I remember getting the first iPhone in 2007 and having people actually follow me on the street just to see it live and in colour.  It seemed really strange at the time but it was a sign that technology had dramatically shifted forever.  There were some skeptics in the beginning of the era of touchscreen and a non flip phone but Steve Jobs persevered anyways and look where we are now.

Smartphones Are Too Much Fun

Working out is my personal hell.  I despise every second of it so anything that will distract me and make it easier is something I’ll gladly jump on. Smartphones come in handy because I can load it up with horrible music and surf the web while pretending I’m anywhere but on an exercise bike.  As much as I adored my old Nokia 8890, my iPhone 6 is so much more useful.  My wonderful Nokia was featured in a Backstreet Boys video, it was still rather useless compared to phones of today. Smartphones today all look alike whereas the earlier phones had some personality and differentiating features (and Nokia had the best UI).  I enjoy scrolling through Instagram when I’m in a waiting room somewhere or checking up on my shark Einstein to make sure he hasn’t eaten anyone.  I can kill hours just surfing the net because it’s the greatest source of entertainment ever and it’s in my pocket.

Most Useful Device I’ve Ever Owned

Remember the days (yes, I know how old this makes me sound) when you had to have coins for the parking meter?  Dashing inside a store to get change and then running back out to your car to put the money in (in the rain, it was always raining)?  Those were NOT the good old days for sure.  I love being able to sit in my chair at happy hour and add more money to my parking meter when I get a text from Pay by Phone alerting me that my time is running out. This is the type of technological advancement humanity has been waiting for.  This convenience and simplicity makes having a smartphone something I can’t imagine giving up willingly.  

Another benefit of a smartphone is vast amounts of information at my fingertips.  For example, when I’m cooking and I forget what’s needed in a recipe I can just pull it up on my phone and continue without getting the cookbook.  Plus, my bookshelves thank me for not being loaded down with things I’ll never read.  My old TomTom GPS was great but nothing compared to Google Maps.  The simplicity of not needing to pull over and root around in my glovebox for the GPS is something I never thought would be a big deal but after using directions on a smartphone, it’s a touch of convenience that I appreciate.  Plus, my old GPS would mysteriously turn on in the glovebox and I’d hear an Australian man’s voice suddenly start talking while I was driving alone and it scared me half to death on several occasions.  

Ever been stuck in traffic when the venti Starbucks vanilla bean frappuccino with 2 shots of espresso (seriously, try it) you just finished suddenly hits you?  I’ve been forced to pull into Le Crocodile (thanks for your hospitality!) and throw the keys at the valet while running into the establishment to use their washroom.  Luckily, Charmin has heard my screams and created an app that will show me the nearest washrooms and the cleanest (some even have pictures!).  THIS is what technology and smartphones have done to make our lives easier.  I’m never giving up my phone because then how will I find the nice washrooms?

Improves My Life

Before Google we had to argue and use our brains (gasp!) about trivia and debate who was right or which actor was in a certain TV show or movie.  Now we don’t need to ever think, we can just look it up and save ourselves 20 minutes of arguments and lost friendships.  Smartphones: friendship savers since 2007. To be fair, because we have gotten so bad about this, my friend Erin has implemented a “no Google rule” to some of our debates so we’re forced to figure things out the old fashioned way.  I’m fine with that because I know the answer is in my pocket when we need to look. Plus, I can be wrong and no one will know for sure…  

When I was a university student I had my fair share of car repairs and nothing made them more stressful than being stuck somewhere in the dark, without a phone. With a smartphone however, I can look up VW manuals and find out why the coolant light might be on or what type of oil the car needs.  Huzzah! I am now a mechanic!  More importantly, I am able to search for the nearest repair shop, check their reviews and make an informed decision.  

Summary

I can use my smartphone to check the weather, read the news, buy Starbucks, turn on my Hue and a million other things.  I don’t want to go back to the Dark Ages of cell phones where Snake was the only game that I could play and I was unable to confirm if Aaron Paul, Bryan Cranston and Dean Norris all guest starred in the X-Files (they did!).  Being connected all the time means I get to choose when I want to plug in.  If I don’t want to answer emails, then I don’t.  A smartphone gives me the tools and freedom to decide what I want to do.  I prefer having the option of standing in a store and price checking something on amazon.com instead of going home to look online. Smartphones make our lives more seamless.