Smartphones

Smartphones. Everyone has one. The technology involved boggles the mind if you put too much thought into it. Not too long ago computers looked like this.

And even then about all you could do on them was play Solitaire and do long division. Nowadays, your average toddler can do anything from play a cheeky game of Candy Crush, to manage their bank account, to remotely controlling their central heating at home. That's right, the average toddler.

The value we place on the versatility and convenience of having these tiny gadgets in our back pockets is immense. I have friends who buy every new instalment and marginal upgrade that the companies decide to make. “But look Gareth, the menu layout has been redesigned; this is going to change my life!” And I am certain you know similar people in your life, or are one yourself. The industry in the smartphone market has exploded. Samsung, Apple and Microsoft are all riding this train to colossal profits. Ever heard of Huawei? They’re a Chinese company with some new phones being released in the UK, but they are the largest telecoms company in the world.

Apple purchases in excess of 50% of the world’s total production of sapphire to provide for its new screens.

What am I going on about with all this? Well, smartphones are a new phenomenon, but they are not going away anytime soon. This is why I wanted to give you some insights into what the little box in your left pocket is doing to your life, and also some interesting facts you can use to impress your colleagues over lunch.

Using smartphones dramatically increases sensitivity in the tips of your fingers. Find out a bit more about it here. The study seems to show that after a certain period of using a phone, the piece of your brain responsible for the sensory nerves in your thumb and fingers become dramatically more sensitive. So maybe using your phone is affecting your brain, but probably not cooking it like your Gran warned you.

You’ve heard of Athletes Foot and Tennis Elbow. Well how about Texter’s Neck?  Did you know your head weighs 12lbs? (average) That’s equivalent to the green bowling balls you find in your local bowling lanes. Now imagine the length of time that you spend hunched over staring gormlessly down at your phone waiting for twitter to Load New Tweets.  The study shows just how much strain you are putting on your cervical spine by spending so much time on your phone.  Up to 60lbs worth of strain, depending on how deeply you incline your head. Maybe try and keep it at eye level?

Ever have trouble sleeping at night? Tossing and turning because your mind is still active, thinking about plans for the next couple of days? Well we can blame that one on your phone too. The act of looking at a screen is a remarkably taxing one for your eyes to perform. Just the simple act of scrolling down your Facebook wall is a highly mental activity, and is something that preoccupies a great deal of attention. To an even greater extent, relaxing by playing a simple game like Clash of Clans is an activity that requires a whole lot of brainpower.

This is the opposite of what you want to be doing before bed. In an ideal world, you would stick on some smooth jazz or whale song, depending on preference, and relax in a semi-meditative state repeating the word “Ohm” to yourself until your mental activity has ceased, from whence you fall into a blissful sleep carried on the wings of angels. Is this going to happen every night? Without a doubt, no. What you can do to help yourself out before going to bed, is maybe relax downstairs on your phone, then when you are ready to go to bed, toddle up stairs and put your PJs on, brush your teeth, and get some multiple of 40 winks without poring over your phone.

So the smartphone is using its powers for evil, for the most part right? All part of the plan, so that when Skynet rises we will all be an oversensitive, ill-rested and chronic back pain suffering lot who lack the vim and vigour to resist the machine uprising.

We all know the surface benefits of having a phone. 24hr access to information wherever you are, an ability to contact everyone you know in a matter of seconds, distracting yourself in important meetings, and all manner of other tasks.

Wondering how this is all relevant to the library? Wonder no longer! With a flawless segue, here are a couple of links about services you can access on your phone.

UptoDate has a great mobile site just waiting for you to scroll down.

http://www.scoop.it/apps is well worth a look. I told you about Scoop it a couple of weeks ago, but the content curation is a really valuable feature and a novel approach to information access.

See you next time!