Guy Lloyd on negotiating iPhone dependency…

Cold Turkey

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with my phone. It started off so well. In the early days, we spent every waking minute in each other’s company, getting to know each other and falling deeper and deeper in love. I’d had other phones before, but not like this one. Nokias would come and go, in and out of my life like through a revolving door, but when I first clapped eyes on the new iphone, I fell for her harder than I’d ever done before.

Here was a phone that was smart AND sexy. I could tweet Lily Allen and look longingly at the lack of reply; I could look at people’s food on facebook and secretly wish that I, too, could knock up the perfect lasagne.

It had everything, and I was hooked.

But then I noticed that somewhere along the line, the relationship changed. We came to rely on each other, need each other, and to the detriment of real relationships with family and friends we spent increasing amounts of time with each other. I would obsessively check in on her, even though I knew nothing had changed since I last looked at her.

In short, in sucking me in to her world, the iphone had taken me away from my own. It was starting to feel unhealthy, like a part of my life I really needed to work on. I realised that I needed it. But did I really need it 17 hours a day? Did I need to be checking it before I went to bed and looking at it again in the morning, before I’d even said hello to my family?

“I could tweet Lily Allen and look longingly at the lack of reply”

So, I’ve conducted a number of experiments (I really need to get out more) and the main one was as recently as this week. It was quite simple. We went on holiday, and I left the phone at home. Switched off and hidden in a place where all my ex-girlfriends (Nokias) live. We had seven days away from each other, and going cold turkey on anything you are addicted to is tough, but actually by Day Two I had forgotten about her. I was still able to catch up with football results through the daily newspaper, but as far as e-mails, facebook and twitter notifications… I didn’t want to know.

It was lovely to be reunited with her on my return, but now I see her in a different light. Yes we are still together, but it’s more of a platonic thing, rather than a co-dependent, unhealthy alliance. She’s like an ex-wife but we’re on friendly terms. I may even take her on holiday one day. Though if I do, I’ll be booking separate rooms for us.

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