Book Review : Smart Phones Dumb People

Title : Smart Phones Dumb People

Author :  Parthajeet Sarma

Publisher : Good Times Books Pvt. Ltd.

ISBN : 938061956-1

"Has human race become dumb with smart phones in hands? As gadgets take over our lives, have we become less intelligent?"

Parthajeet Sarma tracks the journey of technology and its various magical wonders in our lives in his book - 'Smart Phones Dumb People'. He brings out the contrast between the worlds - one that is living in 21st century and the other that is still continuing in the 19th century. While smart devices are becoming all pervasive in lives of many of us, there are sections in our society that are still struggling at the widest and bottom most level at the Maslow's hierarchy of needs - food, clothing, shelter, clean water and electric supply.

The big question is - are the technological advancements good enough to address all problems immaterial of what century they belong to?

While talking about technology in wide perspective, he brings a big array of topics under the discussion ranging from comparison between innovation and invention, ecological (im)balance, entrepreneurship, stresses of modern lives, to corruption. He talks about how integrated system of university + industry + government is being explored for better results, how agrarian societies are getting metamorphosed to urban societies at an accelerated pace, how more and more people are heading towards cities leaving their village lives behind, and how fast paced city life make lap of nature in farms an enticing getaways for city people.

The impact of PAT at various levels in our lives is also explained in details. "Process Alteration by Technology is the application of the human intellect with modern technology in order to improve and alter business processes to bring in efficiencies, leading to overall development of industry and human beings."

Sarma brings in the personal touch to his writing by narrating some anecdotes picked up from his life, his experiences and his achievements. Though overall a quick read and relevant too, it felt like going through a set of lectures, speeches, talks or blog posts on varied topics. Found the title of the book 'Smart Phones Dumb People' a little misleading though. After having read the whole text which is very generic in nature, I feel the title should have been a generic one too to suit the content within the covers. Since a wide range of subjects are touched in the book, the narrative becomes jumpy at times.