Text A The New Global Addiction:Smartphones
Damian Thompson
We're becoming addicted to iPhones and BlackBerrys—and it's not only manners that suffer.
Who would have thought,20 years ago,that a plastic and glass box smaller than the palm of your hand would ruin the good manners of millions of people?
Yes,we know about the digital miracles wrought by the smartphone.But there's no more powerful measure of its growing influence on our lives than the sudden shattering—in less than a decade—of standards of etiquette dating back centuries.
Imagine two 1950s housewives meeting for tea and pastries in a department store.One of them is chirping about some teak dining-room chairs that she thinks her husband will adore.But the other woman,instead of nodding politely,fishes her engagement diary out of her handbag and flicks through its pages with glazed eyes.That would be the last time those ladies met for tea,I fancy.
These days,in contrast,many of Britain's 30 million smartphone owners think nothing of surreptitiously checking Twitter during a conversation.Usually this digital rudeness takes place while someone else is talking:a spouse,friend,colleague or boss.But younger smartphone users have mastered the art of texting one person while talking to another.You need only travel on the top of a London bus to see virtuoso demonstrations of this trick by teenagers.
My friend Rob hates his girlfriend's habit of replying to texts half way through an episode of Game of Thrones.“She sits there with her phone on the arm of the sofa,and when she gets a text she always replies,”he says.“I offer to pause the DVD.She says no;she's quite capable of multitasking—then,10 minutes later,she asks what's going on in the plot.”
Other people are so inconsiderate,aren't they?Because,of course,it's always other people who,say,park their BlackBerry next to their wine glass in a restaurant,thus effectively putting up a sign that says:“Available for more interesting or urgent conversation.”We would never dream of doing it ourselves…except when we've promised our client that we'll be“on call”.Or when we're expecting that hot date to ring.Etc.
As I explain in my book The Fix,more and more of us are developing addictive relationships with our smartphones.At Stanford University in California—just a stone's throw from Apple's headquarters—44 per cent of students claim to be either very or totally addicted to their smartphones.Nine per cent admit to“patting”them.Eight per cent recalled thinking that their iPods were“jealous”of their iPhones.
These are strange things for students at one of America's top universities to say about their phones,even in jest.They also reveal how completely the smartphone has become part of these students’identities and social frameworks.They're not just tools that allow them to connect instantaneously and prolifically with others:they're also being afforded identities of their own,protected and cherished.
Much of this has to do with the way these devices are engineered.They practically force you to perform repetitive rituals of the sort associated with obsessive-compulsive behaviour.From the initial activation of the phone to the weekly“syncing”and nightly charging,your relationship to the phone is structured for you.
And because the iPhone's battery life isn't quite enough to last a full day's use—and certainly not long enough to withstand hours of constant fiddling and gaming—“pit stop”charges become a regular feature of the day.Users can often be seen checking for power sockets in coffee shops so that,while they get their fix of caffeine,their phones can get juiced up as well.
The makers of smartphones know far more about our mental reward circuits than is good for us.They divide information into bite-sized chunks that,a leading educationalist warned this week,may damage children's ability to study complex issues.Games apps,in particular,are ruthless brain-hijackers.
Take the example of Angry Birds,a computer game app that has been downloaded over 200 million times.The premise is simple:players launch birds across the screen with a slingshot,judging the trajectory of flight and altering the force and initial direction accordingly.It sounds harmless enough.But type“Angry Birds addiction”into Google and you're presented with 3.34 million results.So many people complain about being addicted to the game that it has spawned self-help pages all over the Internet.
Some of these pages ask whether Angry Birds addictions are changing people's brains.Selfdescribed addicts say they don't know why they can't put the game down,and talk about compulsively tracing their fingers on tables as they subconsciously recall the catapult action of the game.These sound suspiciously like the little rituals associated with alcoholism and drug abuse.
Perhaps a degree of scepticism is called for.The Angry Birds craze will fade,as these crazes always do.But it may leave behind a residue,in the form of the compulsive instinct to perform repetitive actions.
It's not a conspiracy theory to suggest that the primary task of iPhone game developers is learning how to manipulate our brains'reward circuits.They cheerfully admit as much.
Peter Vesterbacka,lead developer for Rovio,the company behind Angry Birds,describes how they make the game so addictive.“We use simple A/B testing,”he says,referring to a technique where different versions of a game are tested on live traffic.“We don't have to guess any more.With so many users,we can just run the numbers.”
To quote a leading technology journalist:“What you have in your back pocket is now as powerful as the thing you had on your desktop three years ago.There's almost nothing you can't do on your phone.It wakes you up.It plays games with you.It turns you on,if you're into smartphone porn.And it will play you soothing music to put you to sleep.”
The crucial point is that owning one is a pleasure in itself.This was Steve Jobs's great insight:that engineering was a means to an end—the creation of an intuitive,elegant accessory that you want to be seen using in public.
Inevitably,though,smartphones are not the status symbols they were in 2008.Vendors shipped nearly 500 million of them last year—an annual increase of 63 per cent as opposed to only 15 per cent for personal computers.
The implications for the developing world are fascinating.The smartphone,rather than the grubby PC in an Internet café,is the political dissidents'tool of choice in Africa,the Middle East and Asia.On the other hand,oppressive police forces have them,too.As do drug dealers.
So it's really too early to say whether this revolutionary technology will produce actual revolutions.But we can be confident of one trend,at least.With every passing day,more and more people in Lesotho,Patagonia and Papua New Guinea are learning the infuriating knack of checking their smartphone's inbox while someone is talking to them.
(1,161 words)
New Words＆Expressions
1.wreak［riːk］v.to cause something to happen in a violent and often uncontrolled way
2.shatter［΄ʃætə］v.to(cause something to)break suddenly into very small pieces
3.etiquette［΄εtIkεt］n.the set of rules or customs that control accepted behaviour in particular social groups or social situations
4.pastry［΄pestrI］n.a food made from flour,fat,and water that is mixed together,rolled flat,and baked in the oven
5.chirp［tʃзːp］v.to say something with a high,happy voice
6.teak［tiːk］n.(the wood of)a type of large tropical tree
7.flick through:to look quickly at the pages of a magazine,book,etc.
8.fish out:to find or extract(something)
9.surreptitiously［ˌsʌrəp΄tIʃəslI］adv.done secretly,without anyone seeing or knowing
10.virtuoso［ˌv■tʃʊ΄oso］n.a person who is extremely skilled at something,especially at playing an instrument or performing
11.inconsiderate［ˌInkən΄sIdərət］adj.not thinking or worrying about other people or their feelings
12.instantaneously［ˌInstən΄tenIəslI］adv.happening immediately,without any delay
13.prolifically［prə΄lIfIklI］adv.producing a great number or amount of something
14.fiddling［΄fIdlIŋ］v.keep moving something or touching it with your fingers
15.power sockets n.the part of a piece of equipment,especially electrical equipment,into which another part fits
16.juiced up:do something to make it more lively or exciting
17.slingshot［΄slIŋʃɑt］n.a device for shooting small stones
18.trajectory［trə΄dʒεktərI］n.the curved path that an object follows after it has been thrown or shot into the air
19.spawn［spɔːn］v.to cause something new,or many new things,to grow or start suddenly
20.residue［΄rezIdjuː］n.a small amount that remains after most of it has gone
21.conspiracy［kən΄spIrəsI］n.an agreement between a group of people which other people think is wrong or is likely to be harmful
22.turn on:to attract you and make you feel sexually excited
23.soothing［΄suːðIŋ］adj.making you feel calm
24.vendors［΄vendəz］n.someone who is selling something
25.dissident［΄dIsidənt］n.a person who publicly disagrees with and criticizes their government
26.infuriating［In΄fjʊrIetIŋ］adj.extremely annoying
27.knack［næk］n.a skill or an ability to do something easily and well
Notes
1.Damian Thompson(born 1962)is an English journalist,editor and author.He is an associate editor of The Spectator and editorial director of The Catholic Herald.On 15 June,2012,he published this essay in The Daily Telegraph for which he worked as the religious affairs correspondent then and the blogs editor and a Saturday columnist later.
2.Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by showrunners David Benioff and D.B.Weiss.It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire,George R.R.Martin's series of fantasy novels,the first of which is titled A Game of Thrones.It is filmed in a Belfast studio and on location elsewhere in Croatia,Iceland,Malta,Morocco,Northern Ireland,Spain,Scotland,and the United States,and premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17,2011.Its sixth season ended on June 26,2016.The series was renewed for a seventh season,which premiered on July 16,2017,and will conclude with its eighth season in 2018 or 2019.
3.It's always other people who,say,park their BlackBerry next to their wine glass in a restaurant,thus effectively putting up a sign that says:“Available for more interesting or urgent conversation.”:It's always other people who put their BlackBerry cellphone next to their wine glass in a restaurant to show that they are waiting for calls about some more interesting or urgent things.
4.BlackBerry is a line of smartphones,tablets,and services originally designed and marketed by Canadian company BlackBerry Limited(formerly known as Research In Motion Limited).These are currently designed,manufactured,and marketed by TCL Communication(BlackBerry Mobile),BB Merah Putih,and Optiemus for the global,Indonesian,and Indian markets,respectively,continuously using the BlackBerry brand.
5.When we're expecting that hot date to ring:When we're expecting that someone will call us to have a date.
6.Obsessive-compulsive behavior/disorder(OCD)is a mental disorder where people feel the need to check things repeatedly,have certain thoughts repeatedly,or feel they need to perform certain routines repeatedly.People are unable to control either the thoughts or the activities for more than a short period of time.Common activities include hand washing,counting of things,and checking to see if a door is locked.Some may have difficulty throwing things out.These activities occur to such a degree that the person's daily life is negatively affected.Often they take up more than an hour a day.Most adults realize that the behaviors do not make sense.The condition is associated with tics,anxiety disorder,and an increased risk of suicide.
7.Users can often be seen checking for power sockets in coffee shops so that,while they get their fix of caffeine,their phones can get juiced up as well:Users often check for power sockets in coffee shops so that they can charge their phones while they are having coffee.
8.Angry Birds is a video game franchise created by Finnish computer game developer Rovio Entertainment.Inspired by Crush the Castle,the first game in the series was initially released in December 2009 for Apple IOS.As of October 2010,12 million copies of the game were purchased from App Store.The company then released ports of the game for other touchscreen smartphone operating systems,including Android,Symbian and Windows Phone.The franchise has since been expanded to include video game consoles and PC ports.
9.Steve Jobs(1955—2011)was an American technology entrepreneur,businessman and inventor.He was the co-founder,chairman,and chief executive officer(CEO)of Apple Inc.；CEO and largest shareholder of Pixar Animation Studios；a member of the Walt Disney Company's board of directors following its acquisition of Pixar；and founder,chairman,and CEO of NeXT Inc.Jobs is widely recognized as a pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s,along with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.Shortly after his death,Jobs's official biographer,Walter Isaacson,described him as the“creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries:personal computers,animated movies,music,phones,tablet computing,and digital publishing.”
10.Lesotho,officially the Kingdom of Lesotho,is an enclaved,landlocked country in southern Africa completely surrounded by South Africa.It is just over 30,000 km2(11,583 sq mi)in size and has a population slightly over two million.Its capital and largest city is Maseru.Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.The name Lesotho translates roughly into the land of the people who speak Sesotho.About 40% of the population lives below the international poverty line of US $1.25 a day.
11.Patagonia is a sparsely populated region located at the southern end of South America,shared by Argentina and Chile.The region comprises the southern section of the Andes mountains as well as the deserts,pampas and grasslands east of this southern portion of the Andes.Patagonia has two coasts:a western one towards the Pacific Ocean and an eastern one towards the Atlantic Ocean.
12.Papua New Guinea,officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea,is an Oceanian country that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia,a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia.Its capital,located along its southeastern coast,is Port Moresby.The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Reading Comprehension
Ⅰ.Questions for discussion
1.What is meant by“Who would have thought,20 years ago,that a plastic and glass box smaller than the palm of your hand would ruin the good manners of millions of people”?
2.How may smartphones harm our brains?
3.What can you think of,besides what is discussed in the text,in accusation or support of smartphones?Give your reason or reasons.
Ⅱ.Judge,according to the text,whether the following statements are true(T)or false(F).
1.According to the text,there are about 30 million smartphone owners in Britain.
2.The Stanford University in California is far from Apple's headquarters.
3.According to the text,smartphones are now as powerful as the thing we had on our desktop three years ago.
4.Smartphones'sales volume has an annual increase of 63 per cent as opposed to only 15 per cent for personal computers.
5.According to the author more and more people from developing countries will be influenced by smartphones.
Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks with words that best complete the sentences.
( )1.They could even plug themselves into a power_______to recharge their own batteries.A.station B.socket C.hole D.box
( )2.Electric cars will require more powerful recharging stations than the standard wall outlets used to juice________bikes.
A.up B.off C.in D.on
( )3.Despite living in different waters,all eels________in the sea.
A.spawned B.spawn C.spawning D.spawns
( )4.Put on some nice________music.
A.useful B.warm C.cold D.soothing
( )5.The HP TouchSmart allows users to________their music and photo collections by moving their finger across the screen.
A.flick through B.listen to C.feel D.watch
( )6.As we all know,Langlang is one of the nation's leading piano________.
A.green hands B.newcomer C.virtuosos D.virtuoso
( )7.If you accuse someone of being________,you mean that they do not take enough care over how their words or actions will affect other people.
A.polite B.generous C.helpful D.inconsiderate
( )8.A________is a way of behaving or a series of actions that people regularly carry out in a particular situation,because it is their custom to do so.
A.performance B.ritual C.habit D.law
( )9.Did you ever swallow the________theory about Kennedy.
A.conspire B.conspirator C.conspirating D.conspiracy
( )10.But if he speaks________jest,his words are idle among men who cannot receive them.
A.in B.on C.with D.a
Cloze
Of the four choices given below for each blank,choose the one that best fits into the passage.
Robert Edwards 1 in an unusual accident many years 2 .He was also partially deaf 3 old age.Last week he was walking near his ho me 4 a thunderstorm 5 .He took shelter 6 a tree and was struck by lightning.He was 7 to the ground and woke up 8 20 minutes later, 9 face down in water below a tree.He went into the house and lay down in bed.A short time later he awoke.His legs couldn't move 10 he was trembling. 11 ,when he opened his eyes he could see the clock 12 the room in front of him. 13 his wife entered he saw her for the first time in nine years.Doct ors confirmed that he had 14 his sight and hearing apparently 15 the flash of lightning.But they were unable to explain the 16 .One possible explanation 17 by one doctor was that Edwards lost his sight 18 a hard blow in a terrible accident.Perhaps the only way it could 19 was by 20 blow.
( )1.A.blinded B.was blinded C.has been blinded D.had been blinded
( )2.A.later B.before C.ago D.early
( )3.A.because of B.because C.at D.in
( )4.A.when B.while C.until D.where
( )5.A.fell B.blew C.formed D.approached
( )6.A.in B.on C.under D.near
( )7.A.thrown B.knocked C.fallen D.beaten
( )8.A.just B.some C.for D.within
( )9.A.to lie B.having lain C.lay D.lying
( )10.A.and B.when C.but D.while
( )11.A.Thus B.Therefore C.But D.Above all
( )12.A.across B.through C.into D.out of
( )13.A.While B.When C.Whenever D.As
( )14.A.gained B.gotten C.reminded D.regained
( )15.A.at B.in C.from D.on
( )16.A.result B.reason C.consequence D.content
( )17.A.offered B.contributed C.sought D.thought
( )18.A.because of B.owing to C.based on D.as a result of
( )19.A.restore B.be restored C.have restored D.have been restored
( )20.A.other B.the other C.another D.one