I assumed that, by possessing the title “smartphone,” this little device would make me smarter. More efficient, agile, and professional… yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I’ll be able to do more, do it quicker, and do it better than before.  And, I suppose, those things are very true.  I can check my email in my car, update my Facebook status while waiting for my lunch, be in the middle of a text conversation, checking directions with my Google Maps, and organizing my life one little calendar box at a time in the bathroom. (Well, I don’t do that too often!)

My point is this: this little device can really accomplish tons of work right from my palm, just not from my brain.

My wife asked me a simple question the other night.  I can’t recall the question, (remember, my phone stole my brain!) but I know it was something simple such as, “What was the guy’s name that played so-and-so in such-and-such movie?”  Now, I usually pride myself on knowing things like this.   I can pinpoint actors in movies and rack my brain to figure out where it was I saw them last.  I only need a few moments to kick my brain in gear.

On this occasion, though, I gave it a cursory 10-second thought and then made the move that stopped me in my tracks.  I reached for my smartphone.  Ten seconds.  I couldn’t (or just didn’t want to try hard enough to) think of the name.  I just couldn’t seem to pull it from the recesses of my brain.  It was too hard.  It just took too long.  I didn’t want to wait anymore.  Read More→