The constant availability promised by smartphones may have reduced worrying when something unusual happens, but that's been replaced with something much worse: the constant expectation of being available at all times, coupled with the anxiety induced by even very short periods of unavailability. — AP
About 25 years ago, my family was vacationing in New Jersey, and my dad and I went golfing. On the way to the course, the car started acting up – the battery was dying. This was before the days of smartphones, so we relied on highway signage and good fortune to limp to a garage.
It was the alternator, and after a couple hours we got back on the road to the golf course, played nine holes and returned to Cape May. But it wasn't just before the era of smartphones. It was before the wide adoption of any mobile phones, and we didn't have one with us. Our unplanned multi-hour delay had left my mom distraught, to the point where she was calling local hospitals to see if a car accident had occurred.
