Before Smartphones Were A Thing

Surprisingly, some things were better back then

Photo by Hugh Han on Unsplash

It was a typical Saturday afternoon and my wife and I decided to have lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant. I got a ticket ahead of time through an app on my phone so that we didn’t need to wait long for a table when we got there.

After ordering, while waiting for our food, I snapped a quick photo of the restaurant and sent it to my sister over a thousand kilometers away, in Manila, for her usual “sooo jealous!” reaction and a quick laugh. When our food arrived, I took a short video showing how my wife over-ordered again and posted that one as a story on Instagram.

As I slurped my noodles while scrolling through posts on Facebook, my wife was busy getting her iPhone’s Face ID to work to pay for something she just purchased online. Suddenly, a notification popped up from the top of my screen. It was from my mother, and in her message was a photo. It was a photo of me as a little kid playing with a small, very thin, card-sized calculator and pretending it was some sort of high-tech phone from the future.

“Do you remember this?” she asked.

Then it hit me. That rush of nostalgia that, for a very brief moment, brought me back in time to when a lot of what we have today only existed in our imaginations. Yes, I do remember that time. But at the same time, I had a hard time remembering how everyday life was before such a powerful device took over my life.

I love my iPhone. As with most people these days, it goes with me wherever I go. In fact, I am so used to having it with me all the time that I feel as if I am unable to function properly whenever it leaves my side. Smartphones have made our lives more convenient, placed the internet right at our fingertips, and put everyone that we know within a message or video call away. It has become a status symbol and a fashion statement as much as it is a tool for everyday life.

While it is hardly arguable that the pros that smartphones have brought into our lives far outweigh the cons, I believe that certain occasions are better off with our phones safely inside our pockets.

Looking back, there was a time when:

1. The dining table was full of bustling conversations. Before mobile phones, we usually had no other choice but to talk to each other at the dining table. We would talk about how our day went, argue, crack jokes, exchange ideas, plan our next trip, or reminisce about old times. No matter what, there was almost always something to talk about. Complete silence usually meant either something was wrong or you just happened to be on a really awkward date. Today, however, the dining table has become a far quieter place. It’s now completely normal to see people around a table at a restaurant trapped inside their own personal bubbles, with their heads buried in their phones. How ironic it is to see how a device that has made us more connected than ever to each other has also brought us further apart from the people right in front of us. I confess I too am still working on consciously putting my phone down at the dining table and pretending it’s 1995.
2. We weren’t too reliant on technology. Nowadays, we get into our cars, input our destination on Google Maps or Waze, and just drive away. At school, a growing number of kids have stopped taking notes completely and just rely on taking voice notes and photos of what’s on the board. It seems that in exchange for convenience, we’ve unknowingly compromised our ability to recall. We skip the process of learning our routes before starting our journeys which in turn puts our focus on the turn-by-turn directions on our mobile phones instead of the actual route we are taking while driving. This usually results in us needing to take the same trip repeatedly before we actually remember on our own where to turn right, where to turn left, and which exit to take. On the other hand, kids have a harder time reviewing for exams as their photo and voice notes provide less recall compared to if they took the notes down themselves. These are just a few examples of this point and its severity may vary from person to person. For some, this might not be a problem at all. But for those who find themselves becoming a bit too over-reliant on their phones, this might be a good wake-up call.
3. Single-player meant toys at home and multiplayer meant playing outside. Back in the day, mobile phones and games did not exist. Our parents did not have the luxury of having an iPhone or iPad loaded with games to keep us entertained and away from trouble. They either gave us toys to play with or encouraged us to go outside and play with our friends. When I was a kid, I would have the grandest adventures at home with all my toys. In my happy little bubble, Batman, the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Ninja Turtles, and various members of the cast of Mortal Kombat and G.I. Joe all existed in one glorious cinematic universe. There was no limit as to where my adventures would take place. From suspense-filled encounters in the complex underground base under the living room table, to aquatic adventures in the bathroom, to daring jungle quests in the garden, all the way to those seasonal epic battles on the intricate branch network of the family Christmas tree, action was everywhere. On days when I was feeling a bit more sociable, I would either go take my toys to a friend’s house for some engaging co-op play or simply step outside for a little fun under the sun with the best neighbors in the world.
4. We fully took in the best moments of our lives. Whether it be while traveling to somewhere new, watching a concert, witnessing a milestone in our kids’ lives, or simply seeing something amazing on the street, our first instinct these days is to pull out our phones and try our best to capture the moment. We get so caught up capturing the moment that we often forget to live in it and fully take it in. Gone are the days where we just stood there and watched in awe as some of the most beautiful events of our lives unfolded before our eyes. When was the last time you experienced something amazing and just enjoyed the moment?

These are some of the things I have committed to bring back into my life. I want to have those lively conversations at the dining table again. I want my kids to grow up playing with toys at home and with other kids outside instead of being perpetually glued to an iPhone or iPad. I want to go back to not needing a GPS everywhere I went and remember routes I take on the first pass. I want to experience living in the best moments of my life the way it should be, free from any form of distractions.

Don’t get me wrong, my phone will still be with me. It will and forever be — unless it gets replaced by something better — an essential part of my life. But for moments that are better off without it, it will stay in my pocket where it belongs.