Being a nosy parent? There’s an app for that
The term
”
smart phone
”
is a bit disconcerting because I don’t want to hold up to my ear
and brain an electronic device whose name implies that it can make
decisions on its own
– or worse yet, outsmart me.
I like the idea of smart phones, with their fancy GPS capability
and web access and game lounges. The ability to check e-mail at any
time is cool, as is the opportunity to take pictures or video with
a device that fits in my shirt pocket.
Being a nosy parent? There’s an app for that
The term “smart phone” is a bit disconcerting because I don’t want to hold up to my ear and brain an electronic device whose name implies that it can make decisions on its own – or worse yet, outsmart me.
I like the idea of smart phones, with their fancy GPS capability and web access and game lounges. The ability to check e-mail at any time is cool, as is the opportunity to take pictures or video with a device that fits in my shirt pocket.
Give me a phone that is smart; just don’t make me feel dumb when I use it.
According to a recent survey by the Pew Internet Project, approximately 35 percent of American adults have mobile phones that run software applications, or apps. However, less than a quarter of those people use those apps and more than 10 percent aren’t even sure if their phone has apps.
My recent upgrade to a Blackberry has app-arently opened up my opportunities to app-ly some of these apps to my phone. I’ve figured out how to send and receive calls, texts and e-mails and take pictures with my new phone and I’ve used the calculator a time or two.
I have not, however, used it to play a game or create a spreadsheet or calculate my caloric intake, so I feel like I’m not utilizing all of the brainpower of my smart phone. And I like it that way.
If I download too many apps, maybe my phone will get too smart and start sending texts on my behalf.
“Hey honey, how about u and I see a chick flick this wk?” it might send to my wife, once it realizes I’m not the most romantic guy.
Or, “it’s my turn 2 do the ironing … u relax.”
Or worse yet, “if I haven’t told u recently, u r always right.”
Will it get so smart that it starts taking pictures of me being lazy and e-mail them to me with the header “Shouldn’t you use your gym membership?”
Will it send me a Blackberry messenger reminder that I still haven’t fixed the broken handle on that kitchen cabinet?
Aside from the texting and e-mailing options, my phone has a calendar and a maps function and navigation and links to sports and entertainment sites and a television channel and Facebook link and games and, I’m pretty sure, a kitchen sink in one of its folders.
To my teenage children, all of these things are normal, everyday tools, like an electric can opener or a toaster was to me. For people of my age, who were children during the 1970s and 80s, this is still intimidating, futuristic stuff.
I still find myself being surprised that I can do a web search from my phone and e-mail video to my parents and post to a blog with a few clicks of the phone’s keypad. I remember when house phones and VCR remotes had cords and you had to use actual keys to open up car doors.
My phone is smarter and more sophisticated than my parents’ entire house was in 1984. I didn’t own a cell phone until 1995, when I was 26. My children had cell phones when they were 12 – and that wasn’t out of the ordinary.
As cool and convenient as it is to have a cell phone as a teenager, I don’t know if I would have had as much fun in high school if my mom could have texted me while I was cruising San Benito Street on a Saturday night to ask me what I was doing.
If I want to, I can activate an app that will give me the exact location of my sons using GPS technology. They won’t be able to get away with the old “I’m going to so-and-so’s house, call you later” excuse that we used back in the day whenever we wanted to go somewhere our parents may not have approved of.
As a parent, I like having that capability. Do I need an app that gives me my daily horoscope or lets me play hangman while I’m sitting in a waiting room? Not really.
Do parents need to keep tabs on their children by using the very technology that gives those kids a sense of freedom? Absolutely.
Who’s the smart one now?
“Shoot, I can’t figure out how to turn on this GPS tracking app. Son, can you help me?”
Adam Breen writes a blog at http://thebreenblog.blogspot.com and teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School. He is a reporter for the Pinnacle and former editor of the Free Lance. E-mail him at
ab****@pi**********.com
.
