Reliance on Devices

Day 1: Observation of Mobile Devices Usage
I was attached to my mobile phone the whole day. The recess week in NTU is full of assignments and people are discussing through WhatsApp. I happen to have a group project at school that day, so I used my phone to contact my friend and go together to school. It’s our primary means of contacting each other and checking the time, especially since some of us came late for the meeting.

While I was having dinner in the evening, I saw a lot of people glued to their phone while queuing or eating. Some of them look like playing games and some just casually chat on the phone. One interesting sight I experienced is when someone took a photo of the menu on the stall. I assume he was using it to discuss with their group without overcrowding the stall (the menu is attached to the wall).

Day 2: Electronic Device Ban
First of all, without any electronic device, my only definition of time is my stomach and the sun. I didn’t even know what time I woke up.

Without my phone, I experienced Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) to the fullest (I indeed miss out some information. Luckily it’s not critical). I rarely used my phone except for communication so I can still bear with the hassles it caused. For example, when I’m meeting a friend for dinner, I had to knock on his door to contact him (although we stayed on the same floor).

To be honest I thought I was screwed up with zero access to my computer. I had to postpone most of my assignments (design and programming). The best I could do was sketching website wireframes and listing key points for my essay on a paper. Even so, getting references is difficult without internet so I had to rely on past memory.

Overall, that day was very unproductive. While it’s true that I lazed around because doing even daily tasks was difficult without the help of technology, doing work-related tasks is simply impossible due to my technology-related field.

Photo via VisualHunt