Did your father’s old car just blow two rear tires on a rural dirt road? Don’t worry，pick up your smartphone and open a car service app. Whether you are stuck in a horrendous traffic jam or relaxing in a romantic restaurant，the smartphone, one of the world’s latest high-tech gadgets, may be either the answer to your prayers or a major thorn in your flesh. Like it or not, the smartphone is indispensable in your life. While this technological device positively affects society by providing instant communication，it also dehumanizes (使丧失性情)relationships and threatens an individual’s right to privacy.
The smartphone’s positive effect on society stems from its ability to provide instant communication. The device is invaluable to car owners. Nothing makes a motorist with a defective engine happier than opening an app on his smartphone and receiving a message, “The tow truck should arrive in ten minutes.” Besides, smartphones help keep friends and family members in touch. For example, a minute before midnight, the parents of a 16-year-old can video call their son and gently shriek, "Get home now, or you will be grounded for the next six months.” In short，the smartphone’s ability to allow anyone to be reached at any time is a great comfort.
Ironically, the technological device that binds society together also threatens to destroy it through the process of dehumanization. Just stride down the main street in the city and in less than five minutes you will observe a hundred passers-by ignoring each other as theymindlessly browse their Wechat moments. Literally, smartphones are replacing living, breathing human beings. Some phone owners, for example, can be heard whispering sweet nothings，such as “Where are you，darling?” to their beloved smartphones. The smartphone, along with other technological advancements，removes the “human” element from society.
So, your boyfriend tried to pop the big question but you couldn’t hear him, because another diner’s smartphone conversation drowned out his soft，romantic words. Then，why did you kiss your phone yesterday after searching the map online when you were hopelessly lost in the center of the city? Even though smartphones, the great communicators, dehumanize relationships and threaten our privacy, they are too deeply embedded in today’s society to become obsolete.
