What's An Encyclopedia? Life experiences that smart phones have stolen from us

At this stage we have all probably seen that Gary Turk video 'Look Up' where he complains about technology and how its destroying human interaction. His slightly hypocritical post encourages people to look up from their phones and 'shut down that display' - but how else will they see your YouTube video Gary? Great parodies here and here point out that poor Gary is living in the past and needs to understand that the times, they have changed. And the loneliness he claims to be feeling because of his phone is actually just him being lonely and not getting involved in social media.

It's true that our lives have changed with all this new technology and apps and different ways of communicating with each other. But is it really such a bad thing?

No More Encyclopedias.

Bad for those who make them. They're gathering dust in libraries everywhere. Who needs them when we can just search for anything we're curious about on Google or YouTube. Wikipedia is the new encyclopedia for the whole world. You can learn how to do anything on YouTube! We've become a self-teaching society. Information is no longer only for the elite. If you use the right tags you could probably find anything. Isn't it better that we don't have to carry around heavy books anymore and just learn everything we need to from Wikipedia to seem smart?

Not Getting Lost.

Find yourself in a foreign country and no idea where you are but you have 3G signal? Sorted turn on your GPS and open Google Maps and you've suddenly found yourself. You can also find nearby hostels, restaurants, attractions. If you don't have signal, where the fuck are you? If you walked to the middle of nowhere with no plan then that's on you. You deserve to be lost.

No More Carrying Maps.

Again Google maps has you covered, or any other free map app. You no longer have to carry around a huge crumpled sheet that probably doesn't even reflect what the roads are like anymore. You can even get a Sat Nav on your phone. How is this not a good thing?

Lonely? Please.

There has never been any other time in history when the human race was connected to this extent. Haven't seen a friend in a while but lost their number or don't have their address? Poke them on Facebook and catch up on WhatsApp. You can do this all the time, anywhere, to whatever country they're in.

Letter-Writing.

OK, we might all love getting stuff in the post that isn't a bill but letter-writing, although romantic and everything is a tad over-rated. It's time consuming and a waste of paper. What happens if you make tons of spelling errors or your hand-writing is awful? That's what we have Spell Check for. And it is a privilege.

Boredom.

Waiting around for a lecture to start or for a friend to show up? Check Twitter, Facebook, YouTube email updates. You can stream Netflix, or install Kindle on smartphones. You never has any excuse for boredom while that wonderful device has enough battery life left in it.

Awkward Situations.

Someone you kind of know at the bus-stop. You've had a long day and are in no way capable of making small talk? So out comes the phone. For all they know you're emailing your assignments to your professor.

New Ways to Meet People.

Online dating has now been fine-tuned to such an extent that all you have to do is swipe left of right if you like the look of someone. If you like the same show find people who like it on Facebook. People have been making friends over the internet since chat-rooms were a thing - back when dial up was around. You can go through a person's entire life in a socially acceptable way through Facebook stalking. What a world!

Shopping.

Hate shopping, or just don't have the time? Shopping online is wonderful. You pick out what you want, they're put in a virtual cart so you don't have to lug them around in a crowded sweaty stress fest, you pay and they're delivered right to your door. What is not great about that?