15 Things You’ve Forgotten How To Do Thanks To Your Smartphone

The transition from dumb phones to smartphones was pretty significant, but do you remember what you used to do before you had a portable, pocket-sized phone? Not to mention a mobile, pocket-sized phone. That connects to the Internet with hundreds of thousands of apps. And controls every aspect of your life. Remember how you had to call a restaurant from home. After looking up the phone number in the phone book to make a dinner reservation? Here are 15 things you’ve totally forgotten how to do, thanks to your smartphone.

Make Phone Calls

Texting, social media, email, websites that list movie times, OpenTable, Pizza Hut’s online ordering. Smartphones have made obsolete the very thing that phones were created to do.

Remember Phone Numbers

Remember trying to make your phone number spell out a word?

Read a Map

Before Maps, there were just maps.

Balance a Checkbook

Thanks, online banking apps!

Write in Cursive

Do they even teach cursive in school anymore?

Write Legibly

Nobody reads handwritten stuff anymore anyway, right?

Take Pictures

There’s really no reason to take good pictures. You can just slap an Instagram filter on them. And call it art. What is an aperture? What is shutter speed?

Set an Alarm Clock

Like, an analog alarm clock. And let’s not even talk about manually changing clocks for Daylight Saving.

Do Math

When was the last time you calculated a tip in your head? Considering there are tip-calculating apps. Opposed to the calculator on your phone. I’m say it’s probably been a while.

Wait in a Line

Or maybe we’re really good at waiting in line now, thanks to the distraction of smartphones.

Go to the Bathroom

God forbid you spend 2 minutes staring at the wall. Instead of playing Angry Birds.

Read a Book

Books are dull and heavy; you must turn on a light to read them. The Amazon Kindle app, on the other hand, has a feature that lets you look up context about places and events.

Turn on Lights

Yep, smartphones are even affecting our ability to flip a switch. Thanks a lot, WeMo.

Be Productive

Your smartphone is sabotaging your productivity even if you’re not using it. According to a study by researchers at the University of Southern Maine, the mere presence of a phone is distracting enough to affect your performance.

Sit Up Straight

We look at our smartphones so frequently that it’s starting to affect our posture and our skin. Tech neck is a real thing!