Embracing technology as the pastor: Use a smartphone

I must admit that I was initially reluctant to buy into the whole smartphone market.  It just looked like a way to waste time on games and checking your email needlessly.

But eventually I succumbed and have owned both an iPhone and an Android phone. 

As a result, I have discovered that a smartphone is very handy if you have the self-control not to use it for time wasting practices.

For example I use my phone productively for:
(i) podcasting (including playing the audio at double speed);
(ii) listening to sermon mp3s;
(iii) listening to music through headphones and also on my stereo using Bluetooth;
(iv) playing internet radio;
(v) checking the weather forecast;
(vi) reading books when I have a spare moment (usually while waiting in lines);
(vii) checking blog feeds;
(viii) reading the Bible (including in Greek and Hebrew);
(ix) navigating in traffic (after trying various navigation apps I keep coming back to plain old Google Maps);
(x) emailing notes to myself so I won't forget an idea;
(xi) accessing most of my important documents immediately (using Dropbox);
(xii) tethering the internet to my laptop;
(xiii) making phone calls and sending text messages for free over wireless networks (using apps like Viber and WhatsApp);
(xiv) accessing my to do lists that I store in Evernote (very handy for shopping lists);
(xv) taking photos (and not just of people, but of things that I need to remember, e.g. a book someone shows me);
(xvi) showing photos of my family to people.

Of course I also use it for the usual things that most people use their phone for, making phone calls, sending text messages, setting alarms and timers.

Now some of what I use the phone for sounds laborious and fiddly to implement.  But another beauty of the smartphone is that a lot of things can be programmed to work automatically.  For example, my phone automatically (often wirelessly so I barely know it is happening):
(i) downloads new podcasts and deletes them once played;
(ii) rotates my least played songs onto the phone and rotates my most played songs off the phone;
(iii) copies over favourite family photos that my wife has put in a folder on her laptop (meaning from her laptop the photos are automatically synced to my laptop and from there synced automatically to my phone);
(iv) updates my to do lists from my computer so I have them at all times;
(v) puts photos I take with the phone back on my laptop hard drive.

So rather than my smartphone wasting my time, the phone is able to redeem the time.  With a smartphone I have a tool that allows me to make the most of my time by giving me ready access to things that I would need to plan in advance to take with me (e.g. music, a Bible, my to do list, certain files) and saves me lots of time by doing many tasks automatically for me.

If you have the determination and ability to use a smartphone to its full potential, they're a wise investment.