Many years back, people used mobile phones merely for making calls and texting messages. The smartphone integrated the mobile phone features with computer capabilities to come up with one unique device. Owing to the practical convenience and reliability found in smartphones, employees now prefer to use smartphones for work even if their workplaces could provide them with desktop PCs and other telecom systems like IP phones and mobile phones. In fact, smartphones and tablets have become the more favored business tool by workers globally.
Workers have become more efficient to make business do better owing to the introduction of smartphones and other similar tech. However, there are downsides that people still need to deal with when going about work and life using smartphones.
Meet the Zombie Family
The smartphone continues to impact the lives of people to a point where their lives tend to be controlled by them instead of people having control over the device. Imagine a family sitting together on the grass for a picnic. What becomes instantly noticeable is that every member of the family — mother, father, son, and daughter, are most likely to be found with their eyes glued to the displays of their respective smartphones .
This diverts attention and human interaction away from what is supposed to be a familial bonding theme. The instances when families sit together to share personal experiences, interacting, laughing and showing love for one another are already gone. Each member is content to know that they are seated beside each other, not caring what the other is thinking or feeling. Psychologists refer to this as the “zombie effect.”
Work Behavior Changes
Smartphones are not only used for relaxation, it’s also used as a business tool. Most phone service providers (read more) sell their services by giving away smartphones to subscribers to tie them up exclusively to their services for an agreed length of time. Companies that have BYOD policies make it a point that popular brands of this handheld device can be used in the office under a BYOD arrangement. There are workers who check out companies that offer this benefit to their employees.
The numbers of companies that allow BYOD for their employees are steadily increasing. Out of a hundred Chief Information Officers asked, 38% already support employees with BYOD arrangements. The number of companies that will allow some or all their workers to use personal devices will increase by 82% this 2013. The CIOs in the survey agree that the employee production rate increased by 74% and their job satisfaction rates also improved a lot.
Smartphone as Utility Tool
The smartphone is one gadget that a regular worker cannot do without. It’s like Batman’s utility belt that has everything a person will need in order to survive the urban jungle. It has apps that meet its owner’s personal needs and important information that he needs at work and in his social life. All his social interactions revolve around it. An individual also uses it to make necessary payments and other monetary transactions on a daily basis.
High Demand and High Price
There are already more than 1 billion people in the world that use smartphones. This number continues to grow on a daily basis and manufacturers aren’t slowing down. More and more people will get a hold of this device because it has become part of their everyday life. It has become part of a person’s lifestyle to have one. And the newer models that come out won’t bring down its market prices. Mobile phones increased man’s addiction to technology and in the years to come, man’s mind and behavior will further evolve around technological devices like the smartphone.