Explaining Smartphone to a 60's Person Through the Things That They Know
Original Image Source- Modified and Phone Image by @saydie
1960's was a very long time ago and there has been a huge explosion on the advancement of the technology that we have on 2020's, the invention of smartphone being one of them. So if the premise is I have to explain what a smartphone is to a 60's person, perhaps, I was sent to the past through time machine, I would try to explain it to them with the help of the inventions available from that era that have similar functions to a smartphone. This way, even though smartphone is an unknown device for them, it would be easier to them to absorb what I'm about to explain them because it resembles the functions of the things that they know.
Smartphone as a communication device.
Most probably, the easiest way to explain to a 60's person what a smartphone is that it was a communication device similar to a Telephone but unlike telephone, that was bulky and cannot be moved because they need telephone lines to communicate, A smartphone is portable and can be brought to almost anywhere as it uses radio waves to communicate. It can also send messages similar to Fax that also uses telephone lines to send text messages from a scanner to the receiver's printer but unlike fax, smartphone does not need a scanner and a printer to send massages as the text that was sent would appear to the receiver's smartphone. Not only that, Smartphone also allows Video Calls where a person can see who's he talking to but it was something impossible to their time as this uses internet which was only created on 1980's.
Smartphone as A Computing and Storing Device
Smartphone was literally a Computer made into the size to fit our hands so that we can bring it wherever we go so it can take "input data" such as when computer press a keyboard and "process the data" as which was shown into the computer screen. It also has Computing Functions which allows it to be used as Calculator and has the storage capability to save any type of data but its storage capability has increased exponentially as old computers can only store kilobytes of data while smartphones can store gigabytes of data where 1 GB is equals to 1048576 kB. As computers that time were used mostly by scientist and government, This explanation would most likely to enlighten them but was rather difficult to explain to a regular citizen.
Smartphone as Audio Media Device
As Smartphones already uses radio signals to communicate, it would not be hard to explain to a 60's person how a smartphone also works as a Radio where we can listen to different radio stations either for music or hear the latest news but as a kind of device with storage capability, smartphones can also stored music which they either downloaded or if they subscribed to music platforms like Spotify.
Smartphone as a Visual Media Device
Not only smartphone can function like Radio, It can also works like Televisions where you can watch videos but the resolution was way better than a 60's television and has access not only to local shows but also on international shows which can also be stored so I won't need to be upset if they missed a show cause they can download it and watch them when I have free time.
Smartphone as a Camera Device
Smartphone can also be used as Camera to take pictures to capture precious memories but cameras of 60's needs Photographic film or the transparent sheet to record the picture and only can only capture few pictures compared to Smartphone which can store hundreds if not thousands of pictures. Many smartphones also has camera both back and front so it can take pictures from afar but also take pictures up close or what people of 2020's have called as "selfies".
Smartphone as Gaming Device
There are very few games that are made during 60's but if the person I am talking to have somehow know or play them, They could probably relate be amazed that a Smartphone can be used for playing games and could play different types of them. Perhaps, If I am talking to a teenager, it would made them more curious as there have very few forms of entertainment on 60's and would allow them to understand what a smartphone is faster.
Conclusion
As there is a huge time gap from 1960 to 2023, it is no wonder that there was a huge advancement in technology and if people of the 1960 era were able to come across our technology today, it would be quite a shock to them so I believed that using the things that they already know would allow them to digest the information easier but still they might not get it on the first or the second try so at the same time, we need to be Patient on making them understand things.
Thank you for reading my post!
Credits and Links
The Dividers with the Hive logo in this post were created by thepeakstudio and if you like them you can use them for free, the Hive logo is property of https://hive.io
With all these functions of a smartphone, one needs to be patient in teaching the 60s if you want to achieve a good result of making them understand you.
True and people also has different learning capabilities so its understandable that some people would learn it slower than others so we really need to be patient but it would be a great achievement when the time that they finally able to use it.
This is why I love teaching the fast learner more as it does not take time compared to the slow learners. Lol
That also works if you teach fast learner first then maybe they can teach the slower once later.
That is the aim. This will make you relax too.
Love the details in your post, well done 👍
Thanks 😁
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This approach is superb to teach people in the sixties all about smart phone. The easiest way of passing knowledge is moving from known to unknown and that's what you done by this approach.
Thanks! If I just show them the technology, they might fear it instead so my approach here is for them to see the smartphone as an evolution of a technology that they already have and turn that into amusement and curiosity.
I didn't know how to write this post :P but I think you did a great job saydie. This is a good idea using some of the technology they already understand to explain
hope you can participate for the next one.
Your explanation of smartphones to people from the 1960s is impressive. By using technologies they would be familiar with, they might understand the communication, information storage, media playing and gaming capabilities, and other features of a smartphone more easily. 😄
Thanks! I think that using the technology available to them would cause less shock to them and would allow them to learn it faster but either way, smartphones were easy to use so no matter what method we use, one could easily master them.
Thanks for reading. 😁
hello @saydie, by relating smartphones to familiar concepts like telephones, radios, televisions, and cameras, you create a relatable context for individuals from that era.
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Wow! Thanks for the support.
Using visual aids make it easier to teach and for that era to learn the new technology, I thought that using what technology that era have was the best visual aid to teach them.
Hello @saydie
We only accept images that are copyright free. The images used in this post are not. Do well to get images from Pexels, Pixabay or Unsplash etc... Or better still, you can share your original images with us as well.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Hello sir! Thank you for reading my post.
Regarding the pictures, I get them from flickr and wikimedia commons which have said on their site that they have creative commons usage rights that's why I used them. Are both of this sites not part of those and should I removed or replaced the photos that I used here?
I only want to provide better visual representation for the topic and have no intention to violate any of the community guidelines and your input would help so that I do not make the same mistakes again. TIA 🙏