God, I haven’t written in a while. Nice to be back in the game.

Let’s come out and say it - since when has everyone been so hooked onto their devices?

I commute to and from school using public transport buses (yuck) and for the last few months I’ve started to notice that a fair share of people are on a little digital device of sorts. Blackberry, iPod, iPhone, whatever - you name it I’ve probably seen it. The fact is that they’re always on it. They embark on the bus with the wretched thing in their hands, text, play games, talk, listen to music, insert other device usage here for the whole journey, then disembark with it still in their hands or glued to their ears. My question is: why? Is there some sort of inherent need to pass the time doing something because you can’t sit still on a bus, or do you really rely on it because you are secretly addicted to it?

Now these are words that one would probably expect from a “kids-these-days” grumpy older uncle, and not from a 20 year-old university student studying film. I’m a person with techno-joy, to quote Eddie Izzard, so I love me some devices. But I’m quite old-fashioned in the sense that I like to maintain that time-and-a-place-for-everything mantra. You don’t NEED to be on the phone 24/7. Not even international businessmen do that. You don’t NEED to be downloading and playing apps on your phone all the time. Can you not just sit there and have time alone with your thoughts? Why not reflect on the world? Developing your thoughts would lead to the extinction of miscommunication and lend hand to solving the problem that the majority of people can’t articulate their opinions - but that’s another rant for another time.

I know. I’m not in any position to judge them - I don’t know any of these guys! But I can point something out. And this isn’t something I’ve seen just on my way to school in a town on one day - the percentage is worse in a major city with far more people and more diversity. I realise people lead every walk of life that may entail xyz and abc, but one thing seems to be constant - the sheer amount of time people spend on their devices on the move is staggering. And that’s hard to ignore, no matter what you can say.

I’m guilty of doing the same thing, but I’m not one to do it often. I don’t know how frequently ONE individual does this; I’m not a stalker. And I’m not going to say people SHOULD do this or people SHOULD do that. I’m sure there must have been people with the same sentiments towards others who started reading on the move.

As a person who likes time alone with his thoughts, I guess I just don’t understand the mass appeal of devices to be used on the move. There’s plenty of time to enjoy the devices, and enjoy them more, when you have a private moment or a bit of free time. On the move, you’re distracted with so many things in that moment in time, your mind is always on one thing or another. But in that free time, there’s nothing to dilute your enjoyment. The entertainment becomes distilled - pure. Thus, enjoyed better.

So, what do you think of this subject?