The world of technology has changed drastically over the past 17 years. For example, we have the ability to drive in our electric cars while utilizing our hands-free iPhone 7’s, which are connected by Bluetooth.

Nowadays, almost everyone plugs into cord-free headphones and seeks rapid tranquility. As engineers invent driverless cars, robots, and a little something called neurohacking, a form of biohacking that focuses on the brain and central nervous system, all of these advances call into question the relationship between humanity and technology, and when the line is drawn between the two.

Apple plays a huge role in developing technology for the future. According to

Pew Research Center, at least one person in each American household owns a iPhone. More importantly, the Apple company is worth an estimated 586 billion dollars and even made 211 million iPhones in the year of 2016. Apple is not the only cellular company on the market, companies like Samsung, Google and Android phones produced a fair share of technology as well. Additionally on Pew Research Center, a study shows that 92% of Americans own a cell phone and 47% say that they have gotten rid of their landline completely. With our calendars, music, digital reminders, email, and contacts all safely in one place at the simple touch of our fingertips, a new question surfaces: what more do we need out of technology? We never leave the house without our phone and are guilty of panicking when we cannot find it. Our phones, unavoidably, are the first thing that we look at in the morning and the last thing we see at night before bed. Unconsciously, we are all ruled by a simple digital piece of glass, our phones.  

The issue with phones does not lie within our guilty cellular habits of scrolling through notes or the calendar. Actually, the phones invention has indeed made life easier, allowing us to access information with a few taps of our fingertips. The issue with phones is how people are constantly using it. For example, instead of talking to friends or reading a book, we tend to “plug in” and listen to our own music or watch movies privately, avoiding social interaction. Unfortunately, I have found that, at restaurants and most other venues, people are staring down at their phones instead of socializing with others. The problem of phone addiction can be sourced back to when children are young. Children are often given iPads and phones as an incentive intended to distract and keep the children quiet. New problems then stem out from the early technological addiction when the upcoming generation is taught how to text versus how to talk with others. Not only becoming a social danger, as human beings communicate through texting rather than talking, but our society is slowly migrating backwards socially. Basic manners such as eye contact, a firm handshake upon meeting others, and a simple please and thank-you are being tossed aside for life behind a computer screen, where no real-world interaction is being developed. Instead of striking up conversation, we often seek towards our phones as an attempt to avoid socialization. Slowly, we are becoming products of our phones. Awareness to this topic is crucial.