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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/01/sergey-brin-smartphone-nervous-habit
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| Sergey Brin is right. The smartphone is a nervous habit – but a useful one | Sergey Brin is right. The smartphone is a nervous habit – but a useful one |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Google's co-founder Sergey Brin made an impromptu appearance at a TED talk this week, saying: | |
"The cellphone is a nervous habit. If I smoked, I'd probably smoke instead, it'd look cooler. But I whip this out and look as if I have something important to do … It really opened my eyes to how much of my life I spent secluding myself away in email." | "The cellphone is a nervous habit. If I smoked, I'd probably smoke instead, it'd look cooler. But I whip this out and look as if I have something important to do … It really opened my eyes to how much of my life I spent secluding myself away in email." |
| If the numbers of Guardian staffers bumping into each other with eyes glued to their phones is anything to go by, he's hit the nail on the head. | If the numbers of Guardian staffers bumping into each other with eyes glued to their phones is anything to go by, he's hit the nail on the head. |
| Brin may have a point, but I don't think we should embrace social awkwardness just yet – especially when technology enables us to escape from it. And who wants to waste time engaging with real people anyway? There are, after all, virtual friends you have to check in with – and they don't know you haven't showered today. To prove my point, here are five ways to use your precious smartphone as an emotional crutch: | Brin may have a point, but I don't think we should embrace social awkwardness just yet – especially when technology enables us to escape from it. And who wants to waste time engaging with real people anyway? There are, after all, virtual friends you have to check in with – and they don't know you haven't showered today. To prove my point, here are five ways to use your precious smartphone as an emotional crutch: |
| Waiting in a bar on your own | Waiting in a bar on your own |
| The old faithful. Previously, you might have had to sit in silence, ignoring the slightly leery gent on the next stool, who keeps sidling nearer. You now have your whizzy little companion, and can spend time texting your errant friend frantically, or browsing all the selfies you took on Instagram. The leery gent won't approach you, but then neither will the rather handsome chap in the corner. | The old faithful. Previously, you might have had to sit in silence, ignoring the slightly leery gent on the next stool, who keeps sidling nearer. You now have your whizzy little companion, and can spend time texting your errant friend frantically, or browsing all the selfies you took on Instagram. The leery gent won't approach you, but then neither will the rather handsome chap in the corner. |
| The corporate power battle | The corporate power battle |
| I believe the technical term for this kind of phone usage is "willy waving". A fairly new phenomenon, it mainly involves people sitting around in a meeting, all checking their mobiles with varying degrees of subtlety. The guy that wants you to know just how important he is will be frantically typing and swiping away, while you feel inadequate and undervalued. Don't worry, he's probably texting his mum or browsing Uni Lad anyway. | I believe the technical term for this kind of phone usage is "willy waving". A fairly new phenomenon, it mainly involves people sitting around in a meeting, all checking their mobiles with varying degrees of subtlety. The guy that wants you to know just how important he is will be frantically typing and swiping away, while you feel inadequate and undervalued. Don't worry, he's probably texting his mum or browsing Uni Lad anyway. |
| The dreaded journey | The dreaded journey |
| There are so many people. You are packed into a carriage, eye contact is dangerously possible, and you just know the lady with her head tucked into your armpit can tell you forgot to put on deodorant. Get out your phone, wipe the sweat from your brow! Yes, you're going through tunnel after tunnel, and all hope of a signal is gone, but be not defeated! You downloaded a crossword app and have three answers left to crack, so who cares if a sudden jolt means you bump into a small child and make it cry, Araucaria is absorbing, dammit! | There are so many people. You are packed into a carriage, eye contact is dangerously possible, and you just know the lady with her head tucked into your armpit can tell you forgot to put on deodorant. Get out your phone, wipe the sweat from your brow! Yes, you're going through tunnel after tunnel, and all hope of a signal is gone, but be not defeated! You downloaded a crossword app and have three answers left to crack, so who cares if a sudden jolt means you bump into a small child and make it cry, Araucaria is absorbing, dammit! |
| A lunch companion | A lunch companion |
| You've yet to make real friends with your co-workers, but you're too old to eat your sandwich in the toilet stalls. Lunch seems a bleak and awkward minefield. All eyes swivel to meet yours as you look for an empty seat in the canteen. Don't rock the comfortable routines that people have built up over years of 9-5 drudgery, just take out your phone. Shovel food quickly into your mouth while you browse the Daily Mail sidebar of shame, and leave before another lonely soul tries to join you. You feel nauseous but that's not the food – it's the endless curve-flaunting you've been reading about. Try the Guardian next time. | You've yet to make real friends with your co-workers, but you're too old to eat your sandwich in the toilet stalls. Lunch seems a bleak and awkward minefield. All eyes swivel to meet yours as you look for an empty seat in the canteen. Don't rock the comfortable routines that people have built up over years of 9-5 drudgery, just take out your phone. Shovel food quickly into your mouth while you browse the Daily Mail sidebar of shame, and leave before another lonely soul tries to join you. You feel nauseous but that's not the food – it's the endless curve-flaunting you've been reading about. Try the Guardian next time. |
| Sweet dreams | Sweet dreams |
| You're getting into bed for the night. Your partner lies next to you, arms outstretched, waiting for the intimate embrace that makes humanity so special. Your heart rate speeds up, your palms become clammy. You reach for your phone and mumble some excuse about checking an urgent email. Crisis averted. Close contact is for people with no super-speed wifi. You have Facebook to check. | You're getting into bed for the night. Your partner lies next to you, arms outstretched, waiting for the intimate embrace that makes humanity so special. Your heart rate speeds up, your palms become clammy. You reach for your phone and mumble some excuse about checking an urgent email. Crisis averted. Close contact is for people with no super-speed wifi. You have Facebook to check. |