In this blog post, we will look at the impact and changes smartphones have had on our lives, and whether we are in control of them.
The evolution of communication and changes in lifestyle
Since ancient times, people have valued communication with each other. In the past, there were no communication devices, so people had to travel to deliver messages in person, but today we communicate with each other through mail, electricity, and electromagnetic signals. In recent years, the rapid development of communication devices has proven the importance of communication. About 15 years ago, people could not have imagined that they would be able to surf the web on their mobile phones at such low prices. However, nowadays, many people, including students and office workers, can be seen enjoying internet activities on their mobile phones on the subway, in classrooms, and even on the road. This is a lifestyle that has emerged with the advent of smartphones.
The advent of smartphones and its background
The background to the emergence of smartphones lies simply in the development of communication devices. However, when we look at actual cases of smartphone use, we can see that they are used not only for contacting each other by phone or text message, but also for entertainment, maps, surfing the internet, and various other purposes. If we compare mobile phones to celebrities, smartphones are like all-round entertainers who can sing, act, dance, and perform variety shows. Let’s take a closer look at smartphones, which play such a large role in our lives.
A smartphone is a mobile device with a mobile operating system like a personal computer that can run various applications. Compared to computers and laptops, smartphones are easy to carry around and are frequently used in everyday life. In 2023, the average daily usage time of smartphone users worldwide will be approximately 3 hours and 50 minutes. This figure represents the average time users spend online through their smartphones for various activities such as social media, games, browsing, and communication. This shows how deeply smartphones have penetrated our lives. Before the advent of smartphones, feature phones, which could only make basic calls and send messages, were the mainstream. Then, personal digital assistants (PDAs) with additional features such as calculators, clocks, and alarms appeared, but they failed to gain a foothold in the market due to low demand. However, a few years later, the emergence of open, general-purpose operating system-based smartphones brought about a new change in the mobile phone market.
The release of the iPhone 3GS in 2009 completely changed the public’s perception of mobile phones as mere mobile devices with messaging capabilities. The advent of smartphones led to the exclusion of mobile carriers from the process of creating content, or applications, for the mobile environment.
This means that the closed structure, in which mobile carriers controlled the entire process of content creation and distribution, has evolved into an open ecosystem centered on smartphone users who develop and use applications. A seller creates content that modern people need, uploads it to an application store on a smartphone, and other users can download it to their personal devices and use it for the rest of their lives. The scope of this is endless, ranging from games to music download programs and navigation. In particular, the growth of mobile messengers and social networking services (SNS) such as KakaoTalk, Facebook, and Twitter is rapidly encroaching on the voice and text messaging markets, which are core areas of the mobile communications business, accelerating this trend. Currently, smartphones are replacing conventional feature phones and have become indispensable in most areas of our daily lives, transcending the industrial dimension of the communications market.
Disadvantages of smartphone use and related issues
However, smartphones also have many disadvantages. The emergence of new technologies has created problems that did not exist before. First, the advent of smartphones has increased the amount of time people spend looking at their mobile phones, causing modern people to experience eye strain more quickly. In the past, people only looked at electronic devices when working on laptops or computers, but today, people look at their smartphones even when resting, giving their eyes no time to rest. In addition, when engaging in outdoor activities such as meeting friends, people often become distant from each other because they are focused on their smartphones instead of talking to each other. However, the most serious issue these days is the infringement of personal information, especially internet banking hacking. According to an article published in 2011, a hacker demonstrated how to hack into internet banking with a few simple steps. Simply by accessing a certain website, smartphone users can be infected with malicious code, which allows hackers to use their own laptops to transfer the user’s information to their own servers. Once this happens, the hackers can freely use financial services with the hacked user’s information, including their public certification certificates. As you can see, smartphones can cause great damage to users if they are not used carefully. In addition to personal information infringement, problems such as sexual harassment and invasion of privacy using the silent camera function of smartphones are becoming increasingly common, and this is emerging as one of the most serious social issues.
The future and potential of smartphones
If used correctly, smartphones are expected to be equipped with more diverse functions in the future, enriching our lives. In fact, technology to measure biological information such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and heart rate through smartphone cameras and sensors is currently being tested and developed. An example of this is Peek Vision, a smartphone application developed by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, which was selected as one of the “Top 10 Promising Technologies” by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning. This application can be used to perform basic eye tests and even check for serious diseases such as cataracts. Due to its low cost and ease of use, there are plans to use it to treat eye disease patients in underdeveloped countries. In addition, technologies that combine smartphones with other fields are also emerging. In the automotive sector, for example, technologies are being developed that allow smartphones to control car doors and ignition and automatically contact service centers in case of an emergency. Furthermore, by downloading an app called “Where is my car?”, users can easily find the location of their parked car and, in the event of an accident, easily find the location of the nearest service center. As you can see, smartphones are not limited to their own uses, but can be combined with other technologies to create synergistic effects.
As mentioned earlier, smartphones started out as devices for communication, but now they have become essential items that play a major role in the daily lives of modern people, performing functions such as messaging, entertainment, internet surfing, and health checks, in addition to their original functions of messaging and making calls. Many people argue that smartphones will dominate our daily lives in the future, as they still have much more potential for development. In order to make the most of the various functions of smartphones and overcome their shortcomings, users must determine which applications are necessary for them and use them correctly. They must develop the ability to filter out spam messages delivered in various ways, and refrain from entering unverified websites or scanning QR codes. However, these are not the only precautions to take when using smartphones. Smartphones, like computers and laptops, are devices that cause a lot of strain on the user’s eyes, neck, and back. Therefore, when using a smartphone, it is necessary to relieve eye strain periodically and to get into the habit of stretching your neck and back.
Smartphones and social responsibility
While the convenience of smartphones in our daily lives must be acknowledged, social responsibility is also important. We should refrain from excessive use of smartphones and use them only when necessary. In addition, we must use the information obtained through smartphones correctly and be careful not to violate the privacy of others. In particular, with the increase in cybercrime using smartphones, social systems to prevent and respond to such crimes must also be strengthened. Along with the caution of individual users, a change in awareness throughout society is necessary.
Modern people must strive to live more convenient and healthy lives through the proper use of smartphones. Continuous caution and management are necessary to maximize the advantages of smartphones while minimizing their adverse effects. By doing so, smartphones will be able to establish themselves as true tools in our lives.
