Do Smartphones Make You Smarter

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Ryan Grezaffi Mrs. Pitre English 101 September 21, 2012 Do Smartphones Make Us Smarter? I am always amazed by the latest and greatest technology advances especially when it comes to Smartphones. “Digital Swiss-Army Knife”, is the best way to describe a modern day iPhone. I rely on my mine every day to look up answers to random questions, e-mail, text and find points of interest. Having this kind of information and connectivity at our fingertip should make us smarter, right? Or are we becoming too distracted with the constant stream of notifications, information overload and the stress of not being able to disconnect making us as American making us less intelligent? With the introduction of the internet on Smartphones, information on just about any subject is just a few keystrokes away. Answers to everyday questions, driving directions, news feeds, just to name a few, are at our fingertips via the “information highway”. Websites such as Wiki, Google, and YouTube have made it very easy to obtain knowledge on just about any subject in seconds. For instance, the other day I need to learn how to fix drywall, so I watched a video on YouTube and saved myself $300. A popular argument is that people with smartphones don’t remember important facts because we rely on these websites to give us the answers. However, according to a study conducted by Edgar Dale we tend to remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we hear and see, 70% of what we say, and 90% of what we say and do. This says that by watching a video on a subject and discussing it with others will increase the amount of information we retain. Thus proving Smartphones can be very effective in finding and retaining information if used correctly. Some people think that our devices and smartphones are more distractions from our priorities than productivity enhancers.
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