Posted on 09/05/2015 9:39:57 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
Smartwatches are slowly starting to catch on, and they bring with them a new type of digital distraction that could further shrink attention spans and make for ruder masses.
My favorite thing about my smartwatch: I no longer need to take my phone out of my pocket 4,718 times a day to check my notifications — 4,707 of which are completely useless and require no immediate action. Instead, I now quickly check them on my wrist. I can also pick and choose which apps I want to show up in my notifications, so I get only, say, 2,846 of them on my watch.
But my smartwatch brought out a nasty behavior in me I didn't even notice at first. Even now, when I'm perfectly aware of it, I still catch myself in the act. My watch made me a rude(r) bastard. I have a feeling I'm not alone. And I fear the problem will become an epidemic as smartwatches catch on with everyday Joes and Janes.
The smartwatch faux pas that will turn you into a rude bastard:
The faux pas of which I write relates to how, and when, you check notifications on your wrist. For example, if you're in a meeting and the boss is speaking, you probably wouldn't glance up at the clock to check the time while he or she stares you down — well, not unless you're a rude bastard. Doing so would suggest that you're bored, or what the speaker says isn't worth your time or attention.
But guess what? Your smartphone is a tiny clock, and people who don't know that it's not a traditional Timex (or Rolex, if you're lucky) will simply think you're checking the time, instead of a notification. Of course, it's no less rude to check a notification during a meeting, a conversation or a dinner engagement than it is to repeatedly check the time, and as such you probably wouldn't keep glancing at your phone in these situations — unless, of course … you're a rude bastard.
The problem with smartwatches is that they buzz or ding, tap or bing, and they train you to quickly glance at your wrist whenever they do. Even if you're not aware of it. It's easy to forget the message you send to those around you when you constantly glance at your digital messages. Fact is, the vast majority of "normal people" (read: non-tech geeks) have never used a smartwatch, and they just think you're a rude bastard.
Do your part to combat smartwatch abuse, before it's too late:
Just 15 years ago, it was considered odd to constantly glare at a mobile phone while walking, eating, driving, talking, reading or otherwise communicating with another human being. Today, it's common, and we don't think twice when some rude bastard marches down a busy city sidewalk — headed straight for us — with his head down, face in phone.
This smartwatch phenomenon could raise the level of acceptable digital distraction to new heights and, frankly, that potential is frightening. So please, do your part. At the very least, familiarize yourself with the Do Not Disturb features on your phone and smartwatch, which you can use to quickly turn off notifications in appropriate situations.
Learn from my mistakes: Don’t let your smartwatch turn you into a rude bastard.
Dude, YOU need to slow down. Smell the roses, Commune with Nature, .....
I wonder if the author aware that he is getting dinged for notifications that download onto his phone and uploads from his phone to his watch?
Many years ago, I wouldn’t use hands free while driving because I feared people would look at me talking and think I was a nut. If I wanted to talk to myself, I just held the phone to my face and nobody knew the difference.
It was a bit surreal and yet something that I find I'm getting used to more and more.
It was a bit surreal and yet something that I find I'm getting used to more and more.
Couldn’t he just silence the notification chimes and in addition opt for zero tactile signals such as vibrate.
This would also require focusing on your actual physical environment. Reality usually occurs at much slower and more subtle rate of speed. Very little Flash and Bang.
It must be very puzzling that so many get through life without even owning a "smartphone" whatever that is supposed to be.
When smaller cellphones first came out there were a lot of people who were able to afford that technology at the time.
I wasn’t particularly clued in at the time and it was beyond the budget. I used to see people in the grocery store holding their right or left ear and talking into the phone.
There for a while I thought those pple were quite odd as I assumed they “talked to themselves”. I would come away in wonderment what these people were saying and why & thouht them a bit off. Oh, and that includes the bluetooth that became quite popular,too.
Don’t know about the watch, but shelling out hundreds to get something that has to be charged daily and is useless without a relay station (da fone) seems to me (as a science type) way beyond dumb....almost into the Hillary class.
But then again we elected Dorkbama the Muslim, so ‘twould appear there are lots of those types around.
In this era of “Work from home”, I don’t. Yet I benefit from it, as no one pays attention to who is present at work at any particular time.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
“Don’t let it turn you into a rude bastard.”
How can a watch turn you into a child born out of wedlock?
/sarc
There's an app for that. or, there will be...
Well played!
Remember the cr@p George HW Bush took for looking at his watch during one of his debates??
So this guy chooses to be a distracted idiot and let his phone or watch constantly tap him on the shoulder, as he admits it mostly nonsense notifications. I have a “smartphone” but I only check it if I get a phone call or a text message. But there are times I won’t even take the call or hear the message (such as in church, when it is on ‘silent’).
I remember the advent of Bluetooth, when rude people could be standing talking to you, and get a phone call and begin talking to the caller, without even so much as an “excuse me, I have a phone call”. Technology doesn’t make people rude, that’s a choice they make.
Technology makes their pre-existing rudeness more convenient.
Years ago I decided to mute all cell phone sounds. I determine when to do phone calls, when to check email, and when to text. I don't allow inanimate devices to interrupt me (unless expecting an important call - still my decision).
It's much easier to remain in the moment (in other words, in life).
Multi-tasking is not productive. I've spent my entire life practicing focus.
Exactly.
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