Sadly now not with us, he was a genuinely good lad, vivid and articulate and imaginative in his work on a variety of tasks.
Iain joined us at Enniskillen Rangers Soccer Membership, and I recall one evening at coaching when he and Roy Cathcart have been operating behind me across the pitch in what’s now generally known as the “warm-up”.
I used to be extra involved in their dialog about Samuel Beckett than the coaching run.
Iain had an thought about selling a competition concerning the playwright and was asking Roy if he taught any Beckett on the Collegiate.
Roy defined that his college students discovered his life view relatively bleak.
“Crikey,” I assumed (out loud). “That’s a primary – two Enniskillen Rangers gamers discussing Beckett!”
I used to be by no means an enthusiastic coach, so the dialogue was a welcome distraction.
Quick ahead few years, and there was one other distraction at Enniskillen Rangers on Saturday as I sat within the stand (the Roy Cathcart Stand, because it goes) watching the staff play Enniskillen City.
Behind me, Sean Paul Curry knowledgeable us that Manchester United have been 1-0 down at house; then his telephone bleeped once more.
2-0 down, he introduced. All of us chortled, apart from Brian Keenan who was sitting subsequent to me.
“Robbo” would have the final chuckle when his staff got here again to win 3-2, however for some time our focus was attracted away to Manchester and different English grounds.
Except for the differing subjects of Beckett performs and Man United’s misfortunes, distraction of consideration to different issues was the order of the day.
The technique of communication in transporting our minds elsewhere have been worlds aside although.
The immediacy of smartphones is a contemporary phenomenon which Iain and Roy might by no means have contemplated years in the past. Progress?
I imagined the 2 characters in Beckett’s “Ready for Godot” in at this time’s world of communication.
“Was mendacity in a ditch final evening and obtained an terrible beating,” tweets Estragon.
Vladimir hits “like”.
A possible state of affairs now, even when the 2 of them have been in the identical bodily area, and instantly everybody is aware of what’s occurring to them.
If we thought the 2 tramps’ dialog was aimless and with out significance, what do you make of at this time’s inane ramblings on social media?
I’m unsure why the world must know what you had for dinner. Or why it’s worthwhile to publicly want your “babe” completely satisfied birthday.
Or why, as one Sunday newspaper columnist factors out, the most recent TikTok craze is a video of somebody cracking an egg on a toddler’s head and inserting it within the frying pan.
The egg, not the toddler, he helpfully factors out.
Earlier than this all turns right into a rant by a depressing outdated sod concerning the rise in our use of smartphone and so forth., let me say that, firstly, I exploit mine on a regular basis, and in addition that it’s a great advance in communication in so some ways.
It comes with a warning, although.
In response to that Sunday newspaper article: “The period of time we spend on our telephones will increase month by month.
“In 2020, it was 3.7 hours a day. Final yr the determine was 4 hours and 14 minutes. Together with laptops, tablets and stuff, that point goes as much as about six hours and 20 minutes a day spent on the web.
“Vodaphone has simply reported that we spend 30 hours every month simply texting or ringing folks.”
The smartphone has taken over our lives and has changed many objects we used to depend on.
We don’t trouble with a landline anymore, so it’s a telephone (obvs). Amongst different issues, it’s a watch and alarm clock, a digital camera, a diary and calendar.
We don’t want paper tickets for occasions any extra; I’ve used it to get into the theatre, soccer matches in England, on buses and so forth.
It’s a tv; when others in the home are watching one thing else, I can watch a reside match on my telephone, although goodness is aware of what it’s doing to my eyes.
It’s a private banking system the place we will pay payments, donate to charity and switch cash rapidly to the youngsters.
Or a store the place we will purchase issues from house, e-book holidays or resorts.
The draw back is that issues are so automated now that it’s frustratingly tough to get a human being on the tip of the road if there’s a difficulty.
It’s a pc, the place we will obtain and ship emails and use the complete vary of social media the place we will learn hyperlinks to newspaper articles, discover inspirational quotations or verses and keep up a correspondence with pals by way of WhatsApp teams.
With smartphone, the world’s your oyster; or as Arthur Daley would say, the world’s your lobster, my son. (You’ll be able to even watch outdated Minder clips!)
What’s to not like?
Nicely, maybe like most issues, the hazard is in the best way folks take one thing very useful and use it unwisely or, worse, maliciously.
Is the smartphone an incredible boon to society by connecting folks as by no means earlier than?
Or has it turn out to be a hazard to that society?
Each, I think.
It’s actually decreased our focus span, not least due to the constraints of phrase counts and the supply of quick articles means there are numerous longer items deemed ‘TLDR’ (too lengthy didn’t learn).
It has affected our social expertise; recurrently you’ll see folks in eating places or different locations regularly on their telephones relatively than participating one another in conversations; the best way, certainly, Iain and Roy did! Social media can also be notably intrusive, and but we proceed to provide it a whole lot of private details about ourselves.
Worse, maybe, is the contradiction that at a time when data from internationally and throughout a variety of subjects has by no means been extra plentifully obtainable, we select solely the stuff that matches our world view.
You’ll rapidly discover an unchecked, cleverly written article to again up any crackpot thought.
Watch the interviews with folks in the US who assume that Joe Biden is useless, and his half is being performed by a hologram, and also you’ll see what I imply.
And, in fact, we now have the keyboard warriors who cover behind anonymity to abuse folks with whom they disagree.
Troll is the parlance; extra precisely, they’re vicious little so-and-sos actually whose private abuse of individuals is disturbing and even harmful.
Social media firms must be held accountable way more.
A politician as soon as suggested his colleagues that “complaining concerning the press is a bit just like the captain of a ship complaining concerning the climate”. Maybe that may be utilized to trendy communications.
Smartphones and the remaining are right here to remain. They could be a great asset to us if we use them responsibly.
