Smart Phones Dumb People by Parthajeet Sarma is said to be about using 21st century technology in order to address concerns and issues of 19th century. It gave me an impression that the author will discuss about various problems of 19th century which find its solution with the help of the technology. But the book is very loosely based on this outline.

There is no doubt that the book has a smart cover and a catchy title. In fact after reading the title I just let loose my imagination that it will be something about how the technology became smarter and making people too much dependent on it. He has sought out few examples as well like previously we all can remember telephone numbers but after the increased use of mobile phone seldom people care to remember the numbers. But the various situations which are presented in the book were nothing new which could be food for thought.

The author has covered five topics Innovation, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Priorities and Corruption in the book giving his thoughts on them. The topics which were chosen were all great and one could talk on them for lengths. But some how author lacked in providing a cohesion to all these topics. None seems to be related and as a result couldn’t make much sense. In fact sometimes I couldn’t find connection within the topics. Like he is writing about organic food and all of a sudden he wrote about Delhi Rape incident. Couldn’t understand the need to mention it in the middle of agriculture and food.

The topic which the author chose were very interesting but there was no deep or thought provoking analysis. We all know how gadgets and technology has brought changes in our life and our surroundings and in the country and world on the broader basis but it is the analysis which we always look  for. That was something which was lacking in  it.

The Verdict:

It could be decent for a casual read for time pass but if you are looking for some hard core deep analysis then this book is a disappointment.