Cell Phones: A Critique

Neil Postman, the late, great scholar of technology and media often made the point that new technologies are ultimately a Faustian bargain: they might bring some advantages, but they'll bring some (often very serious) disadvantages, too. But in our current age where technology and "progress" are so lauded, one rarely hears of the downsides of technologies. Here, I wish to do so with one the beloved gadget of our day: the cell phone.

1. Cell phones never allow us to leave work. We might exit physically, but never mentally or wholly. Have a question? Need help with an assignment? Oh, just call me on my cell. No matter that I have a life outside work, a family, a home, a God to whom I owe my time. No rest for the weary -- a sad development no doubt frowned upon by the God who Himself rests (see Genesis 1).

2. People out in public are routinely entranced by their cell phone conversations and thereby lose their consideration for those around them (if they ever had any). They're near us but not really "with" us. They're ever present, but ever-absent. Conversations continue to flow; communities continue to fragment.

3. Has the concept of solitude or being alone with God and one's thoughts totally escaped the world? It's unclear whether we'll ever again see an existence without the constant noise of small talk and gossip ringing in our ears. Jesus regularly practiced quietness, prayer, and being alone with the Father. The "convenience" of modernity will have none of this. Here, idolatry thrives.

4. Attention spans seem ever elusive, no doubt with help from the cell phone and its ilk. It's unclear now whether most of the population can sit still for longer than five minutes without picking up the phone. Resultantly, our most healthy habits become non-existent: reading, studying, praying, being with family, listening.