Smartphones: A Daily Necessity for 3 Billion People

A smartphone refers to any mobile phone that uses the internet and applications such as browsers and email apps. Since its inception, mobile phone ownership has been on a rapid rise throughout the world. Currently, more than three billion people across the globe own smartphones (Statista). Therefore, smartphones have become part and parcel of people's lives. The owners use their phones in various ways and to accomplish multiple tasks. Typical daily use of smartphones is characterized by learning, health, socialization, marketing, documentation of experiences, and communication.

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SMARTPHONE AND LEARNING

One of the ways in which smartphones are useful in our daily lives is that it aids learning across all levels of education. There are various ways through which smartphones can help college and university students to learn. First, with the current high penetration of internet connectivity, students stay connected to their learning management system through their smartphones (Walburg). Consequently, through their internet-powered phones, they can work on their assignments through the help of Google Docs and track their academic progress whenever and wherever they need it. Specifically, through the universities' Moodle system, students can check all assigned tasks, resources, and discussion forums through their phones. It is worth noting that university systems, such as Moodle, have been optimized for smartphones (Walburg).

Second, for students who have difficulty paying attention in lecture halls and those who find it challenging to track their notes, smartphone recording functionality is a crucial component of their academic success. The learners can use their phones to record lectures and listen later. This ensures that they do not miss any details related to the lectures. In such a case, the student can seek a professor's consent before recording the lecture or class discussions. Third, smartphones can be used by the students for taking notes. Many apps help the students to organize and keep their notes conveniently and safely. They include Dropbox, Evernote, and Google Drive which are essential for the storage of files and ease of accessibility.

Moreover, smartphones enable students to read books electronically; students can read their books whenever they want to and at any place. Some of the applications that can be used to read include eBook apps and Amazon Kindle. Users can also listen to audiobooks via their smartphones. Over the past few years, the popularity of audiobooks has risen (Perrin). According to a study conducted by Pew Research, 20 percent of US citizens listen to audiobooks (Perrin).

Furthermore, smartphones can be used to complete research projects. Specifically, when students cannot physically make it to the library, they can still access the library and research resources through their phones. Apart from accessing the library resources, students can chat with a librarian via text, mobile phone, and email and get their questions addressed. This enables them to write excellent research papers. Also, search engines on the phone, such as Google, helps students to find resources needed to complete their research.

Despite the importance of smartphones in learning, some people researchers have reported that it leads to decreased concentration. Specifically, some researchers have established that cognitive capacity is significantly reduced when a smartphone is within reach, even when it is not on (Ward). In an experiment conducted by Professor Adrian Ward, the participants were asked to sit in front of a computer and complete a series of tests that needed full concentration to attain a high score. The test was aimed at measuring test taker's cognitive capacity. Before taking the test, participants were randomly told to put their phones on the desk facing down, in their pockets, or a separate room. They were required to put their phones on silent mode. The findings of the study revealed that those who placed their smartphones in different rooms had higher scores than those who had phones on their desks and pockets. This implies that the presence of a smartphone leads to declining cognitive ability and functioning as a person cannot pay full attention to a task at hand (Ward). However, the fact that a student can place a room in a separate room and achieve a total concentration of a task at hand means that students can still use their phones when doing academic tasks that do not require a lot of concentration.

SMARTPHONES AND HEALTH

Smartphones are also a crucial component of our daily efforts to keep healthy. One of the ways through which this can be accomplished is through the tracking of physical activity. Through a smartphone's capacity to track and the document's an individual's physical activity, one can stay motivated to keep healthy. Tracking of physical activity is accomplished through the use of wearable tracking technologies which have to enable digitization of the process of monitoring fitness (Shull et al. 11). Examples of wearable tracking tools that track activity include wristband sensors and smartwatches. Applications on smartphones such as Google Fit have also become popular.

By allowing users to track their physical activity, smartphones help them to attain wellbeing and adopt beneficial health behavior. Specifically, through continuous and regular feedback from smartphone apps regarding physical activity, improved health behavior has been achieved. It has been established that the ability to track its physical activity through smartphone apps is positively linked to the duration of participation in exercise (Seifert et al. 2).

Smartphones can also be used by patients to communicate with healthcare professionals, leading to better health outcomes. Currently, hospitals are investing in smartphones and encrypted mobile platforms that allow for communications between the patients and clinicians. Specifically, a recent study showed that 90% of the healthcare systems are planning massive investments in smartphones communications in the next one year to one and a half years (Mearian). Additionally, smartphone use in the healthcare system has led to improved patient outcomes. It has been established that nurses experience better communication when they use smartphones to reach colleagues than traditional communication techniques e.g., pagers (Oh et al. 4). Improved communication is manifested through quicker response from colleagues and decreased interruptions to patient care. Two-way communication achieved through smartphones allows for speedier communication hence improving patient care.

Another benefit attributed to the use of smartphones in a healthcare setting is that nurses can access information efficiently associated with patient care (Oh et al. 4). Through mobile applications, healthcare personnel can access clinical information such as wound care, patient education, and medication parameters. Additionally, through smartphones, healthcare professionals can share clinical expertise with their others to support practice, thus improving health outcomes (Oh et al. 4).

Despite the importance of smartphones in bettering our health, privacy, and confidentiality issues have been raised (Kotz et al. 22). Some researchers have argued that third parties can access patients' data. However, this should not be a concern because hospitals can use secure databases to avoid intrusion of patients' data.

SMARTPHONE AND SOCIALIZATION

Smartphones have enabled users to make friends online. A recent study revealed that 57 percent of teenagers had made new friends through their internet-enabled phones (Pew Research Center). Specifically, 6 percent of the, had made at least one friend, 22 percent had made up to five new friends, and 29% had created over five new friends (Pew Research Center). Even though most of them reported that they had not physically met their online friends, 20 percent of them had met them in person. In their efforts to make new friends, people use different online tools and digital sites that facilitate meeting and interaction with new individuals. These platforms include blogging sites, online video sites, networked and online video games, social media sites, and discussion boards. People who devote most of their time playing video games online via their phones and those who use Facebook or Twitter have a higher likelihood of making new friends than those who spend limited time (Pew Research Center).

Even though smartphones have enabled users to socialize with others and make online friends, some researchers have argued that it has led to loneliness (Gao et al.). However, it should be noted that this only applies to individuals who are highly addicted to smartphones. For an average user, there is no negative impact on healthy daily lives and socialization. Therefore, loneliness and social anxiety cannot arise.

SMARTPHONE AND MARKETING

The growing adoption of smartphones in the general population has led to a shift from traditional marketing approaches such as TV and newsprints to online marketing. Specifically, it has been revealed that increased penetration of smartphone usage has forced marketers to utilize mobile phone-based marketing platforms. One of the ways through which smartphones have helped to market products and services is through social media. Social media marketing refers to the utilization of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to connect with target clients with the aim of driving website traffic, increasing sales, and building one's brand. In this marketing approach, the user publishes content related to the products on social media, listen and engage followers, analyze results, and run social media ads.

There are various benefits attributable to the use of smartphones to market products and services. First, this marketing technique reaches a broader market (Moats). Specifically, because smartphones are cheap, small, and portable, individuals who could not access the internet in the past can now afford to do so. Therefore, hundreds of people can now access the internet. This implies that when an individual market his or her products using their smartphone's apps, s/he reaches many potential customers. Because of this, there is an increased likelihood that s/he will get more customers, increase sales, and make more profits than if s/he had used traditional marketing platforms. Additionally, when using mobile phones to market products, one gets instantaneous results. This is attributable to the fact that people carry smartphones along with them. Just like the wallets, no one leaves their phones behind. The phones are also on most of the time and the marketer can get messages from potential buyers at all times (Moats).

Despite its crucial role in marketing, some authors have argued that there are privacy concerns when using mobile phones to market products. However, it is worth noting that users have the option of not subscribing to phone-based marketing if they do not like the product, service, or brand.

DOCUMENTING OUR EXPERIENCES

Smartphones have allowed us to document our daily experiences. This has been enabled by the presence of powerful cameras that come with the phones. To the majority of the smartphone openers, the most crucial component of their phone experience is the presence of a digital camera used to take photos. Before the advent of smartphones, it was not easy to take photos like today. It was also a costly affair as people had to hire experts to take photos whenever they had essential functions. However, smartphones revolutionize everything as users are currently able to take photos of all their tasks without paying for it.

Apart from the ability to take photos, documentation of experiences through smartphones has also been enhanced through a...