Smartphone: Advantages and Disadvantages Issues

(Background)

        In today’s era, humans’ needs are getting higher. Their demands are increasing from time to time. Humans need a tool that is able to fulfill their needs, instantly, like browsing a current issue, downloading news, and getting useful applications to make their life easier. The technology has already answered that question. What humans need is Smartphone, because it brings numerous advantages in their life. In contradiction, it also brings various disadvantages in their life. Therefore, to make the readers understand about this article, the writer will attempt the advantage’s example followed by disadvantage’s example in a similar issue.

 Discussions

Humans always want something up-to-date (applications), current issues, like information that can be accessed anytime and anywhere without having to buy any paper. Through Smartphone, this kind of current information can be accessed, instantly and immediately. From this, humans perceive many advantages by accessing news. They know what is the current issue whether in their local area or in another part of the world. Take for an example, people who live in Indonesia, can easily access current occasion in their country, like corruption issues. Indonesian people are also able to access what happens in Nepal, just by downloading Kompas.com, Jakarta Post, New York Times, or BBC’s application newspaper through their Smartphone. For entertainment, they can easily access the all upcoming films trailer such as “The Fast and The Furious 7”, “The Avenger 3”, “Cinderella”, and many more just by clicking each title on YouTube.
             Furthermore, there is another advantage according to Teagno (no year), “Banking applications allow users to check their account balances and perform transfers, pay bills and, in some cases, deposit checks” (no page). This quotation shows that people do not have to go to Bank and stand in line with others just to transfer money and pay their bill anymore. They can use their Smartphone to help them to do that on time and quickly.
          Nevertheless, humans also should be aware that kind of this information can be untrustworthy. We understand any information nowadays is easily accessed through Smartphone. Anyone is able to post their thought through Smartphone. However, the information that can be accessed and posted sometimes cannot be verified whether it is a fact or merely an opinion. Smartphone also has not provided an application which can verify whether the news’ application untrustworthy or not. For instance, a few days ago there was news from a social media that Paul Walker’s ghost was standing next to Vin Diesel, but after we looked closely into it and tried to verify it, it was only a hoax (untrustworthy news), and that news was made by Paul Walker’s fan. From this kind of example, we are able to notice that not all information is untrustworthy. Humans should be smart enough to know how to use Smartphone wisely; and how to differentiate whether the news is a fact or only an opinion.

            Furthermore, humans like to use Smartphone because by using it, they can communicate with their relatives or other people from another part of the world, easily. There is no boundary when you use Smartphone as a tool to have a conversation with others. For instances, you can comment, upload a photograph, or send a voice mail message through many applications that your Smartphone has. It makes you feel closer to your relatives who are living in another area. The application inside the Smartphone also helps us to have a conversation with other people from another part of the world. For example, the writer is joining a social media group which has lots of members from another part of the world, like Egypt, America, China, Syria, Pakistan, Japan, and many more. Through that social media, we are able to practice English speaking more, and enhance our speaking skill more fluently. We are able to share our opinions toward current issues, toward our country, what happens in our country, and lots of things. Smartphone helps us a lot in reaching a far distant to make it even closer.

            On the other hand, Smartphone also gives a bad impact in our socialization live. Some people prefer to have a conversation with their relatives or friends rather than to see them face to face. For instance, we have a relative who live in the same place, and they celebrate her or his graduation. The relatives prefer to call or send a message to the one who celebrates the party rather than comes to their relative’s house, and congratulate him or her. The other occasion, when there is a family gathering in a restaurant, some family’s members prefer to face their Smartphone rather than to have a real conversation with other family members. This situation is kind of pathetic. It seems that humans cannot differentiate anymore regarding the use of Smartphone in socialization live, and make everything is on the same page.

Particularly, Smartphone also gives us a benefit in learning other languages. We do not have to carry heavy books or dictionaries if we want to read or learn about them. We can download bunch of languages’ dictionaries applications or online books through Smartphone. This statement is also supported by Pasfield (2013), these kind of dictionaries or online books, “Allows you to cut and paste from a text you are reading …” (no page). From this statement, we are able to conclude that we do not have to look up every word that we do not know to translate a text. We can use an application which help us to translate the text easily. 

             Moreover, we do not have to pay for each dictionary or book that we are downloaded, all are free. This kind of online dictionary or books helps us in learning other languages either. We can download any languages application from our Smartphone. This makes humans’ easy to get a better knowledge in another language without having to buy books that are heavy and quite expensive.

            However, not all online dictionaries or books are comprehensive. Some of them are incomplete because they are free dictionaries. If we want to make those dictionaries complete like the book one, we should pay more, and it costs quite expensive. This case also happens when you can download online books, not all of the application provides the books that you want to read, some of the books should be bought by you.

               Additionally, some online dictionaries or online books are untrustworthy; or some of the words that we are looking for do not appear; or even the translation does not synchronize. The real dictionary is still being seen as the trustable one, like Oxford or Cambridge dictionary. Humans need to choose carefully and wisely on what kind of books and/or dictionaries application that they want to download. If they do not, they may get useless application which will only make their Smartphone lag.

Conclusion

            In general, humans live is getting easier from time to time, they have Smartphone that can help them to do anything they want, anytime and anywhere. However, humans have to be smart enough to use the Smartphone wisely, because if they cannot, it seems that they are being colonized by a technology, and it is ironic.

References

Teagno, Leeann (no year). Science Opposing View: Advantages and Disadvantages of Smartphone (no page). Posted to http://science.opposingviews.com/advantages-disadvantages-smartphones-1036.html

Pasfield, Sarah (2013, July 3). MONASH University: Online (and Apps), Paper, or Electronic Dictionaries? (no page). Posted to http://profiles.arts.monash.edu.au/sarah-pasfield-neofitou/dictionaries-and-apps-site-updated/