Is the cameraphone the worst (nonviolent) invention of significance?

[Akrazotile]

Shit has turned society into a self-obsessed, over-exposed nightmare. People are more obsessed with photographing themselves than improving themselves. More concerned with holding up their camera at the concert, the grand canyon, the street brawl, instead of simply enjoying those things in the moment. Everyone thinks if they post a cool photo; itll be cool points for them on sociao media and theyll get more followers and maybe theyll be kinda like a reality tv star bc theyre so popular on facebook, wow cool!

I mean how often do people sit and look at the endless pictures they take? People dont take pics for themselves any more, they do it to get feedback on the internet. Shits pretty lamez.

[russwest0]

A large part of my family has taken part in this culture and it makes me feel obnoxious as **** whenever I'm around them and they are doing it.

[Kblaze8855]

Of course not....

But I do hate what everyone having a smart phone does. Room full of people staring at the phone? you might as well be at home.

People cant even watch a movie these days...you look over...they are on the phone doing whatever...

People under 25 or so...they have a panic attack if they cant get on the phone.

Its drastically altered human interaction.

[russwest0]

It's the worst when young women want to spend a bunch of time texting you and place a bunch of importance on it when it's ****ing meaningless.

I really, really liked a girl and she wanted to text all the time but it wasn't my thing, so nothing ever happened between us. Absolutely retarded.

[Akrazotile]

Of course not....

But I do hate what everyone having a smart phone does. Room full of people staring at the phone? you might as well be at home.

People cant even watch a movie these days...you look over...they are on the phone doing whatever...

People under 25 or so...they have a panic attack if they cant get on the phone.

Its drastically altered human interaction.


Whats your pick?

[Jailblazers7]

Shit has turned society into a self-obsessed, over-exposed nightmare. People are more obsessed with photographing themselves than improving themselves. More concerned with holding up their camera at the concert, the grand canyon, the street brawl, instead of simply enjoying those things in the moment. Everyone thinks if they post a cool photo; itll be cool points for them on sociao media and theyll get more followers and maybe theyll be kinda like a reality tv star bc theyre so popular on facebook, wow cool!

I mean how often do people sit and look at the endless pictures they take? People dont take pics for themselves any more, they do it to get feedback on the internet. Shits pretty lamez.

There is definitely a lot of social signalling that occurs where people try to make their lives seem as interesting as possible but that's basically human nature. Technology is just a different medium for it.

I've never understood the bolded. You are at a place like the concert or grand canyon for 2-3 hours at least, right? Taking a picture take 10 seconds.

[L.Kizzle]

Too much technology is bad.

This and streaming music/movies is terrible.

[Rake2204]

More concerned with holding up their camera at the concert, the grand canyon, the street brawl, instead of simply enjoying those things in the moment.That part entertained me.

It certainly is a phenomenon, and it is one for which I take part, not on a daily basis, but I take part nonetheless. It's kind of a tough push-and-pull.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm at least a little different than some of the others in this regard though. I've always had a fascination with photos, video and media. I even used to have disposable cameras on me, back before digital. So I think there's a part of me that just likes pictures. But there's also a part that surely enjoys seeing a positive response from something I posted on social media.

I presume I'm doing myself a favor by just having one social media outlet, for which I mostly just alter profile pictures every month or two, with an occasional photo post in between.

I wonder how much camera phones are making people worse at life and how much it's just bringing things that already existed, to the forefront.

Also, this may sound ridiculous, but do you think there's any chance that the camera phone may have enriched the lives of others, in respect to pushing them to step out and do enjoyable & exciting things in their lives, because there might be something in the back of their head saying it'd be cool to document to friends?

[Akrazotile]

There is definitely a lot of social signalling that occurs where people try to make their lives seem as interesting as possible but that's basically human nature. Technology is just a different medium for it.

I've never understood the bolded. You are at a place like the concert or grand canyon for 2-3 hours at least, right? Taking a picture take 10 seconds.


How many people take just one picture?? Seriously, youll see people who literally just hold their cameras up and everytime they turn their body to a different angle take another picture.

Also, at bars/clubs, I see people spend the whole time taking pictures of themselves to post online instead of enjoying their surroundings without the constant facebook updating.

Feels like most people dont even care about seeing the grand canyon, or seeing the chili peopers, dancing at the club, seeing someone talk shit and get their ass beat. People watch the entire event through their phone screen now and then get busy posting it while the thing is still goin on.


People are such posers. I agree human nature is what it is, I guess throughout most of history people not only lacked the technology to be this corny on a 24/7 basis but also simply lacked the time. For most of history, the vast majority of people labored around the clock. Theres always those Aristotles and DaVincis and Ben Franklins but most people were simple minded laborers who had to plow to eat. I feel like their descendants are now left with the same brain power but a lot more free time, and the results are quite interesting.

[Akrazotile]

That part entertained me.

It certainly is a phenomenon, and it is one for which I take part, not on a daily basis, but I take part nonetheless. It's kind of a tough push-and-pull.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm at least a little different than some of the others in this regard though. I've always had a fascination with photos, video and media. I even used to have disposable cameras on me, back before digital. So I think there's a part of me that just likes pictures. But there's also a part that surely enjoys seeing a positive response from something I posted on social media.

I presume I'm doing myself a favor by just having one social media outlet, for which I mostly just alter profile pictures every month or two, with an occasional photo post in between.

I wonder how much camera phones are making people worse at life and how much it's just bringing things that already existed, to the forefront.

Also, this may sound ridiculous, but do you think there's any chance that the camera phone may have enriched the lives of others, in respect to pushing them to step out and do enjoyable & exciting things in their lives, because there might be something in the back of their head saying it'd be cool to document to friends?


This is legit and there have always been people who like photography as a hobby. For them its an internal thing not an external thing. But for the vast majority of camera phone obsessed masses these days thats not the case.

[Orlando Magic]

Of course not....

But I do hate what everyone having a smart phone does. Room full of people staring at the phone? you might as well be at home.

People cant even watch a movie these days...you look over...they are on the phone doing whatever...

People under 25 or so...they have a panic attack if they cant get on the phone.

Its drastically altered human interaction.

Not only has it altered human interaction, the internet is actually changing your brain, changing the way you process information, altering your attention span, along with a host of undesirable consequences. The changes can be undone by stepping away, however. They're not permanent, but they are undesirable.

I've read several books and written numerous reports on the subject because it's a subject that hits close to home, as I have been addicted to being on the Internet in general. Games, message boards, pornography, music, streaming video, whatever. None of it is a good thing.

http://www.amazon.com/Alone-Together-Expect-Technology-Other/dp/0465031463

http://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393339750/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417472818&sr=1-1&keywords=the+shallows

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Vertigo-Revolution-Diminishing-Disorienting/dp/B00BCUTV7K/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417472830&sr=1-1&keywords=digital+vertigo

The Internet has too many advantages and it's ridiculous to think that we could go back to a time pre Internet.

Cell phones also have too many advantages.

However, the major problem is when you combine the two. The automobile caused us to leap forward in terms of the pace of society, but coupling the Internet with cell phones has caused that pace to be neck breaking, instant gratification seeking at all costs beyond stressful.

I exhibited symptoms far earlier than most because of my incredibly heavy usage and given the fact that I got plugged into the online world around 93 or 94 with AOL and was a hardcore user up until a few years ago.

I predict a major spike in anxiety disorders and depression within the next 10 years. Hear that kids? If you're in school, consider becoming a psychologist if money drives you.

The smartphone itself is one of the worst things ever invented and social media is a bullshit lie that is full of nothing but half truths and makes people who use it with even the slightest bit of frequency feel bad about themselves.

[~primetime~]

As a new father, with a toddler, I absolutely love that I am always packing a camera. I catch so many great moments on camera that I would have not been able to without my phone. And I look back at them all the time too.

I also think it is great for vacations...it's just way easier to use a camera phone than to bring an actual camera.

We can all complain about what it is doing to society but the truth is we all like our camera phones and would prefer to keep them

[Akrazotile]

As a new father, with a toddler, I absolutely love that I am always packing a camera. I catch so many great moments on camera that I would have not been able to without my phone. And I look back at them all the time too.

I also think it is great for vacations...it's just way easier to use a camera phone than to bring an actual camera.

We can all complain about what it is doing to society but the truth is we all like our camera phones and would prefer to keep them


Post a pic of u and your kid tidwell

[hateraid]

The only reason why camera phones seem harmful to society is because it's amplified by social media sites like instagram and Facebook. Taken the pic isn't the self obsessive part, sharing it and having the ability to see how many people view or like it is

[LJJ]

Smartphones are really awesome, but there actually are a lot of downsides.

A big part of it is the company you keep also. I hung out with a few people like that. You go out to eat and they are constantly chatting on their phones, taking selfies of everything. A very draining and boring experience. So I stopped hanging out with them so much.

There are also a lot of expectations that go with it. People expect you to have facebook, people expect to be able to contact you instantly with whatever. Sorry, the only people who get that kind of access to my attention are my girl and my sister, the rest of you mopes can wait until I get bored or something.

Similar with vacations. Great that I can take pictures with my phone. But at the same timee I'm in this awesome and interesting place for one week of my life and I probably only get to do it once, so I try to experience it fully and that means I'm not taking pictures of every minute of the trip.

[Akrazotile]

The only reason why camera phones seem harmful to society is because it's amplified by social media sites like instagram and Facebook. Taken the pic isn't the self obsessive part, sharing it and having the ability to see how many people view or like it is


True indeed. My point I guess is that thats what drives the vast majoirty of pictures taken these days. Which is lame.

[Rodmantheman]

You take the good with the bad it evens out in the end.

[dude77]

cameraphones, smartphones are useful .. people just take shit to the extreme

[falc39]

If this is the worst that will come from having very portable cameras in our cell phones, I'm all for it. Net, it has benefited society much more than it has hurt.

I don't have photographic memory so I will take it out as much as I can, especially when it's moments that I know that I will probably only experience once in my lifetime. For some reason, it never has bothered me when other people also do it, whether at a concert or any other location.

There may be light at the end of the tunnel. In the future, the cameras might be hidden and not obnoxious (think something like google glass), or implanted so you wont even notice it. Then you can be happy because it wont ruin your "precious moment".

[Akrazotile]

There may be light at the end of the tunnel. In the future, the cameras might be hidden and not obnoxious (think something like google glass), or implanted so you wont even notice it. Then you can be happy because it wont ruin your "precious moment".


Actually my gripe is with just the opposite. Its not the act of doing it, its the mindset.

Its always annoyed me, but I was watching a thing recently about medieval history and it was talking about how paintings or stained glass windows, any kind of visual art was so revered back then because it hardly existed anywhere. We take visual exposure for granted in this era to an incredible degree. Serfs used to toil away their tedious life on farms six days a week and saw very little on a daily basis but animals, crops, tools, and their families. On Sunday they would journey into town and these decadent cathedrals with beautiful stained glass picture windows would just blow their mind. Same thing with art. Peasants had no time to paint, dudes are struggling to live. Going in town and seeing a big canvas of starry night was like hearing a recording for the first time. How could someone just create this with their own mind and hands.

So I mean obviously Im glad we arent peasants anymore and that we have these technologies, but I think the amount of perspective thats been lost with the advent of camera phones, facebook twitter instagram, people just take pictures of anything and plaster it all over the place now. Lebron takes a selfie at a breakfast joint and sportscenter leads with it. Colin Kapernick tweets that his balls itch and its analyzed intently for two weeks. Information is so overexposed because the dummies out there have no filter on what matters and what doesnt. You feed them any meaningless shit and theyll buzz about it, and when theyre not doing that theyre taking a hundred pictures of every place they go so they can appear active and interesting on a social media platform, but if you talk to them about anything meaningful theyre straight tarded.


I dunno. I feel like if we stopped and harnessed current technology and mixed it with old school values wed have some real utopia shit goin on, but the majority of people dont even think about or analyze how this stuff is used and they just swim along the current of time like a blind little salmon in the school.

[JtotheIzzo]

Shit has turned society into a self-obsessed, over-exposed nightmare. People are more obsessed with photographing themselves than improving themselves. More concerned with holding up their camera at the concert, the grand canyon, the street brawl, instead of simply enjoying those things in the moment. Everyone thinks if they post a cool photo; itll be cool points for them on sociao media and theyll get more followers and maybe theyll be kinda like a reality tv star bc theyre so popular on facebook, wow cool!

I mean how often do people sit and look at the endless pictures they take? People dont take pics for themselves any more, they do it to get feedback on the internet. Shits pretty lamez.

combining a phone with a camera is smart and simple common sense.

The culprit here is the medium, twitter, instagram, facebook, even youtube and its ilk, all those that create a forum for the self-obsessed and the insecure.

"The medium is the message," - Marshall McLuhan 1964

Nothing has changed, the medium screams, accept and acknowledge me!!!

[Akrazotile]

combining a phone with a camera is smart and simple common sense.

The culprit here is the medium, twitter, instagram, facebook, even youtube and its ilk, all those that create a forum for the self-obsessed and the insecure.

"The medium is the message," - Marshall McLuhan 1964

Nothing has changed, the medium screams, accept and acknowledge me!!!



Yep, I worded the OP poorly, the cameraphone itself is indeed very handy, its really the "camera phone culture" that I find so detestable.

Social media has allowed the dumb public masses to all shout and babble and seek attention simultaneously and the consequences are unbelievably annoying. The resultant "noise" is now endless and nearly inescapable. Every business now has to cater to this shit. Every news outlet covers tweets instead of meaningful news. Not to mention how frequently people expose themselves as the dummest of fukks through social media faux pas.

Its just gotten so out of hand.

[Eric Cartman]

Trying to **** that bitch while she at her phone looking at all that shit.

**** me I'm trying to get my dick wet can't compete with the whole internet/social media for *****.

[DeuceWallaces]

Smartphones are really awesome, but there actually are a lot of downsides.

There are no downsides. Smartphones are amazing. They put you in control. I'll see your message, call, voicemail, email, picture, or whatever when I want to. And I know exactly when you left it. No one is forcing anyone to use their phone, or constantly check it, or force you to look at their pictures on Facebook.

There's only a problem if you have a problem.

I go out with my friends and don't even bring it half the time, much to their amazement.

[tpols]

Actually my gripe is with just the opposite. Its not the act of doing it, its the mindset.

Its always annoyed me, but I was watching a thing recently about medieval history and it was talking about how paintings or stained glass windows, any kind of visual art was so revered back then because it hardly existed anywhere. We take visual exposure for granted in this era to an incredible degree. Serfs used to toil away their tedious life on farms six days a week and saw very little on a daily basis but animals, crops, tools, and their families. On Sunday they would journey into town and these decadent cathedrals with beautiful stained glass picture windows would just blow their mind. Same thing with art. Peasants had no time to paint, dudes are struggling to live. Going in town and seeing a big canvas of starry night was like hearing a recording for the first time. How could someone just create this with their own mind and hands.

So I mean obviously Im glad we arent peasants anymore and that we have these technologies, but I think the amount of perspective thats been lost with the advent of camera phones, facebook twitter instagram, people just take pictures of anything and plaster it all over the place now. Lebron takes a selfie at a breakfast joint and sportscenter leads with it. Colin Kapernick tweets that his balls itch and its analyzed intently for two weeks. Information is so overexposed because the dummies out there have no filter on what matters and what doesnt. You feed them any meaningless shit and theyll buzz about it, and when theyre not doing that theyre taking a hundred pictures of every place they go so they can appear active and interesting on a social media platform, but if you talk to them about anything meaningful theyre straight tarded.


I dunno. I feel like if we stopped and harnessed current technology and mixed it with old school values wed have some real utopia shit goin on, but the majority of people dont even think about or analyze how this stuff is used and they just swim along the current of time like a blind little salmon in the school.

agreed.. were overloaded on satisfaction to the point that simple interaction is gone. Why make small talk when that might not end anywhere.. may even fail, when I can get some surefire satisfaction from looking some shit up on my phone that I find interesting. It does kinda suck.