We’re a society that loves our technology with a passion, and one of the pieces of hardware that’s become almost indispensable to us in recent years is the smartphone. And why shouldn’t it be? It’s basically an all-in-one mobile computer and communications device, which can play games, surf the Internet, give us directions, help us study, track our progress in a particular task, keep us organized, provide us with music….
You get the idea. Essentially, they streamline a bunch of tasks for which we used to need at least ten different pieces of tech, and shove them all into a single, portable device. It’s easy to see why everybody loves them, and why those few who still don’t have a smartphone are sometimes seen as a bit strange.
The fact is, most of us can’t live without our phones, simply because they keep us in contact with people from both our work and personal lives. Myself, I don’t even have a landline – I’ve my smartphone, and an Internet phone line. The easiest way to reach me is to send a text. It’s safe to say that many people actually do need their smartphones. But at what point does that need cross the road over into an addiction? At what point does viewing something as a necessity for one’s day-to-day life steamroll out of control into an obsession?
We’ve already covered Social Media and Internet addiction, so today we’re going to look at something very, very similar – smartphone addiction. According to a Gazelle survey some time ago, at least 65% of people feel as though they can’t live without their phone. Of those respondents, 18% were willing to sacrifice their personal hygiene and health for a smartphone, while 15% would rather give up on intercourse than give up their iPhone for a few days.
The infographic – which breaks down smartphone usage habits as well as addiction – can be seen below. One interesting tidbit from the piece concerns how Blackberry users view the world. Apparently, we’re much more pessimistic.
I wonder why that is?
As always, click for a larger version, and I’ll see you folks next time.
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