The year 2007 was the year the smart phone appeared. It was made by Apple and they named it the iPhone. The iPhone is the original smart phone. It was basically an iPod that could make phone calls, take pictures, surf the Web and check email. Ever since the invention of the first cell phone, technology has come to the point that a smart phone is now a major part of society. Granted, the iPhone has made many people’s lives a lot simpler since it was first introduced. I feel lately people have begun to take advantage of the iPhone, especially students here on campus.

Having direct access to the Internet may make time pass by quicker, and it sure helps when you are in a rut or stranded with a flat tire. However, with that said, you can live without it. It does not hurt to be able to work and surf the Web right from your phone, but now it’s almost become a “necessity.” A regular telephone, one that makes phone calls and sends text messages, is like something from the The Great Ice Age. Often when walking to class, I realize that iPhones are everywhere. Within five minutes, I have usually seen five or six people cradling their smart phone like it’s a newborn child. Half of the time, they can’t look away from the screen to cross the street.

iPhones have created a gateway to other smart phones, and in turn it’s the only phone people seem to want these days. The way technology has affected this campus and its students is absurd. Every semester, the majority of my teachers start their lectures with pointing out that cell phone use in class will not be tolerated. On the first day of class last spring, the person sitting next to me had something of what I like to call “iPhone syndrome” or “thumbs disease.” Not even twenty minutes into that class, my teacher had to ask the student to leave. This was all because this person was scanning the comment thread on Facebook. Students seem to forget to respect the teacher and their classroom. They are here teaching us because they want to. I do not imagine they would want to stand in front of a classroom full of texting zombies.

I cannot help but notice, not just in classrooms, but in the hallways as well, that people constantly have their faces planted in their hands. Everyone is either texting or checking their Facebook. It’s like people do not want to interact with anybody unless they are online. Whether someone is driving or walking, they cannot seem to get away from their phones. It’s sad how people have become so attached to their iPhones and the Internet that even their driving is affected.

Driving is a very serious activity, and the road is the last place for someone to be updating their status or texting. We have all seen the “Don’t Text and Drive” commercials and billboards. There are Web videos depicting scenarios of what could happen if the phone takes priority over the road. The end result never turns out pretty. The commercials and billboards may be a dramatization, but if I had to guess, accidents caused by cell phone use happen more than we would like to admit.

Driving and texting or driving and talking were one thing in the late nineties and early millennium, when all you had to do was flip open your phone and then close it to end the call. Now, you have to scroll through your contacts list just to call someone. Sending an actual “text message” is a thing of the past. Now you can type a whole paragraph, all while driving your car. A lot of drivers are selfish today, weaving in and out of lanes. To my knowledge every time I have seen someone zoom past me, they were on their phone.

At crosswalks, I always make sure the driver notices me because four times out of ten they are busy texting. Once I was stopped at a stop sign, and waiting for the car across from me (with its left blinker on) to turn. I finally decided to go straight because all I could see was their phone screen light shining on their face. The other driver decided to go too, and that is when they decided to place their attention on the road. Again, people just cannot seem to let go of their phones. The phone is not a permanent part of anybody’s hand, and your hand will not fall off if the phone becomes detached.

It’s all about respect. We come to class during the week because we pay for it. Sitting in the back of class playing on your newest application or creating a Facebook group for your birthday party is wasting your money and the teacher’s time. The teachers do not have to be here teaching us. I’m sure plenty of them would rather be somewhere else just as students would. When you are driving, just wait until you come to a stoplight if you really need that online fix. Just remember, there is a whole world outside the inside of an iPhone.