I took my son by Wendy's today (he digs the Cheesy Cheddar Burger) and while we sat there eating (well, he was mostly driving his John Deere toy through his ketchup) I looked across the dining area and chuckled at this. The four young guys were all sitting at a table and all four of them were absorbed completely and totally in their smart phones they barely spoke two words for the 30 minutes we were there. Just so happened the one guy looked up from his right as I took the picture... And sitting right next to them - the group of grey hair retirees all sitting around talking. If they are anything like my parents they probably can't even dial their cell phones. I think I liked it better when people sat around talking to each other.





BeachAV8R

You do realize that the four guys on the cell phones were texting each other.


Wheels

Or Skyping..

Thats awesome.
You should watermark that picture.

I noticed the same thing when on trip in the US, (probably happens all over the first world). People almost living through their phones these days.

I remember one time at Jimmy Jonh's. There they were a guy with his sailor uniform, and a girl, sitting at the table with their phones, not a single word for an hour. It was like they weren't even together. Whatever he was coming back home, or going away, it was amazing to see that they were together but alone at the same time... or maybe there was a fight before they went in and they didn't want to talk to each other.

A friend from China has told me that I need to update my mobile phone as I can't "face time" with them

The grand daughter rejected a gift of a mobile phone as it had buttons on it, she didn't want that as all her friends could just swipe thier fingers over the screen of thier smart phones and she would be left stabbing buttons.

That's got to be the photo of our times.

Another sign of the changes that are coming to the US: The old guys are all pink-skinned of seemingly western-European descent, while the young guys are all latinos (it seems)...

So true beach

Oh come on, conservativism like that leads to death.

Bacteria wouldn't be around anymore if they couldn't adapt so fast.
Same is true for the economy, either you go with the times or you go with time, as we say here.

These guys are just concerned about their privacy and don't want the strangers at the next table to overhear their private conversation, so they take it to the secure channel.

I generally agree that cellphones are not more important than people though.

It's even funnier when you see three young males sitting there with three young females, and ALL of them are seemingly busy with their smart phones texting, updating their facebook status ("ON A DATE WITH A HOT CHICK OMG!!!1") and watching youtube videos.

Interesting pic, Beach. I'd like to bet that the old guys are more educated and have had much more interesting lives than the young ones ever will. If I was faced with that kind of situation and was out 'looking' for conversation, I'd choose to go over and talk to the old guys every time. I've never been comfortable around people my own age, especially out in a pub or somewhere. If it isn't football, cars or beer they basically don't want to know.

Great shot Beach

Daaaaaaaaaaaad! You are, like, soooooo un-cool! I hate you!!!!!!!!!!

Great pic.

I love that picture.

What bothered me most was that you bought your son a Cheesy Cheddar Burger...

Not very "heart smart" of you Beach. Should have gotten him the Spicy chicken sandwich and chili. Tastes much better!

Alternate scenario. Guys on the right hold multiple patents in micro-processing and mobile circuitry. They "made their money" early buying Apple stock. Guys on the left are trying to get a date with the same girl -- but don't realize it.

I see the same thing all the time now that I'm back at school. As soon as kids walk out of lecture, the cell phone comes out of the pocket, and the head goes down as the thumbs start working. And here I thought it was just because I was in class with a bunch of socially inept engineering geeks...

Now junk food for him at all! - Carrots, apples, etc. Shouldn't start him down the bad road of sugar and fat addiction.

I had the chili. And yes..the Spicy Chicken Sandwich is very good.

We try to limit his junk food. He eats 90% of his meals at home - which is good since we eat pretty healthy. Sometimes in the middle of the day you just have to stop at a Chik-Fil-A or Wendy's though.

If the aliens are still interested in invading the Earth, cell phones will make it a lot easier than when they tried it using the Beattles' worldwide concert broadcast years ago. Just one transmission of the signal and probably 90% of humans will be brainwashed at the same time

Seriously, though, I tend to get offended when the person I'm talking to play with their cell every so often.

Great picture Beach; thanks for sharing.

It's a great picture, smart phones are the "good evil". I've been guilty at times of pulling my iPhone out when w/ friends or GF because of a FB notice went off. :-(

While I'm really offended when someone I go out with texts or talks on the phone (I consider that disrespectful and rude) I also try to not be presumptuous or judgmental and assume one has a more interesting life than somebody else.

Sorry if what I said offended you, I was just saying what I thought about that picture. It in no way represents what I might think about a similar situation seen through my eyes in my own life. I was merely making a preliminary assessment based on my own experience.

No technology survives if it takes more than it gives. The untrained eye might see something lost by smartphones,but far more is given.

Case in point: I was at a party last night with some close friends. In between conversations with people in person, I'd be texting friends who couldn't make the party. Heck, I even setup a date via txt

That doesn't mean everyone sat around staring at their phones all night either.

It might look like my fellow Gen-Y'ers are "out of touch" but in reality, we're more connected to each other than any previous time in history.

No, you're not more connected; at least not in a meaningful way.

You have more access to each other - indeed, y'all seem to have a sense of entitlement and duty to be accessable to each other for whatever reason twenty four hours a day to the point where human interaction is secondary.

Access and actual human connection are mutually exclusive things, as you'll eventually understand. Just because someone thinks you absolutely must be aware that she loves the new Bieber album at 0325 hours doesn't mean she actually cares about you, and reading that message doesn't count towards building a lasting friendship, either.

I stop talking and walk away from anyone that reflexively pulls out a smart phone and begins texting during a conversation. Obviously the person thinks the latest facebook update or whatever is more important than anything I have to say, and I return the favor.

At my job we're burning through new hires in their 20's because they can't be bothered to put down their smart phones and do actual work. They act like having a smart phone welded to their right hand is a right and get indignant that anyone suggest they turn it off and put it away.

We had one guy that got fired for being under the impression that he was being paid to update twitter and watch Youtube threaten to sue via the State Labor Board.

He also complained the job market sucked.

No, he did. Hang up the phone and grow up.

I disagree without having any empirical evidence to back it up...

As Dart says..I think there is a point of diminishing returns with technology. At the rate we are going we only have a few more steps to eliminate. Maybe it will get to the point where your phone actually reads your mind and posts your thoughts online in realtime as they occur. That will be fun.

I'm not a fan of phones at the dinner table. And I positively bristle when someone walks up to me with one earbud in their ears. I'm going to start putting a finger in one of my ears when they engage me in conversation.

@kids - get off my lawn

Technically, that is a gap of several generations.

Had a thought a few weeks back about how a zombie apocalpyse would come to a swift end in the age of Facebook, instant messaging/text messages...

"OMG, zombies!"

"Where? Getting my gun/crowbar"

"Down at the McD's, side parking lot"

.
.
.
"Boom! You see teh head 'splode?! Uploading picture"

"Whoa! Txt that to CDC dude!"

"Got vid of it, uploading to Youtube, the cops, and CDC"

"crap, my youtube account got frozen...wait, CDC is now phoning me"

.
.
"OMG downtown is full of zombies!"

"OMG downtown is cordoned off by gunship helicopters and cops!"

"tweet just said there's 10,000 young men walking to the cordon, armed with AR-15's and shotguns, looking to 'purge the infection'!!1!"



Say what you want, but with the speed of Tweets, GPS enabled phones, our smart phones would pass the info faster than the zombies could handle, even the running zombies.

The invasion I'd worry about is the next bird-flu, "Contagion" style!

I've fired two for spending too much time "twitting" on their phones instead of actually working. And I've seen it happen to others.

You know, this totally reminds me of one of my favorite cartoons:

http://xkcd.com/723/

And that's TOTALLY what happened when we had the Great Quake of 2011 here on the East Coast...

Great photo, it captures what I see here on many levels. You might try to get it published, maybe Readers Digest or someplace.

Really strange as I have no cell/smart phone and have no clue what the people who seem to never cease staring at them are captivated by. The people I know closely enough to dare "pry" seem to be constantly checking their many messaging outlets.

Checking inboxes can't be that exciting! Typing with your thumbs SURELY can't be!

The irony is - I took the photo with my cell phone, uploaded it to my e-mail, edited it, then uploaded it to SimHQ.



* (Not while I was at the table eating though..)

BeachAV8R

* I found it to be much safer to do all that while I was driving..

The image is indeed a sign of the times. Albeit I assume to be closer in age to the guys on the left I think I'd fit in better into the group on the right side.

I also got a smartphone. But actually I don't like it very much, I even thought about going back to the slider model I used before. Usually it's stacked away and the sound is set to 'off', unless I use it as an mp3-player or alarm-clock. Did I mention yet that I just don't like to be available all the time?

I don't own a mobile phone, let alone a 'smart phone'. And if I don't feel the need for one now, I never will. They can become an addiction.

I'd be lost without my phone, contains all my calendar appts., numbers, addresses etc. as i have a terrible memory. And before you say it, never had a phone stolen and always extremely careful with it.

What never fails to crack me up are all of the couples I often see at restaurants texting and surfing the web on their phones instead of actually talking to each other!

My GPS started to flake out so started looking for a replacement. But also needed a new phone. With the Smartphones GPS, no need for another GPS.

And for the record - I'm not a Luddite or anything. I love gee-whiz tech. But in certain social settings I think it should be set aside.

Records updated! But not via a smart phone!

I had (have) a Twitter account. The only real good use I found for it was to give Twitter updates during the birth of my son. The surgery and recovery took a look time and our family(s) were anxious, so it was nice for them to receive updates right out of the operating room. I wasn't allowed to talk on the phone, so it was a good way to do it and keep them updated.

I still don't have a Facebook account because I don't need to read other people's (family/friends) political leanings or anything like that. It is sort of like Fearless Frog and Magnum were saying about Community Hall - I really don't need to know about politics/religion of other site members. Why spoil the links we have with one another (aviation/simulators) with all that distracting stuff..

BeachAV8R

My phone is as smart as it's ever going to get. It is an underachiever, but we get along.

My phone is very smart looking. And I love it's ring tone.

Heh! My iPhone has the same ring tone!


Through the last ten years, hated the typical "electronic" rings, and the songs as ringtones?!? Fthat. I just wanted the old bell ring...and I've noticed out in public, that I'm not the only one, I think even though it's not the default setting, the basic old bell tone seems to be the most popular tone for iphone users these days !

Time for our obligatory "Everything is Great But No One is Happy" video (again, and again, and again..)

LOL...



*cough* you might need to expand that panel to the right a little bit for some of our *cough* even more experienced simmers..

..and increase the font size..!

Wheels

I took this photo at work today, inspired by Beach's...



That's in Strasbourg, the European Parliament.

(Or should that be "European Textament"?...)

I'm sure Doug, 20mm, Hankmc and Oldgrognard would appreciate that!

Oh..a candid threesome... HOT!

Well, I can only speak for *this* 25 year old, but I've never been fired for being on my phone when I should be working, mainly because I'm not socializing during work time with it. I have seen managers and superiors (most certainly NOT in their 20's,) guilty of this too though.

Plus, do you mean to tell me the generations preceding me NEVER shot the sh*t during moments of down time at work? "twitting, etc" at work is just an extension of that. It has to be said though: The kid your describing above is a grade A knuckle head, and EVERY generation has those. For what it's worth, I'd have fired him too

Also, the "mutually exclusive" comment simply doesn't make sense. In order to be (I'm assuming you mean emotionally)connected to someone, you must have access to them at some point in some form. Put another way: being connected means having access, but having access does not necessarily mean there's a connection.



I know, and it's only a matter of time before rock'n'roll corrupts the minds of our children!

Seriously though, I've never pulled out a phone at the dinner table*, and the only time ear buds are in is when I'm working out.

*Ok, there was that time I used the calculator app to determine the tip...




Our resident Frog-sans-fear touches on another great point: Guess what, you're all using....SOCIAL MEDIA! It might not be Face-twitter-space-book, but you are posting "pointless updates" (after action reports anyone?), useless pictures (just a bunch of old farts posting nerdy screen caps of 5 year old flight sims), and arguing over stupid things l(Cowl straps ring any bells...). It's all a matter of perspective.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to post some new screen shots

You made the point for me!

Just because one has access to someone doesn't mean it means anything.

If I can transmit that I just ate a cheeseburger and get a response at 0300 in the affirmative doesn't really mean anything on an interpersonal level. It's also hilariously self-centered, as why is it so important that immediate updates about a snack gets broadcast in real time...and more importantly, who gives a damn what you're doing at 0300?

People texting at a party about the party is missing the point at being at a party to begin with, IMHO.

We had three of the last six twenty-somethings that came to the company fired in as many months partly or wholly because they're cyborgs. The smart phone is welded to their left hand, never to be parted from their palms.

This notion applies to a lot of electronics and recording devices.

When I was up in Missouri watching the Dawn Patrol guys fly their Nieuport 11's all around one of the guys on the ground asked why I only took two or three pictures.

"I want to remember sitting here watching airplanes instead of remembering sitting here taking pictures of airplanes."

I am sure that cavemen through all the ages have had similar opinions to some of you in here...

Why do you shoot an arrow at someone from a distance rather than cutting up their stomach with a flint ax: it is so impersonal.

Why do you write a letter on parchment in stead of travelling across the seas to talk to someone: so impersonal

Why do you use Alexander Bell's newfangled Telephone device rather than just talking face to face: you cyborg you!

It's all communication, why care about the medium?

(just playing devil's advocate here...)

I'm not saying whether it is better or worse - to me it is a personally valuation. I'd rather sit and talk to people than peer into my 4 inch screen all day. My SimHQ time is in lieu of TV time. In that respect I figure at least I'm learning something, and it requires some interaction rather than the passive "feed me" one way signal that TV gives.

I have zero interest in reading about the normal comings, goings, opinion, and political affiliations of all of my friends and family. I survived the first 40 years of my life without hanging on their every Facebook update, Tweet, or instant message.. I can survive the rest.

thats about right, as Im 28 and im either on my phone, or on SimHQ/facebook. or playing flight/racing sims

Well, I had taken a good part of the point here to be the fixation on the activity, rather than just the activity or it's medium. Or perhaps the medium should be pointed out as contributory.

Given your examples, behaviors such as running outside to check the mailbox every 10 minutes or picking up the telephone to see if there is somebody there even without it ringing, these would be absurd. But these modern mediums encourage, reward, and even profit by near incessant checking and rechecking for messages.

Well done Frogster. Now get over here
and wipe the coffee off my monitor!

I don’t sit on my phone and txt people all day, ...
I do sit on my pc at work and Email, Reply, IM and all that crap all day, and I get paid to do it ( gotta love being in an IT field ).

My boss a year or so ago did say that I was too involved in my work, and suggested that I Attend a “Im addicted to the Internet” Group Help Counseling.,,, lets just say after 10 minutes of sitting in that group, none of the other 30 adults were even in the same league as me. I spend more time on the internet during 1 work shift than they do in a week.

When im at home im also glued to my PC as its my HUB for TV, Movies, Games, everything...

I think they should develop a Conscious link with PCs, I'd be able to work faster, it will type and send emails as i think of them.

Brillaint edit Frog

Your point was that they were "mutually exclusive." That means if you have one, you absolutely can't have the other, which isn't true. To be honest,I was more coming at it from the point of semantics.

I don't think that mediums necessarily restrict all levels of connection. I'll bet there's a lot of men and women serving over-seas who are very thankful for cell phones and email, as are their family's and loved ones.

Also, how the heck are you supposed to photo-spam the event section with kites if you only took two pictures!




Actually, this makes sense. It's like a truck driver racing sports car's on the weekend. You're work PC and home PC are both computers, but other than that have very different uses.

BTW, the people "too involved with their work" are the only ones who can keep up with me where I work