Simon says, "No iPhones allowed."
Technology has certainly changed the way we interact with one another. Even before texting and such, the original consumer cell phones allowed us to talk to each other anytime from virtually anywhere. With the advance of 'cell phones' into 'smartphones', our virtual connections have grown far and wide. Socially, it has been a game changer.
...it has also complicated the process of writing a story.
There are countless examples of how smartphones would have changed (or even completely negated) the entire plot of some of our favorite stories.
In Psycho, Janet could have looked up the Bates Motel on travel websites to find scathing (or scary) reviews. The story of The Ring would have had most people watching the haunted video on their phones (leading to a tiny, little Samara climbing out?). Ferris Bueller would have likely been busted multiple times by Social Media posts (or his parents using his phone's GPS to track him down). In the movie Die Hard With a Vengeance, the villain (Simon) had Bruce Willis and Sam Jackson rushing through New York City, from one phone booth to another, to receive "Simon Says" instructions (or risk terrorist attacks). This would have been a bit tricky with the absence of public phone booths, and with the invention of smartphones. Heck, they didn't have mobile phones in Star Wars.
In an effort to dodge the silly old tropes like "he had no signal" (the modern version of "the gun jammed"), I opted to leave out most references to modern technology in my first novel, 'In The Dark. For my second book, 'Lies That Bind', I included these things, but only in (what I consider) a logical sense.
The idea of a timeless story is bit trickier than it used to be, unless the author specifically picks a timeframe that is devout of certain technologies.
You can pick up a copy of 'In The Dark' on e-book or in print, from your favorite online retailer, or directly from me (signed) at www.danielfoxbooks.com
'Lies That Bind' is complete, and will be available this Fall.