
A photographer edits out smartphones to show our strange and lonely new world - Thorondor
http://qz.com/523746/a-photographer-edits-out-our-smartphones-to-show-our-strange-and-lonely-new-world/
======
dalke
Wouldn't it look similarly strange and lonely had it been books or magazines
which were edited out? If so, is it really a new world?

~~~
itsybitsycoder
It would look strange and lonely if they shopped books into these photos where
the smartphones used to be. Two of those pictures take place during a barbecue
and one is at the dinner table. Before smartphones it was considered rude to
do that.

~~~
dalke
What I meant was, if you take a set of pictures, like
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/e96051ca2891859fb3168521f...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/e96051ca2891859fb3168521f441b379b5c47441.jpg)
[http://iew2012.ercblogs.co.za/wp-
content/uploads/2013/05/peo...](http://iew2012.ercblogs.co.za/wp-
content/uploads/2013/05/people-reading-in-library-630x300.jpg)
[http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-
spouses-...](http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-spouses-like-
to-read-books-image12312359) or [http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/brand-
connect/wp-content/up...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/brand-connect/wp-
content/uploads/sites/3/2015/08/Mary-Driscoll_Librarian_resized.jpg) , where
there are several people reading books, and remove the books, then it would
also look like a lonely world.

Your reply is a bit different, which is that we do certain practices now that
would not have been socially acceptable (say) 20 years ago, had it been
replaced by a book.

First, I did read books at the table 20 years ago. Going back a generation
more, President Carter also read at the table, as did his daughter. Quoting
from
[http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-03-18/features/1998077...](http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-03-18/features/1998077088_1_book-
of-knowledge-read-interesting-books) :

> I've been reading ever since I was a child. My mother read day and night
> when she was nursing, whenever she could. And all of our family have read at
> the table. Amy got caught reading at the table at a state banquet...So books
> have been a part of our life."

While some certainly thought it was rude, others did not.

Just like smartphones now.

Second, replace books with newspapers for a closer equivalent. Here are
couples reading the paper at breakfast -
[http://static9.depositphotos.com/1729220/1228/i/950/depositp...](http://static9.depositphotos.com/1729220/1228/i/950/depositphotos_12289482-Couple-
reading-newspaper-at-breakfast-table.jpg) and
[http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/nyhetsfoto/american-
astron...](http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/nyhetsfoto/american-astronaut-
michael-collins-and-his-wife-pat-as-they-nyhetsfoto/88999253) .

Third, replace books with TV for an alternative older equivalent for the
dinner table. After TV we as a culture rearranged our living rooms so the TV
was the center of attention, not each other. We invented special tables so we
could eat in front of the TV. Remove the TV in [http://epicpew.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/television_wat...](http://epicpew.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/television_watching.jpg) and leave a blank wall, then
wonder why everyone is staring at the wall. Which is why it was called the
boob tube.

~~~
itsybitsycoder
I don't know, in those stock photos I can picture them without the books and
it doesn't seem as bad. They're all pictures of people in public places
minding their own business. The pictures in the OP are families and friends,
often in what looks like what's meant to be a social setting, staring at their
feet instead of interacting.

Of course you can find examples of people reading at the table, but that
doesn't mean it wasn't considered rude. Notice he says Amy was "caught"
reading at the table. When you read at the table you're sending the message
that the other people at the table are boring and unworthy of your attention.
Not that I was never guilty of it, I was a pretty rude kid. :)

~~~
dalke
"They're all pictures of people in public places"

The third one was of a husband and wife at home.

Here are ones that are even less public; people reading in bed:
[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3203/3035922303_1cfa0001d6_o....](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3203/3035922303_1cfa0001d6_o.jpg)
[http://cdn1.stocksy.com/a/nuW000/z0/126529.jpg](http://cdn1.stocksy.com/a/nuW000/z0/126529.jpg)
[http://citizented.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Reading-
in-...](http://citizented.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Reading-in-Bed.jpg)
and
[https://41.media.tumblr.com/f46e012a1002708a99852d2acb5f4ae8...](https://41.media.tumblr.com/f46e012a1002708a99852d2acb5f4ae8/tumblr_nvpn7vqZoE1qaimxyo1_500.jpg)
.

When I compare them to the first image of the qz page, I get the sense that
it's the back-to-back composition which gives the sense of loneliness, not the
lack of a smartphone. I couldn't find the same composition through an image
search, but the last of these is head to foot, which is close.

You are reading too much into the "caught", and not enough into the present
day equivalent. The sense with Amy Carter is identical to what would happen
now if Malia Obama were "caught" using a smartphone during a state dinner. (Or
do you really think that no one now would consider that rude?)

BTW, here's Art Buchwald poking fun at the 1977 event:
[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19770303&id=...](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19770303&id=-o9GAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WfMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2972,306218&hl=en)
. The lead starts out by essentially saying it's dogshedding.

Then again, _I_ may be reading too much into Carter's practice. According to
[https://books.google.com/books?id=3M1KlBNm7WcC&pg=PA46&dq=%2...](https://books.google.com/books?id=3M1KlBNm7WcC&pg=PA46&dq=%22read+at+the+table%22&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22read%20at%20the%20table%22&f=false)
, reading was allowed at the Carter table, _but talking was not_. So I checked
with a Google Book search.

[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lq9IKuhf24MC&pg=PA158&dq=%...](https://books.google.com/books?id=Lq9IKuhf24MC&pg=PA158&dq=%22read+at+the+table%22&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22read%20at%20the%20table%22&f=false)
says that the author's father would read at the lunch table, as would the
children, and it took years before finding out that others considered it
impolite.

[https://books.google.com/books?id=0Cihcn_W0bsC&pg=PA111&dq=%...](https://books.google.com/books?id=0Cihcn_W0bsC&pg=PA111&dq=%22read+at+the+dinner+table%22&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22read%20at%20the%20dinner%20table%22&f=false)
has someone reading at the table, and whose mother complains about the
practice.

In checking a few more, I'm willing to accept that many people considered it
rude, but a substantial minority did not.

Oooh! Here's a neat snippet from "The Marlburian" (1882) from
[https://books.google.com/books?id=HQUIAAAAQAAJ&q=%22read+dur...](https://books.google.com/books?id=HQUIAAAAQAAJ&q=%22read+during+dinner%22&dq=%22read+during+dinner%22&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y)
:

> Dear Sir - I wish to enter a humble but hearty protest against a practice
> which I believe have increased of late throughout the school. I refer to
> that of bringing books to read during dinner. It certainly does not aid
> digestion and is in may ways injurious to health. At dinner more than at
> other meals it is usual to relax the hard worked brain by conversation on
> general subjects, alias "shop" ...

Perhaps the rudeness level for books at dinner hasn't changed in 150 years?

Interesting question - which is more rude now; pulling out a book, or pulling
out a phone?

------
pavel_lishin
It's not lonely. My wife and I look like that pictured couple. What are we
doing? We're playing Scrabble with each other online. Or reading the news,
which we then talk about.

~~~
to3m
I wonder if the kids were all playing a multiplayer game of Minecraft or
something.

------
blzaugg
These are not edited out mobile device. These are posed shots with empty
hands.

