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Problem Masau Lifestyle Writer
A LADY immaculately dressed in a slim fit dress revealing her body contours, high heels and stockings walks along First Street and into Jason Moyo Avenue in Harare. In her hands are a set of car keys, a smartphone which has earphones plugged into her ears, a laptop bag, a tablet and a latest iPad.
As she strolls the city multi-tasking she is nearly run over by vehicle at a traffic intersection, because she is not paying attention to her immediate surroundings.
Welcome to the new age of technology where people own more than one gadget with all or almost the same functions.
Many people can access or afford these technological gadgets. Some are not content with owning just one cellphone or tablet.
What is fascinating is a report by the UN that shows that six of seven billion people in the world have cellphones, while only 4,5 billion have access to a toilet.
So technically more people have cellphones than toilets!
New Ofcom research reveals the extent to which the world has become addicted to smart- phones, with people confessing to using them everywhere from the dining table to the bathroom and bedroom.
Does it make sense to own both smartphone and iPad? Is it that one wants to use both of them or is just for show off or status?
“I have two phones because I want to use both of them. I am a businesswoman and I try to be reachable as much as I can because I don’t want to lose any business,” said Alfina Gweru, who owns a car sale in town.
However, many people interviewed by Saturday Lifestyle said they own two phones because one was strictly business and other one for trivial issues such as social networking and “miscellaneous”.
“With this Facebook and WhatsApp thing one cannot afford to have one phone. The battery would be dead within minutes and I cannot afford that,” another Hararian Enock Mugove said.
Some women said they suspect that their husbands were cheating when they use two or more phones.
“He has two cellphones. He runs his own company and is very busy so I guess it makes sense to carry two just in case he needs to be on the phone with one and text/email on the other. But someone told me that’s a sign that he is a cheater and a user. He has one phone for me and the other for whoever else he is dating,” said a girl who only identified herself as Tania.
For students and those in college, addiction and dependency on the most sophisticated of communication systems (computers, tablets, and smartphone) decreases academic performance, face-to-face communication, social relations, causes psychological problems and sometimes results in death, research by addiction specialists Michael Dow has reviewed.
Dow said some people experience withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, insomnia and depression which are typically associated with substance abuse.
Most of the younger generation and college students are highly dependent on computers, smartphones and the internet.
They spend most of their time engaged with these man-made machines.
Some of the younger generation forgets their surroundings and they are not comfortable enough to make conversation with their own friends.
Because of high dependability on modern communication devices, the number of car accidents has also increased.
Many people have complained that their maids are spending most of their time on these smartphones.
“Food is burnt, irons overheat and the house is not tidied up whilst my maid is on the phone,” said one employer.
Online Reporter