The Science of the Smartphone Backlash

We used to love smartphones. We used to wait in line for them and dress them up in pretty cases and show them off to our friends. Many of us still do, but things seem . . . different. People are using words like invasive, co-dependent, junkies, addiction—serious language meant to suggest our total submission. In the last six months, a backlash against smartphones has arisen from all corners of the country­—from luminaries and musicians and even former tech executives. Now, for the first time, several of them have spoken to Popular Mechanics about why, exactly, they chose this moment to use their considerable power to try to stop devices from turning our society into a Mad Max hellscape.

“Last year was a pivotal year in our relationship with technology,” says author Arianna Huffington, who in January released an app called Thrive, in partnership with Samsung, that temporarily halts phone notifications. “For many, the unfolding story of how technology was used to undermine our elections served as a wake-up call. But there’s a wider story that had been bubbling up in the zeitgeist for a few years, as technology accelerated the pace of our lives and has made it seem like we were living in service of our devices rather than leveraging tools to make our lives better.”  Read more...

Reference: Popular Mechanics
                   Jacqueline Detwiler