Monthly TOEFL Essay #2: All-in-One

Galaxy Nexus / iPhone 5  / Galaxy S3

           Samsung’s Galaxy versus Apple’s iPhone, going for the number one smartphone. It’s been out there for some time now, ever since Samsung released the Galaxy S in 2010 and got itself into the high-end smartphone world. With that, there have been a whole lot of technological breakthroughs, partly caused by the companies’ struggles to get ahead of each other. Now, we can do pretty much everything on our phones, from calling and texting to watching the television and making changes to your flight schedule, even telling—literally talking to—your phone to look something up on the Internet.

             All the gadgets we used in the previous century—computers, telephones, MP3s, whatever electronic device you can think of—are getting integrated into one in the new century, which, of course, comes in handy for most people. Now you don’t have to have a cellphone in your left pocket and an MP3 player in your right pocket with your laptop in a briefcase. Just go buy a new smartphone or a tablet PC, and you’re all set. Got a question? Look it up, right there on the spot, using your 3G or LTE connection. Forgot to send an important email to your coworkers? Type it up, attach whatever files you might need, and click send. It’s that simple, and it’s that easy.

             But of course, these integrations have their downsides, too. In fact, they have already caused a problem—the addictions. I, personally, have seen a number of teenagers, and even some kindergartners, walking on the streets staring into their phones, not where they’re going. And honestly, I can’t say that I’m not one of those teenagers myself. Since my phone is so easily in reach—it’s always there, right next to me, wherever I am—I constantly pick it up when I have nothing to do and look for something to do with it. Most of the time, I end up finding myself reading a random news article or playing games over and over. I’m not at the stage where it interferes with my life, but I can easily see how people can get into playing with their phones several hours a day.

But even with the disadvantage on its side, the integration of electronic gadgets is certainly one of the most notable phenomena in the 21^st century, and one that is speeding up as time passes.

It’s not over yet. As long as the battle for number one in the smartphone industry, which seems far from coming to an end, goes on, we will keep being introduced to more and more advances. There already have been rumors going around about the next big breakthrough, the invention of bendable or transparent smartphones with far more functions. Of course, these aren’t things that can be developed overnight, but considering how quickly the industry has equipped us with this level of technology, it doesn’t seem like something from the far future, either. It’s just a matter of time now. And who knows? If it keeps going, one day, we may be able to cook something or clean our rooms with just a tap on our phones.