Member-only story
Yes, People Got Along Just Fine Before Smartphones
Quite often when I post something about life with and without smartphone technology, someone points out how smartphones aren’t necessary and that we got along just fine without having these pocket communicator computers with us at all times. Yes, we did get along just fine without them, but there were consequences.
Storytime. Many years ago, in the pre-smartphone era, I went on a business trip with 3 coworkers to the Washington, D.C. area. Since smartphones did not exist and standalone GPS devices were cutting-edge technology just barely entering the consumer market, we were navigating with paper maps. If you’re not from the DC area and you’re navigating with paper maps at night, you’re going to have an interesting experience. On our way from our business meeting to our hotel, we missed an exit because we couldn’t get over fast enough in traffic to get to it. In many parts of the United States, if you miss your exit you can just take the next exit and get back to where you’re supposed to be after a series of turns. That is most assuredly not the case in the DC area. We ended up driving for nearly 3 hours before we reached our hotel. After that experience, I bit the bullet and bought my first standalone GPS unit. Although it was primitive by the standards of Google Maps, it meant no more navigation by paper maps.
