Nomophobia (Photo credit: Foomandoonian)
What is ‘your’ greatest fear? Is it drowning at sea…crashing in an aeroplane…being buried alive in a collapsed building…dying on the operating table…being blown up in a terrorist outrage…never getting married…catching the AIDS virus…never having children…losing a limb, or two…dying from cancer…being the victim of rape or identity theft…losing your sight, or perhaps being unable to experience an orgasm? Would you be surprised to learn that OUR biggest fear is NOMOPHOBIA…the fear of being separated from out CELL PHONES! Preposterous, but true, according to a recent survey. It gets worse! There is even a ‘MOBILE PHONE ANXIETY ADVICE CENTRE’...nomophobia.com!
iPhone 6! Thousands of desperate shoppers recently queued outside the Apple store in Covent Garden, central London, hoping to get their hands on the new iPhone 6. By the anxious looks on their faces, you would have been forgiven for thinking they were queuing for the Ebola antidote! Meanwhile, the queue outside the Manhattan Apple store stretched 12 city blocks! The first iPhone sold was to one Dave Rahami, who despite the fact he ‘s reserved one, flew to Sydney, Australia to get his texting fingers on a smartphone!
A ‘not so’ magnificent obsession! Would you ever admit to being obsessed with your cell phone? Is it is never more than inches away from your fingertips? Has the gizmo become an extension of your personality? Does your relationship with a smartphone rivals any relationship with a friend, relative, boyfriend, girlfriend? If you have answered ‘yes’ to the four questions posed, then may I humbly suggest you’re in t.r.o.u.b.l.e? Weaning yourself off its use must be as difficult as a cokehead passing up the opportunity to snort! Have you thought of trying the NoPhone, which is a completely tech-free lump of plastic that isn’t even as useful as a dildo! Perhaps if the inventor incorporated liquorice in its manufacture, we could at least lick the surrogate smartphone when we’re feeling anxious or vulnerable?
WiFi Heaven! Apparently even GOD has gone digital! Apps and social media are causing a ‘digital shift’ and changing the way that people worship, new research has revealed. Christian scripture app Bible, from YouVersion, recently surpassed 100 million downloads in the App Store, placing it on equal grounds with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in number of users. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised that in say 500 years, children will be taught that the ten commandments came down from Mount Sinai in digital form on an iPad!
Paper is so last century! As more religions embrace digitization, there are now apps available including iQuran, iTorah and Book of Mormon. There is also a Buddhist Meditation Trainer, and JewGlass to translate Hebrew and find synagogues. Earlier in the year the Vatican unveiled MISSIO, the just-for-Catholics app that updates users with homilies, videos and other Catholic related news. Why even Pope Francis has Twitter account, which has several hundred thousand followers.
Once upon a time, the telephone was merely used to make and receive phone calls. Wow, how times have changed! See you, wouldn’t want to be you!!
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