The smartphone has transformed life for better and for worse

The smartphone has transformed life for better and for worse (Photo: iStock)

Often, I look at the number of transactions I make through my phone in a day and wonder how people survived during the Stone Age. Please note that in this case, the Stone Age refers to just about two decades ago, and I was a fully functional adult who paid her taxes diligently.

The year was 2000 AD when I got my first phone. It was a (then) impressive and massive piece of technology with an aerial, like the radios back then, and I, like many people back then, could not afford to run the phone. It was like owning a car that spends most of its time not on the road, but in the parking, and not because you do not need it, but because you cannot afford to run it.