Smartphones have become a necessity, providing not only communication, but also entertainment, maps, health checks, and more. However, they also have side effects, such as eye strain and invasion of privacy, that require proper usage habits and caution. We need to make the most of the benefits of smartphones while minimizing the negative side effects.

Since ancient times, people have valued communication among themselves. In the past, people didn’t have communication devices and had to travel to deliver messages in person, but in modern times, people communicate with each other through mail, electricity, or electromagnetic signals. As a testament to the importance of communication, communication devices have developed rapidly in recent years. About 15 years ago, people couldn’t imagine that they could surf the web on their cell phones at an affordable price. Nowadays, however, many people, including students, office workers, and others, are using their phones to access the Internet on the subway, in classrooms, and even on the road. It’s a habit that’s been made possible by the advent of smartphones.

The rise of the smartphone and its background

Smartphones first came into existence simply as an evolution of communication devices. However, if we look at the actual use of smartphones, we can see that they are used in many different areas, not only to communicate with each other through calls and messages, but also for entertainment, maps, surfing the internet, and much more. If we compare cell phones to entertainers, smartphones are all-round entertainers who can sing, act, dance, and perform. Let’s take a closer look at the smartphone, which has become such a big part of our lives.
A smartphone is a mobile device that has a mobile operating system and can use various applications just like a personal computer, but it’s much more portable than a computer or laptop, so it’s often used in everyday life. In 2023, the average smartphone user worldwide will spend about 3 hours and 50 minutes per day on their smartphone. This figure represents the average amount of time users spend online on their smartphones throughout the day, engaging in a variety of activities including social media, gaming, browsing, and communication. That’s how deeply smartphones have penetrated our lives. Before smartphones, feature phones, which could only make basic messages and calls, dominated the market. Then personal digital assistants, which added calculators, clocks, and alarms to feature phones, appeared, but failed to take off due to low demand. However, a few years later, smartphones centered on open, universal operating systems changed the mobile phone market. The iPhone 3GS, released in 2009, completely changed the public’s perception of cell phones as mobile devices with only messaging functions.
The rise of these smartphones has led to the exclusion of mobile operators from the creation of content, or applications, within the mobile environment. This means that we have evolved from a closed structure where the mobile operator controls the entire process of content creation and distribution to an open ecosystem where smartphone users are at the center of application development and consumption. A seller can come up with content that modern people need, create it, and upload it to the application store on their smartphone, where other users can download it to their device and use it for life. This can range from games to music downloaders, navigation systems, and more. The growth of mobile messengers and social networking services (SNS), such as kakaotalk, facebook, and twitter, is accelerating this trend, as they are rapidly cannibalizing the core telecom business of calls and texts. Today, smartphones have replaced traditional feature phones and have moved beyond the telecommunications market as an industry to become indispensable in most aspects of our daily lives.

Disadvantages and problems of using smartphones

However, these smartphones also have many disadvantages. The emergence of new technologies has created problems that didn’t exist before. The first is that we spend more time looking at our phones than ever before, which is causing eyestrain to accumulate more quickly. In the past, we used to look at electronic devices only when we were working on laptops, computers, etc., but nowadays, we look at our smartphones even when we are resting, so our eyes don’t have a chance to rest. Also, even when we are outdoors, such as meeting friends, we often become distant from each other due to the attitude of using our smartphones without talking to each other. However, the most serious problem that is emerging these days is privacy breaches, especially online banking hacks. According to an article published in 2011, a hacker demonstrated how to hack into an internet bank with a simple operation. A smartphone user simply accesses a site and is infected with malware, after which the hacker uses his laptop to transfer the user’s information to his server and steal it. The hacker then uses his laptop to transfer the user’s information to his servers and steal it. As you can see, smartphones can be very damaging when used carelessly. In addition to invasion of privacy, the incidence of sexual molestation and invasion of privacy using the silent camera, which is one of the features of smartphones, is increasing, making it one of the biggest social problems.

The future of smartphones and their potential for development

When used correctly, smartphones are expected to become more and more capable of enriching our lives. In fact, technologies that measure biometric information such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and heart rate through a smartphone’s camera or sensors are currently being tested and developed. An example of this is Peek Vision, a smartphone application developed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which was selected as one of the 10 most promising technologies by the Korea Agency for Science and Technology Planning and Evaluation. The app allows users to perform basic eye exams and even screen for serious conditions like cataracts. Because it’s inexpensive and simple to use, there are plans to use it to treat patients with eye diseases in underdeveloped countries. There are also emerging technologies that combine smartphones with other fields, such as automobiles, where smartphones can be used to control doors and ignition and automatically contact service centers in case of emergency. In addition, if you download the ‘Where’s My Car’ application, you can easily find the location of your parked car, and if you have an accident, you can easily find the location of the nearest after-sales service center. In this way, smartphones are not limited to their own use, but are synergized with other technologies.
As we mentioned earlier, smartphones started out as a device for communication, but nowadays, they have become a necessity that has become a large part of our daily lives, fulfilling their original function of messaging and calling, as well as entertainment, surfing the Internet, and checking our health. With so much more potential for improvement, many argue that smartphones will soon dominate our lives. In order to take full advantage of their many features and overcome their drawbacks, users need to determine which applications they need and use them correctly. They need to learn to filter out spam texts delivered in a variety of ways, and they shouldn’t recklessly enter unverified sites or scan QR codes. But that’s not the only thing to keep in mind when using a smartphone. Just like computers and laptops, smartphones can put a lot of strain on your eyes, neck, and back, so it’s important to regularly rest your eyes and stretch your neck and back when using your smartphone.

Smartphones and social responsibility

While we have to admit that smartphones make our lives easier, it”s also important to be socially responsible. It”s important to avoid excessive use of smartphones and to use them only when necessary. You should also be careful to use the information you get from your smartphone appropriately and not invade other people’s privacy. In particular, as cybercrime using smartphones increases, social systems to prevent and respond to it must be strengthened. In addition to individual caution, there needs to be a change in awareness among society as a whole.
Modern people should strive to live a more convenient and healthy daily life through the correct use of smartphones. We need to constantly pay attention and manage our smartphones to maximize their benefits and minimize their negative effects. By doing so, smartphones will become a true tool in our lives.