Remember? 6 Things We Did Before Cell Phones Existed
Some people can barely recall a time before cell phones – younger generations especially can’t imagine life without them. These devices have become a necessity in our society and life for work, recreation, organization and communication.
There’s no denying cell phones have made our lives more efficient and convenient. Looking back over the past two decades, you might ask: what did we do before they were around? If you have a short memory, or if you’re simply too young to remember life before modern technology, here’s a look at a few things we did before cell phones came into our lives.
Do you remember the last time you did any of these?
We watched the news and read the newspaper.
Not to say people don’t watch the news or read the newspaper today, but most people will agree: with the ability to read the latest headlines on our social media newsfeeds, more and more of us are watching less TV and scrolling to find the latest in current events. Now, news is at our fingertips, so it’s much easier to stay in the loop.
We memorized phone numbers.
What’s the last phone number you memorized? Cell phones mean we’re constantly carrying around a digital Rolodex, making it easier to communicate with friends and family with a simple voice command. It was different back in the day when we had to memorize phone numbers and manually dial our home phones. Now it’s rare to remember anyone’s phone number at all!
We went to the bank.
Mobile check deposit is a relatively new concept, but in its short existence, it has practically eliminated the need to go to the bank. Before mobile check deposit, people who didn’t have the option of direct deposit were forced to go to the bank, waste time in a teller’s line or deposit their paychecks through the ATM. Today, simply pull out your phone, take a couple of pictures and you’re done. Check your bank account a few hours later and you’ll see a pending or posted transaction for your paycheck.
We used an alarm clock.
If you have a smartphone, then you probably don’t have an alarm clock. Cell phones are a combination of many devices, which is super convenient because you don’t have to worry about lugging around multiple electronics. Your cell phone can be a phone, a camera, an alarm clock, a radio, a stopwatch and more. Of course, the problem with using a cell phone as an alarm clock is that you have to place it next to your bed. This creates temptation to play games on your phone or scroll your newsfeed late at night when you’re supposed to be sleeping.
We lost touch with friends and family.
Cell phones also allow us to take full advantage of social media. And through social media, it’s easier to stay in touch with friends or family that you haven’t seen in a while. Even though these people are out of sight, they’re not totally out of mind. So even when you haven’t seen someone in years, you can jump into a conversation with them and have plenty to talk about because you’ve been keeping up with each other’s lives.
We were cursed with boredom.
Who hasn’t been caught in a boring situation? Riding public transportation with strangers, waiting in the doctor’s office, even during commercial breaks during our favorite TV shows – boredom stroked and it stroked often. If you didn’t have any reading material, you had to suffer through boredom, in which minutes felt like hours. Thanks to cell phones, our minds, our eyes and our hands are preoccupied even when we don’t notice.
Having tiny computers in our pockets have completely changed the way we live. And fortunately, technology isn’t going anywhere – it’s only getting better. Soon, driving a car, using a TV remote – they’ll all be things of the past.