The passing era of voice communication

One of the main capabilities of smartphones is still voice communication, after all, this device is primarily a telephone, and only then - a handheld computer. Although it is impossible to deny the fact that the phone function is increasingly beginning to resemble atavism. Perhaps this statement seems strange to you, how can a mobile phone be atavism? There are several reasons for this assessment, and the main one is the psychological discomfort that most of us experience to some extent during a telephone conversation. Do not rush to disagree immediately - we would like to draw your attention to an interesting article published on Gizmodo .

Yes, once it was different. Voice telephone communication served a specific purpose: it provided instant communication. And this completely changed the rules of the game around the world, starting in 1844. More than one and a half centuries have passed since then, and during this period, enormous, by the standards of technological progress, only the technical base of telephone communications has changed. And the principle itself remained almost unchanged. And for this there were all the prerequisites, given the fact that the very ability to communicate in voice with a person on the other side of the country or abroad was as affordable as important and useful.

Mobile phones have made a special contribution to improving our quality of life. One of the main reasons why people buy cell phones today is in emergency situations. But now there are many other developed ways of mobile communication: SMS, email, instant messengers. Today, the phrase “mobile phone” means precisely a smartphone, and not its button predecessor. In fact, an entire “mobile culture” has already formed, for which it is uncharacteristic to use such a simple and harmless voice communication - note that in the vast majority of cases we correspond, and do not call other people.

There are reasons for that. Typing text is easier and simpler; this is a less formal way of communication, in which you feel more relaxed. A bell, on the other hand, requires a certain emotional tension and composure from us. Sometimes pressure on the interlocutor. We live in a world where we have to plan our future calls. Usually we call when there is some urgent matter, for the sake of which it is worth disturbing the call. And often this is some kind of unpleasant urgent matter. “I did not expect a call, did something happen?”



In fact, now any other way to send a message is preferable to a call. In addition to the mentioned SMS, mail and instant messengers, there are also all kinds of social networks. Such a variety of communication channels, with their unobtrusiveness and a wide choice of visual expression of all kinds of emotions, has never been available to us. And this is wonderful, because among all this holiday of life, a call is perhaps the worst option for communication. Having dialed someone’s number, you don’t know if the subscriber is busy right now, and he doesn’t know why you are calling, so the fact of the call makes him alert, tense. Each time we call someone, we open Schrodinger's mailbox, wondering if it’s appropriate to talk now. In addition, calls are much more emotionally saturated, which is why we are so annoyed by calls at inopportune times or out of business.



It’s worth answering someone’s call, and the conversation immediately loses all these sweet social nuances inherent in personal correspondence (sly winks, shy smiles, etc.), and turns out to be filled with everyday and clueless shouts: “Hello, how are you? Sorry, bad connection. What are you saying? I do not understand, repeat again. And, no, it's not me laughing, this is one of the 193,940 people who are now around me in this place. Sorry, didn’t hear? Yes, bye. ” The worst part of the conversation, not carrying anything useful or good.

That's why more and more people are using smartphones for text communication rather than voice. Swype - on-screen typing mode coupled with automatic word matchingmake non-voice communication methods even more convenient and informative. Some of them are good for communicating with society, some for private conversations, but they are all psychologically more comfortable and tactful than a phone call.

If you need to hear someone's voice - your family, friends or relatives - then you usually find a secluded place to make a call. And in these cases it is better to communicate via video chat in order not only to hear, but also to see the person important to you.

If you find yourself somewhere in a crowded place, and you were seized with a desire to share something fleeting, empty ideas, just get your smartphone, send a couple of lines - and that’s all. Modern chat interfaces allow us to constantly exist inside the flow of information from our social connections.

The lack of the need to mobilize internally during an unexpected call makes communication more comfortable. Therefore, today we often precede our call with a text message “Can you call now?” Or when is it better to dial? ”This became not so much a gesture of politeness as a necessity. As one person aptly remarked :

“Every phone call has a victim - the one who is being called. You are always distracted from some business or activity when they call to chat. Drivers stuck in traffic jams and calling their friends and acquaintances out of boredom are particularly unbearable.

... When I receive a text warning about a call, I always rejoice at it, without even reading the message. And when my phone rings unexpectedly, I think: “What the hell, who else is there?” ”

***

According to Nielsen Research Agency , in 2007 the average duration of telephone calls reached a historic high, then quickly fell and stabilized.



We reduced the time spent with the tube at the ear to the minimum possible, and now it remains only to abandon this completely. True, at one time they prophesied the same thing to books, newspapers and e-mail, joyfully predicting for them all kinds of periods of dying. But they still somehow manage to survive. Phone calls also show all signs of going into oblivion. Maybe it’s time to show mercy and all together to stop calling without emergency and answer calls?



Of course, the phone function in the smartphone needs to be saved just in case of various emergency and urgent situations. You will not be running away in a night forest from a gang of murdered clown killers to send a panic message to your friends. But, fortunately, in our life there are not many situations that require speedy communication with other people. So isn’t it better to protect each other from unnecessary worries and inconveniences to switch to text communication?

And you did not notice in yourself, even a small, but tension, when you call someone or when they unexpectedly call you? Do you often accept choose instead of a call SMS or a message in the messenger, if the matter is not urgent?