"Within the next few years many of us will plug in the morning newspaper. By virtue of powerful communications technology and nifty artificial-intelligence techniques, we will be able to gaze into a single viewing device that will offer text, photographs, animation, and film clips. The news will be your news, about your business, your teams."
"Americans check their phone on average once every five minutes. Nearly 90 percent look at their devices within the first ten minutes of waking up. Fifty-seven percent of Americans admit to being addicted to their smartphone-a number that feels low."
"We cannot stop loving our new machines even as they are harming us."
Donald R. Katz predicted in 1990 that personalized digital news would arrive through a single viewing device, accurately foreseeing the smartphone and its applications nearly two decades before the iPhone's invention. However, Katz did not anticipate the widespread addiction these devices would create. Americans check their phones every five minutes on average, with 90 percent viewing devices within ten minutes of waking. Fifty-seven percent admit to smartphone addiction. Instagram's chief executive stated that 16 hours of daily use was problematic but stopped short of calling it addiction. Beyond behavioral dependence, smartphones have caused physical health issues including back and neck problems. The devices have also altered social behavior, with people appearing hunched and disconnected in public spaces. While technology pioneers understood the utility of these innovations, they failed to predict the harmful psychological and physical consequences of their widespread adoption.
Read at Esquire
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