1907: Smartphone Zombies Predicted
January 16, 2019
By AHNZ
Punch, in 1907, correctly anticipates the social impact of access to mobile phones. This is exactly what so many of us do- we meet up in person with friends then spend our time communicating instead with persons not present. The author is perhaps also presciently observing the impact on men and women meeting each other, getting to know each other, and re-populating the species.
Not a New Zealand publication but it is our history by virtue of our being, at that time, a colony belonging in a far larger world-wide citizenship.
As it turns out the anti-social danger of wireless tech didn’t really land in 1907 but more like 2003 when mass consumer mobile phones were affordable. They have increasingly become more entertaining and sophisticated, and so distracting.
This era may have come far sooner, as the comic indicates, except that the government almost immediately leapt upon the new technology to regulate it, licence it, control it, and stifle innovation and affordability. This was despite hilariously ignorant understanding among New Zealand politicians about how radio works, as Hansard clearly shows.
Note the antenna from both individual’s hats and the earthing wire. More highly powered transmitters dispense with these!
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Ref. Mobile phone overuse; wiki
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