Wise readers, first deal with a quiz: There is a ‘smart machine’ that we hold in our hands but practically we are in the grip of it.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…time’s up. It’s easyyyyy, who doesn’t know?

Yes, you have already answered it right, I know, and chanted the name of the most necessary, and useful ‘smart machine’ in the present era.

Even two and a half decades ago, having a landline telephone system at one’s residence was still proclaiming his/her high status in society. Low- and middle-income groups only wished they could afford such a landline. Time went by and soon featured mobile phones appeared with great wonder. It requires no wire to talk to and one can carry it anywhere!

“Dosto, is it true? Have you seen it or been able to touch at least that sort of thing? What kind of stuff is that or so to say ‘mobile phone’?” etc, etc, and etc were the questions of curious minds.

With the higher call tariff (Tk7-Tk10 per minute as far as I can remember – or what if the charges were more), telecom operators and other stakeholders realised that their business would be better and go a long way if they reduced the call tariff and could ensure handsets in every hand.

Going by the aphorism – time is money, the operators seized the idea of inducing people, particularly the youth, to talk more and more – be it in need or not.

“Be it your friends or beloved ones, talk now at cheaper rates,” or “Let’s talk all the time” – such a hundred catchy advertisements swayed the minds of people. Being induced or feeling the urgency, we started talking over the mobile phone minute after minute or hour after hour.

Oh, I’ve forgotten to mention that giving missed calls to someone then denoted that either someone was making fun or the individual concerned was running short of balance. In the case of fun, receiving a missed call somehow was another sort of fun. In addition, sending good text messages was also an ‘art’ we thought, while crossing levels of various games was a ‘skill.’

Reduction of call tariffs gradually as well as prices of handsets spurred the total telecom industry and subsequently made people busy with mobile phones.

But, for how long would they remain engrossed with ordinary mobile phones by using those only for idle chat, missed calls, texts and games?

And, here comes smartphones with a revolution. Boasting about cameras with high resolution, internet-based all ‘windows’ like Google, Facebook, X, WhatsApp and YouTube, along with numerous apps, the ‘smart machine’ now contains all these options, gripping on humans.

Although we become very happy by thinking that we can use various features and apps in our day-to-day needs by simply holding smartphones in our hands, the question arises – for how long should we deceive ourselves into remaining busy with the options in smartphones, apart from the professional urge?

No doubt that the transformation of the telecom sector has boosted the country’s economy, creating employment for hundreds of thousands of people. With such a kind of advancement, millions of others are experiencing the evil side knowingly or unknowingly.

It is high time we pondered the issue – thanks to ‘virtual addiction’ – aren’t we, actually, drowning in ‘virtual quicksand’ or incarcerating in ‘virtual prison’ showing ourselves excuses?

With the triumph of smartphones in this modern era, we cannot even sit and think alone. We do not feel like pondering any issue, rather it is comfortable to go for a browse through smartphones. Once we used to meet with friends and chat with them wholeheartedly, now the ‘smart machine’ intrudes here as well and habitually, we take refuge in it while having a chat.

My dear wise readers, how many of you can remember the last time you read a book? Of course, not virtually. Reading a book or other articles virtually is not a crime, but the problem lies with keeping patience. Smartphones have taught us to do everything very quickly and keeping patience while reading a book here is a tough thing since there are many options, including social media feeds, to be entertained with our shaky convictions indulging us in browsing up and down, or down and up, in the blink of an eye.

The mobile phone among numerous products has blessed modern life, facilitating our communications, easing complex procedures in many aspects, removing various hassles in financial activities, smoothing daily personal and official activities, opening up the realm of knowledge and information, expanding our friendships by widening the world, etc.

As in the case of every good thing, we have turned the good side of the ‘smart machine’ into an opposite one as well – willingly or unwillingly. In the end, we have thrown ourselves into a labyrinth of a virtual world by using it excessively.

And, here comes the term — nomophobia.

No Mobile Phone Phobia (nomophobia) is used to describe a psychological condition when people have a fear of being detached from mobile phone connectivity, according to an article in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. The signs and symptoms observed in nomophobia cases include anxiety, respiratory alterations, trembling, perspiration, agitation, disorientation and tachycardia.

Wise readers, for the sake of argument, let’s ignore the term – nomophobia. Then? Can we avoid danger only by closing our eyes? Shouldn’t we come to the realisation lest issues get worse the next time we open our eyes?

_____________________________________

The writer is a Sub-Editor at the Daily Sun