In 1946, Motorola invented the first kind of mobile phone. The phone was particularly large. It had a traditional mic and speaker headset with a cord connected to a box- size of a shoebox. Once you charged your phone for 10 hours, you were able to get thirty minutes of talk time. Not to mention, making calls was very expensive. It would cost you seven dollars a minute and overall one hundred seventy nine dollars a month. Today, you will find mobile phones as thin as paper. The service will cost you anywhere from thirty to a hundred dollars. Kids at the age of ten and some even younger flaunt their “iPhones” around.

Over the last 66 years the technology in mobile phones have immensely progressed. We now live in an era where “Siri” is your personal assistant- making calls, texting friends, checking your schedule, getting live stats of your favorite players/teams. Technology has also indubitably helped mankind achieve unimaginable dreams such as, the creation of the light bulb, the telephone, the moon landing, alternative energy, and so much more. Today, smartphones help people become efficient, keep them connected with the world, and as mentioned in the name, make you smarter.

But, you do have to use them wisely, overdosing on technology can mess up your life. It will affect more than just your pockets; your way of live will go right down the gutter as well. The biggest benefit of having a smart phone is being connected to the world and to people that mean the most to you. Within reach of your pocket, you are able to communicate with any person, at any time, anywhere in the world. With Facebook on your phone, we are able to view pictures and posts of family members, keeping us in the loop even though they live thousands of miles away.

With the app you can also chat with your friends and family instead of sending text messages. My uncle and aunt moved away to Utah with their little kids a couple years ago. Since then I have been able to keep up with the family and see how the kids are growing. Just as Facebook keeps me connected, Skype lets me connect and video chat with my family over seas. Having the Skype app on your phone can turn a boring or waiting period into a heartfelt conversation with friends or family. Skype lets people make free video calls to other Skype users all over the globe.

So, instead of spending tons of money on international phone calls or recording videos and sending them overseas (like my family use to before), you can video chat with your family when you want to right from your phone. Its important to understand that smartphones offer a lot of benefits but those can all become fruitless if you don’t balance your life within it. It is essential to detach yourself from our phone and realize what is going on around us. My girlfriend hates that I have a habit of being on my phone when we hang out because I will start to ignore what she is saying or doing without wanting to do so.

I don’t even realize I’m on my phone until she calls me out on it. I have a similar situation as Kord Campbell from “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price”; his line of work requires him to always be connected to technology- “juggling emails, calls, and other incoming information” (62). Many parents have become addicted to some form of screen. In “The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In” by Julie Scelfo, it states kids that were hurt by their parents being addicted to technology experience “feelings of hurt, jealousy, and competition are widespread” (55).

It is very important to find a balance where you can put down your devices and enjoy what’s going on around you. I notice whenever I got to a sporting event, half the people are looking down at their lap texting away or checking Facebook on their phones. They’re missing the beauty of the sport and spending their time looking at a screen than the game. My point is clear, don’t forget what your priorities are or what you should really be doing. Don’t let the screen have all your attention where you cant really grasp what is going on around you.

Whether you’re in class texting away or while having a conversation with a friend. Don’t let a screen become a reason why you’re rude. Supercomputers are built to help humans but they’re beginning to take over the world. The game show “Jeopardy” recently had a competition between the two all time Jeopardy champions, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings versus a computer built specifically for their show. Watson is the name of the mega computer that was put up to the challenge. Watson won the challenge between the human and is now declared the smartest computer on the planet.

Now that Watson and other robotic technologies have surpassed human intelligence, they will soon start taking over high skilled jobs as well such as, legal discovery (studying lawsuits), bank tellers, automotive mechanics, accountants and entire buildings of insurance agents. The students at MIT and Harvard set up a conference where they talked about the future of technology advancing the human brain. I always imagined the world would be better if we had error and lazy free robots/computers doing our jobs but I never considered what would happen to myself.

I would be without a job. Engineers have built some of the most complex computers that are able to take on the highest task possible and are victorious. But, if you give them a simple task, for instance, clean a bathroom, they have a hard time registering what to do, “Its easier to have a computer play chess than it is to have a computer wash dishes” says David Autor an MIT economists. David Autor is suggesting no matter how smart these robots may become or how much of the jobs they take over, they can never truly replace what a human can do.

So as immersed as I get into my numerous devices, I find that they have all added some sort of significant enhancement to my life. From making video calls to using it as a flashlight, they only continue to get better. As much of a technophile I am, I have learned to equate all of my screens and really appreciate the smaller things in life like playing catch with my younger brother. As advanced as technology gets it can never replace the human race. Many people have predicted a future full of robots and computers that will control our lives but we cannot have an electronic brain rule something it doesn’t understand.

Watson may be the smartest computer in the world but can he experience the joy of bearing a newborn child? Does he know how it feels to scrape your knee after falling of a bike? Some things you have to be humane to experience. Watson doesn’t have any feelings or emotions that he can share, but we do. That is what makes humans so unique. So keep in mind what advice I’ve given you and go ahead and treat yourself. Go get that new phone, tablet, or PC you’ve wanted and help out our economy.