As a teenager, I talked with my best friends every night at 8pm sharp. Our parents marveled at how we continually found new things to talk about: the day's adventures, interesting facts we had learned, childhood mischief, siblings, funny jokes, and so on. When one of us wanted the other to see a funny video or picture, she emailed the link, and the other would look it up on a computer. If we were meeting in person, we would simply have to write down the name of the video or caption and look it up later. Now, with the prevalence of smartphones, we can share videos anywhere, whether we're in the middle of a park or in outer space.

At a recent Game Night, my sisters showed a friend a video about funny IT misadventures, and he brought up a clip from a show with a similar theme. I was struck by just how common this media-sharing had become. With picture-taking phones so widespread, it is easier than ever to share our lives visually and videographically— to show moments that words would not do justice. It's one thing to hear a description of a beautiful sunset at the Grand Canyon; it's quite another to see the breathtaking colors yourself.

Of course, there are downsides to this increased ease of sharing. To illustrate, let me remind you of a stereotype many people are familiar: the elderly woman with a wallet full of photos of her grandchildren, showing them to any stranger who's too polite to refuse. A wallet only has space for a few of the best pictures, but a smartphone can store hundreds upon hundreds of images. Consequently, when a friend tells me about his trip last week and says "Oh, I have pictures on my phone," I have to wait through every blurry, crooked, and inconsequential picture between the one he took five minutes ago and the ones that are actually from the trip.

In general, the purpose of technology is to make life easier. GPS devices have reduced the number of hours spent lost on roadtrips. Short-range microphones have removed the need for actors to project their voices to ensure good-quality audio. But technology has also stripped people of the ability to do things on their own. With a GPS, people don't have to learn the roadways before they leave the house, but they have become completely dependent on these devices for directions. (The number of people able to navigate by reading maps has dropped sharply.) In a disheartening number of movies and TV shows, actors mutter their lines so lowly and indistinctly that I can barely hear them even with the microphones so near. Many don't even speak clearly, so it's difficult to understand them no matter how high the volume's cranked up. Subtitles can patch this problem, of course, but it seems silly to have to read a movie to follow what's happening.

When my father was in college, calling internationally cost two dollars per minute. Now, with the advent of Skype and texting apps, he can call or IM his relatives at virtually no cost. (And the usual long-distance rates aren't half-bad either.) My sisters and I use apps to stay in touch with our cousins in India. Although technology makes communication easier in terms of cost and geographical distance, it has also caused people to forget-- or never learn-- how to talk to others in person.

At school, I often see students sitting at benches or tables, tapping away at touchscreens rather than making any attempt at conversation. (Some students even type while walking as a way to avoid eye contact!) Regrettably, this antisocial behavior isn't limited to strangers. Some time ago, a friend of mine (we'll call her Amelia) decided to have a tea party with four friends. One girl spent most of the time texting, barely saying anything despite attempts to include her in our discussions. The host had left the TV on in the background, and once there was a lull in the conversation, we were sucked into whatever mediocre program happened to be airing. I decided that this simply wouldn't do. We had come to spend time in each other's company and have fun with each other, not stare at the latest Clash of Crazy People rerun. I asked Emma, one of the other guests, to play her signature song on the piano-- a wonderful melody that conjured the image of a river flowing through a meadow of wildflowers. When she had finished, another girl took her place at the keys and played pieces from several jazzy tunes. Finally, the host (whom I didn't know was musically inclined) played a simple version of "When the Saints Go Marching." Everyone had a blast. Even the girl who had been glued to her phone put it away during our impromptu show. It was rewarding to find that we could find ways to entertain ourselves that didn't involve electricity or screens—but also a shame that it wasn't the first thing we did.

You may say that people stay in touch well enough with social media. People keep up with friends via facebook posts just as they used to keep up with phone calls and letters. Sometimes, though, people forget the purpose of facebook. Recently, one of my father's longtime friends passed away. His death, and the funeral announcement, was posted on facebook. But Dad doesn't have a facebook account. It was two weeks before one of the children called to tell him of his friend's passing. Although facebook is a "convenient" way of communicating a message, it was, I think, the wrong place for this type of news. Would you want to see a post saying that your closest childhood friend had died? I would prefer the news delivered more personally-- more tactfully-- with a phone call or visit, rather than a general message posted on someone's wall.

In general, technology has made work, love, and play easier to do, but it has started to become a hindrance rather than an aid. We should not forget the place of machines: they are meant to be an aid, not a replacement, for communication, analysis, and other functions. In school, we must learn to add, subtract, multiply, and divide by hand before we're allowed to use calculators. In the same way, we must learn to use maps before relying solely on GPS; learn to communicate in person before relying on texts or posts; and learn to write well before we resort to chatspeak. Remember that any electronic-- a phone, GPS, tablet, et cetera-- can run out of power. Paper doesn't. And if it does get wet, well, you don't have to put it in a sack of rice for a day before it's ready to use again.