June 27, 2004
I Want to Be Alone. Please Call Me.
"One of the many paradoxes of modern technology is that gadgets meant to connect us also end up isolating us", writes Ken Belson in a wonderful article on the social impact of cell phones, in the New York Times.
"Sociologically speaking, mobile phones pit the priorities of the "in" group - those on the phone - against those in the "out" group, or people in close proximity to the talkers.
Ordinary phones, of course, created this dynamic more than a century ago. But mobile phones have extended this exclusivity to places where community used to be the norm - on planes, for example, in conference rooms and in restaurants. Settings previously devoted to eye-to-eye contact and earnest talk are fast turning into venues for shutting out others."
Belson Brings up another interesting point:
"Years ago, cellphones were the province of the powerful, but now that they are mass-market items, everyone has delusions of grandeur," said Eric Cohen, editor of The New Atlantis, a journal focused on technology, ethics and society. "Now there are 280 million masters of the universe in America."
An on rudeness:
"A theory backed up by studies showes that most Americans think that while other cellphone users are rude, they are not. To academics, this is known as the actor-observer paradox".
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