Tag Archives: Mobile phone

Feb17

Staying Connected

Posted on February 17, 2012 by dalai-nana

Calling my grandmother

When I was a child, every Sunday we talked to my grandparents who lived hundreds of miles away and we were only able to see once every year or so. I do not remember if we called them or they called us but it was an event in our household. I remember having to recall what I had done or accomplished to share with them each week and it was good to actually have this time to reflect on my week and plan how to tell them of the important activities in my life. This week I have texted my 14 year old granddaughter and received instant info (as needed), spoken with my 10 year old grandson which was sweet and simple and Skyped with my 2 year old granddaughter who is hundreds of miles away!

What communication is lost and gained with the technology available?

Lost:	Gained:
Excitement and Uniqueness	Instant and Frequent
Reflection and Preparation	Spontaneous and Unrehearsed
Spoken is Interpreted Once	Texted is Interpreted Forever
Maturation of conversation	Auto correct

Here are some of the facts I have learned about our communication changes:

Talking to Teens

Children and Phones

Fully 72% of all teens — or 88% of teen cell phone users — send text messages, up from 51% of in 2006 and about 0% since 1996.

Have you ever been at a party and felt an awkward moment, so pulled out your cell phone and pretended to text, check an email, or chat?

You are not alone. A recent found that 13 percent of Americans admit to using their cell phones to prevent unwanted social interactions.

Hmm. Perhaps that’s why everyone’s always “texting” in the elevator. Does it mean our children will be awkward more or just deal with it different?

One of the most dramatic increases in the use of cell phones was from 10 to 11 year old range with over 80.5% owning a handset. The study goes on to discover that boys are gaining in number to have a phone over girls – it has increased . As more wireless providers are offering services that are aimed at kids, such as the use of GPS tracking, there will continue to be a boom in the usage of mobile phones among children.

THERE ARE 300 MILLION VIDEO CALLS A DAY ON SKYPE –

YIKES!

How are you connecting with your grandchildren? Is it too much? Would you go back to the once a week updates? Not me – but I sure would love to hear the sweet sound of my grandmother’s soft giggle or my granddad’s knowing nod as I told of the important events of my week! Even Skype cannot bring that back.

Jul15

Nana, Can I play your phone?

Posted on July 15, 2011 by dalai-nana

Nana, Can I play your phone?

When I first heard this request, I thought it was funny but now I am beginning to realize the change the once simple device has made in our lives and how “phone” is a total misnomer for the device that allows us to hold our world in the palm of our hand and to expand our braintrust exponentially! With a simple google search or map request, we can avoid the pain and wasted moments of thinking and preparing. With social media and text, we no longer have to plan, consider others actions or even think ahead more than 3 minutes because we can just text them. With mobile ads, businesses can target me based not only on my demographics, personal preferences and stated likes, they can know when I am conveniently located near their outlet. With games, we can target our attention and eyes to a small focused area and concentrate on the eye hand coordination that makes Luke Skywalker battles believable and possible.

But should we let our kids “play our phones”?

From Christine Mallait’s blog on the subject “One of the main ideas to consider about technology and children is: are they getting enough exposure to life outside of the one present inside a television, computer, cell phone, etc.? Back in the day (even ten years ago), children were outside climbing trees, playing sports like baseball in the park, or playing tag outside much more than today’s kids. The onset of technology into children’s lives has made playing Wii sports more desirable than playing soccer outside or going on the computer instead of going to the pool. While obviously children still find their ways into the great outdoors, there are more distractions for them now that video games, iPods, and cell phones have found themselves into the hands of today’s youth. Parents have begun buying into the “easy ways” to entertain children and televisions have become new-found babysitters. Is this necessarily the way the world should be – where technology obscures the great outdoors – especially in such nice weather during the summer? As well, what should the ground rules be for children and new gadgets?

My grandchildren are taught that too much TV, Computer, Wii, Technology will turn their “Brain to Mush”