1. Maps
This is actually one of my favorite features on the iPhone. It is extremely convenient. I can add locations to my calendar and simply click on it, showing me how long it will take to get there. It makes it so easy to keep up with my schedule and the places I have to be. I love it for road trips and going to places I've never been before.
However, it has destroyed me! I now am so depended on my smart phones map program that I don't know how to get to areas that are only 15-20mins away from where I live. This is sad. I can easily compare my two lives with and without a phone because I lived in Taiwan for two years without a smart phone then moved back to America for two years with one.
In Taiwan I could easily get across town, on a bus or scooter with no problems. I could take a train to a city that was two hours away and know how to get around in the city fairly well. Keep in mind this is in another country, making in 10x harder to know street names and to describe to people where you are going etc.
Now fastforward to living in America for the past 2 years. I know use my smart phone to get me to locations I've been 2-3 times already. I use it to get to other cities that are only 45 min away. I never needed this before. I use to just look at a google map print it off, within the first day of using it I was fine without a map the next time I went to that location.
2. Money
This is a pretty obvious one. When I used to be satisfied with my sad little flip phone. I paid about $10 a month and put more minutes on it when I needed it. I mostly only used it for emergencies. Made a call like once a week only. Now I can get into contact with people a lot easier and don't have to worry about my minutes running out, but I am paying $60 for unlimited voice and text then $10 for data. That $70 a month, $60 then my previous phone! Add those months over a year or two and I am short a ton money! I got my iPhone when I had a better paying job, but not being locked into a contract has me trapped. Even if I pay early termination fee's I will still come out with more money if I switch my plan...
3. Photos
Now this topic isn't so bad, but there is a point I would like to add. Having a mildly decent camera on my phone has been wonderful! I love it so much. Its one of the most used features I have. The only down side is, I bring out my professional Nikon camera a lot less because I know I have my phone with me. Then later I will look back and say man I wish I brought my camera with me today or I wish we got some higher quality photos of this.
4. Time
Phones are a great device to have with you all the time. They help me organize my life. However while they are helping me get more organized, I find myself wasting hours staring at their tiny little screens for no good reason. Rather if its killing time on a terribly made game from the app store or just scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, etc. I have found that I have to force myself to not just grab my phone whenever I feel slightly bored and unsure of what I want to do at the moment.
5. Distraction
My phone has become a huge distraction. I find myself staring at its screen while friends of my wife talks to me. It drives me crazy when I realize what I am doing. My wife and I have always made it our goal to never pick up our phones while we are out on dates or having dinner with people (this is one of my biggest pet peeves with some of my friends) but they still seem to claw there way into the pawn of our hands at other occasions. Its one thing if its for a photo, but to just scroll through Facebook or reply to an unimportant text.
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