cup a joe

HT to Scot McKnight regarding a question raised by John Pattison at Slow Church:

In a 2007 interview with Arthur Boers, the philosopher Albert Borgmann makes the case that television is of moral importance. Borgmann says: “When I teach my ethics course I tell these relatively young people that the most important decision that they’ll make about their household is first whether they’re going to get a television and then second where they’re going to put it.”
I think for my generation and for the generation coming after mine, the questions could probably be amended to (a) “Are you going to get a smartphone?” and (b) “If so, what limits are you going to place on its use?”
These are questions I’m asking myself right now too. I have an iPhone. Am I going to keep it? If so, how should I limit its use? To use a science fiction metaphor, the iPhone is a kind of portal, one that can cause me to be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually distant, even when I’m physically present. How often do I want to have that portal open?

This really got me thinking.  I'm amazed on how I can have a busy day and not get anything accomplished because I let technology keep me busy.  I find it disheartening when I consider how may times I look at my phone simply because it is there.  Last year I dropped my phone and the screen shattered.  It took Sprint a week to get me a replacement.  I remember that week was like going through detox.  I kept patting my side where my phone should be - expecting it to be there.  I felt "phantom" buzzes (perhaps this is the way an amputee sometimes "feels" his missing body part).   It really bothered me - so much so that I started deleting apps that were simply there to waste time.

I find it interesting that the cost of being connected to the world is to become less present to those physically around you.