Don't Hate the Phone Call, Hate the Phone
Posted August 12, 2015
External Article: The Atlantic
Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, discussed the decline in popularity of making phone calls in The Atlantic.
He says:
‟One of the ironies of modern life is that everyone is glued to their phones, but nobody uses them as phones anymore. Not by choice, anyway. Phone calls—you know, where you put the thing up to your ear and speak to someone in real time—are becoming relics of a bygone era, the “phone” part of a smartphone turning vestigial as communication evolves, willingly or not, into data-oriented formats like text messaging and chat apps.
Ian Bogost is the Ivan Allen College Distinguished Chair in Media Studies and professor of Interactive Computing. He also holds an appointment in the Scheller College of Business. Bogost is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. He received a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California, Los Angeles. Following a career in software and videogame development, he joined the School of Literature, Media, and Communication in 2004.