Modern technology has developed at such breakneck speed that the majority of the population has a smartphone and in business, our phones have become our companion. Notification after notification, we find ourselves looking down at our trusty screens and can be guilty of forgetting to look at the world around us.
Now, thanks to the one-hundred million selfie taking, Facebook obsessed, tweet loving, Tinder swiping, Snapchat storytelling, Candy crushers, there are no actual traffic lights on the ground – Traffic lights. On the floor.
Ever had someone walk into you because they were busy playing Angry Birds? It won’t be long until they end up airborne after being hit by a car. After a number of genuine deaths from smartphone distractions, the powers behind Augsburg in Germany felt compelled to install LED traffic lights on pavements to ensure the safety of smartphone users when crossing the road. Yep, that’s actually happened.
Smartphones have become so widespread, the physical world is being altered to adapt to the technology, rather than the other way around.
Let’s just imagine for a second if other technological advancements were given similar treatment:
- Kettles – After receiving confirmation that most of Britain drinks tea, David Cameron has decided to push plans through for pop-up tea stalls on every street in the UK, assuring everyone is constantly tea’d up.
- Televisions – Everyone is watching television; the majority of the planet uses them so the government has made it a policy to install TVs onto the side of every home to assure nobody misses Jeremy Kyle.
- Cars – With so many cars on the road, it’s becoming impossible to drive side-by-side while talking to a friend, therefore retracting pavements that turn into roads when no human is nearby are installed in 14 countries around the world.
- Computers – Personal computers are getting more and more useful so let’s compact it into a foldable version that is slightly less powerful… hold on a minute…
It all sounds absolutely ridiculous, doesn’t it? Yes the traffic lights may save a few lives, but if we allow smartphones to control the way the world looks, we’ll end up with one massive screen that we go about our daily lives on; each and every one of us.
I mean, where does it stop? A stretch of pavement that is reserved for smartphone users, much like a bus lane?
They’ve already experimented with that in China, you say?
God help us.
