The subject of civilization in the world today cannot be overemphasised because it has done a whole lot of good to our way of life, and it's still on track to do more until the world finally collapses. Civilization is centred on change, which is forever constant. Whether we like it or not, things will continue to change, and that's where advancement (whether good or bad) comes into play.
Among other things, one of the things that freaks me out most about technology advancement is the transformation of mobile phones.
I was a little bit sensible when phones were becoming popular and common in the hands of many, and I witnessed where people used the ancient phones.
I remember a particular time that one of my cousins, who's highly freaked out about technology, bought his first phone, a Sagem with ringtones that can invoke snakes. I wonder if Sagem is still a phone company thus day.
Mobile phones have come a long way in the past decades, from the heavy bricky phones to the smart, powerful phones we have today. The network and connectivity issues we had in those days, such as climbing trees to get a common 2G network to access the internet or mounting an antenna and connecting it to a phone to draw down the network to make a call, all of these are no longer in existence. A lot of phones are now using modified networks, so you don't need to search for them or cry for poor networks.
With the modern features on a phone, you can get in touch with anyone in any part of the world without spending a dime, apart from data connections. There are apps that allow video calls without deducting data....in case you're looking for one, let me know*. This was the same thing that used to cost a lot whenever someone had to talk with his loved ones overseas in those days. By then, N500 airtime will be used to just flash the foreign number, not to talk about calling. Lol😂
We know there was entertainment such as gaming, watching videos, etc. on the early phones, but you can't compare all those to what we have now. Gaming is on another level now, while videos are of the highest quality.
The means to get these games and videos are now very easy; one can easily get them via download from sites or streams on YouTube. I didn't know anything about YouTube then, so I don't know how people who used those phones managed to stream online.
In all these, the bad sides of this civilization on mobile phones can't be overlooked.
Nigerians reading this must know about Nmesoma and her jamb saga (Nmesoma forged a result). The current smart phones can be easily used to forge anything forgeable with the apps therein and succeed to a good scam.
Someone's details can be easily snatched by the modern-day phone, which can be used to play any trick.
This has greatly contributed to the rate of internet crimes we are currently facing: a lot of cloned accounts everywhere pretending to be real while they're just out there hunting for a sleeping soul to devour.
Should we talk about the health effects it brings? That's another dangerous feature of these phones; the rays of light from them have left many blind.
How I've been handling both sides
Modern-day phones have been helpful to me right from the moment I began to use them. It has fetched me a lot of money via blogging, affiliate marketing, and investment, and it's still doing that.
The bad side? I know what's bad and what's good, and it's my choice which one I like. So far, I've abstained from anything scammy and also minimised my exposure to the screen. I also don't keep my phone very close when sleeping to avoid stories.
The only thing I haven't been able to do is getting off my addiction to phones. Yes, it has totally won me away from mingling with people physically.
Thanks for reading.
This is my entry to the Week 79, Edition 02 of the Weekly Featured Contest in Hive Learners Community.