revolutionized the way we consume information and get to know about things.
#2. Communication
The means of communication have also progressed in a fashion similar to that of consuming information:
- We first of all used written letters to communicate
- Then we got landline phones
- Then came internet and email
- Next we had cell phones
- Then there were social networks
And finally, there was the smartphone revolution and mass adoption of Instant Messaging , social networking, video calling and a plethora of other social apps i.e. Instagram, Snapchat etc.
With every step we got more closely connected to our friends as each of these technologies decreased the time it took for a message to be transferred. Letters used to take the most time… Email was instant, but it could reach people only when they checked their mailboxes.
Voice calling was always instant, but it didn’t allow us to see the other person. Then came social networks, which not only helped people in getting to know what was going on in the lives of their friends but also united us with many of our lost friends. And then with birth of IM apps we got more closely connected to all our friends and relatives than we were ever before.
Today we can not only talk to our friends whenever we want – we can also see them whenever we want. And a majority of this has been accomplished in just 20 years!
#3. Utilization of Financial and Government Services/Schemes
If you wanted to invest in any company’s stock or mutual fund around around 7-10 years ago, you’d have to personally go to the office of your broker or that of the mutual fund. Same applied to banking services and government schemes as well. But fast forward to today, and the scenario has totally changed. So we can say technology has major role in economic development as well.
Today you can avail almost any financial or government service as long as you’ve a smartphone in your hand. By embracing this new technology both people and financial institutions have made lives easier for the world around them. We no longer need to be present in the bank to transfer money to someone, and we also don’t need to be present with our broker or mutual fund manager to invest in stocks.
Same applies to availing government benefit schemes as well – their reach has increased as smartphone penetration has increased.
#4. Driving, Traveling and Navigation
Another area of our lives which has changed drastically after arrival of smartphones is traveling and navigation. We no longer need to carry physical maps with us – with Google maps on our smartphones we can go almost anywhere.
We can also get to know the traffic conditions and best possible routes before we step out of our homes and offices, and we can also book hotels for our stay whenever we want to. All these things weren’t possible to do this easily until a few years ago.
#5. Gadget Choices and The Way We Use Technology
Finally, smartphones have changed the way we use technology itself. Its arrival in our lives gave us freedom from carrying 5-7 different devices with us. Not too long ago there was a time when we would carry a laptop, a mp3 player, a digital camera, a GPS device (may be) and of course, a cell phone.
Now we can get the functionality of all these things in a single device. And while many of us still like to carry a laptop or a digital camera with us, those things are not as necessary now as they used to be until a few years ago before the arrival of smartphone because we can get a good chunk of their functionality on our smartphone itself.
Conclusion
Besides all these things there’re many other ways too in which smartphone has made our lives easier and changed it for good, so many ways that all of them can’t even be covered in a single article. It has become an extension of our personal and professional lives, and also an assistant that helps us get things done. I can’t live a day without my smartphone. Can you? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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