Are Americans Addicted to Technology? 359
jomammy writes "According to a recent Wired article, the majority of Americans are becoming increasingly dependant on their gadgets. High speed internet seems to be the one most determined to be a 'necessity'. A third of the country is said to pay more than $200.00 a month for their addiction, where 4 out of 10 pay between $100.00 and $150.00 a month. Other items in this list of 'gadgets' include, mp3 players, dvd players, laptops, handhelds, etc." How addicted are we? How addicted are you?
Ohh Ohhh! I'm So Addicted! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Ohh Ohhh! I'm So Addicted! (Score:2, Funny)
Spec-Tech-ular. (Score:5, Insightful)
And Japan is what? In the dark ages?
Re:Spec-Tech-ular. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Spec-Tech-ular. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Spec-Tech-ular. (Score:4, Insightful)
addiction (Score:5, Funny)
Re:addiction (Score:2)
Evidence of addiction (Score:2)
Re:addiction (Score:3, Funny)
Re:addiction (Score:5, Funny)
Re:addiction (Score:5, Funny)
Re:addiction (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:addiction (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't test my love
Accept my love
Don't test my love
Because maybe
I don't love you
All that much
-Dan Bern
KFG
Re:addiction (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Pfft (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Pfft (Score:2, Insightful)
I read a lot of books. Guess that's a technology since it requires a printing press. Guess I'm an addict.
How about... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Pfft (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Pfft (Score:5, Insightful)
I think a more compelling question would be: Is all this technology making us more productive? Or does it simply facilitate our slacking off with more diversions?
What a strange way to think of life. Is life all about being "productive"? I'd have thought the gadgets are supposed to make our lives better, however you wish to define better. Making it more productive makes it sound as if the only purpose to being alive is work and produce a product. Is that really what you think it's all about?
Re:Pfft (Score:4, Funny)
Squeek!
Re:Pfft (Score:3, Interesting)
That's seems to be the pervading theme in our (US) culture. I work for a multi-national, and I can say that my contemporaries in Europe and SA don't have the same attitude. I'm not saying they do bad work or don't work hard. It's simply they seem to view work as a means to an end, where the US seems to view work as that end.
Re:Pfft (Score:3, Insightful)
Three words: Puritan Work Ethic.
Even if you're born in California, and your parents are New Age weirdos, the phrases "a little work never killed anyone" and "no one ever drowned in their
Re:Pfft (Score:4, Informative)
What a strange way of extrapolating productive.
I didn't only mean work, I simply meant "Yielding favorable or useful results; constructive."
It need not be work-related.
Is excercise machine X (gadget) more productive (toward losing weight, staying healthy) than the simple and humble jumprope and stretching exercises/yoga/pilates/your_choice? The former being an expensive gadget and the other can be very, very cheap.
IMHO, the cheap-o version is better in most cases.
The purpose of gadgets should be making lives easier, but most of the time, the majority seem to exist for the purpose of being sold, with little regard to the end user - consider the UI and other factors.
Re:Pfft (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Pfft (Score:3, Interesting)
As yes. Results. Like in the private sector. If Jack is only playing so that he can work better then he isn't really playing is he?
Re:Pfft (Score:3, Informative)
IMHO, the cheap-o version is better in most cases.
As a former fat guy who is now decently non-fat and knows a couple people in the same condition, your HO is wrong in at least three cases that I know of. The feedback given by Machine X in the form of calories b
Re:Pfft (Score:3, Insightful)
But yes, after we got over that productivity is definitely nice. Of course, if you're obsessed with it....
Re:Pfft (Score:5, Insightful)
Ah, how I wish I could take you back in a time machine to the late 60's, then the 1920's. On our first stop in the 60's, I'd take you around various companies and show you the massive number of keypunchers, programmers, analysts, and other Managment Information Systems people who keep their companies working. I'd then take you to a company too small for a mainframe and let you witness the poor fellows struggle with mountains of paperwork.
On our next stop, we'd drop by the 1920's. No automation here. You can literally find hundreds of typists per company, all lined up in rows. Secretaries abound, filing documents left and right. Personal assistents follow company executives around, keeping track of every minor detail. In short, lots of manpower for a return that we can realize today with a few PCs and other electronic gadgets.
I haven't even gotten into manufacturing, and how technology has changed the world there.
In short, technology has made us more productive. It doesn't always seem like it with all the technological distractions we now have, but you have to understand that the efficiency of modern technology is what gives us time and energy for those distractions. The greatest challenge today is to find better ways of optimizing business and personal matters. All the low-hanging fruit has already been realized, so we're on to the difficult part of squeezing out efficiency a few percent at a time.
Re:Pfft (Score:5, Insightful)
But when you consider how much time people waste with technology, you should also consider that executives could and did waste the same amount of time via their manpower driven alternatives, requesting pointless information, endless re-edits of documents (requiring the secretarial pool to retype the same document, with minor changes, over and over,) and maintaining expensive entourages that required far more time to manage than you can spend instant messaging your friends. And I do mean required--you don't have to instant message your friends, but you did have to manage your staff.
My wife worked at a law firm. The old lawyers, not comfortable with technology, used their computers to play solitaire, while dictating into tape recorders and getting secretaries to type the letter, over and over and over again as they read it and noticed mistakes. The younger lawyers typed their letters directly into their computer, edited it there, and got exactly what they wanted directly. The old guard took three days to produce the letter, the young ones took half an hour. The difference in efficiency, and sheer cost, is staggering. Of course, the old boys just passed these costs on to their clients...
Re:Pfft (Score:4, Insightful)
Do flourescent lightbulbs make for better sandwiches?
Re:Pfft (Score:5, Insightful)
All of this to say that you cannot classify our like of technology as an "addiction." Are we selling our first-born children in order to satisfy our lust for new gadgets? Hardly. Is this fixation with technology making it difficult for us to live our lives? No. (In fact the technology sometimes makes our lives easier--hence it is a (partially) pragmatic desire.)
I find the hyperbole of "we are addicted to X" annoying (where X, these days, is often "video games" or "the internet" or whatever). I don't go into convulsions when I don't read slashdot for a day. I am employable and happy. I certainly wouldn't be stealing TVs and selling them on the black market in order to satisfy my insane lust for slashdot...
Re:Pfft (Score:5, Funny)
Exactly which gadgets did you have in mind?
Re:Pfft (Score:3, Funny)
Well it gets worse (Score:3, Interesting)
How about that whole 'it costs $200 per month to pay for this addiction' crap.
Just buying 1 laptop could account for an entire year. Is buying 1 laptop an addiction nowadays?
Guys it is a slow newsday. This reporter needed his christmas bonus so he put in a small non-article with a nice headline that while at the same time being properly alarmist is also nice and safe not to ruin the giftmas feeling.
It also got iPod in it wich is always good.
Bleh.
Re:Pfft (Score:4, Interesting)
You know what? I didn't mind one bit. No withdrawl symptoms. Strand me in a city in the US though, and I'd start to feel the pain. It seems like it's partly a function of the environment.
the first step is admitting you have a problem (Score:5, Funny)
How addicted? (Score:5, Funny)
That about says it all.
Hey.. (Score:5, Funny)
They misspelled 'porn'.
Re:Hey.. (Score:2)
+5 Funny? (Score:5, Funny)
Addicted? Or Dependant? (Score:5, Insightful)
If this is the case, am I addicted to food?
Re:Addicted? Or Dependant? (Score:2)
"
1. To cause to become physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance: The thief was addicted to cocaine.
2. To occupy (oneself) with or involve (oneself) in something habitually or compulsively: The child was addicted to video games.
"
I'd say by both definitions, you ARE addicted to food. You're physiologically d
Re:Addicted? Or Dependant? (Score:2)
Yes, you are. So what? Addictions aren't always bad.
Re:Addicted? Or Dependant? (Score:2)
If you give up food, withdrawl is going to be a bitch.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, yes we are. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Yes, yes we are. (Score:2)
Even with technology, most still run around like apes.
How many use the technology without regard for how it works? An ape who picks up a twig to catch termites is using technology.
Most don't care to understand technology, they are only interested in consuming it. If all were lost tomorrow, how long would it take for us (humanity) to return to this (our current) level of technology? 2000 years?...more?
Re:Yes, yes we are. (Score:3, Interesting)
People can say all they like about technology causing people to slack off, but there is no reason why it shouldn't. Why build things that can make work easier when we can
Addicted - HA! (Score:2)
I don't have any problems with addiction. In a weird coincidence though, if I'm away from my computer for more than 10 minutes mysterious bugs appear and start crawling under my skin. Weird, huh?
You say it like it's a bad thing... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:You say it like it's a bad thing... (Score:2)
Until we have some adverse consequence, one that's not immediately offset by the actual benefits technology brings to our lives, we can't even start referring to this as addiction.
Clinical addiction or Gorwing soft. (Score:5, Insightful)
If we are talking a general "growing too soft/dependent upon specific tech" then I would say yes, especially with the internet. I know far too many people who feel the need to have a machine up all the time.
But I think we should really go more basic than that; Electricity.
The standards that we are used to in America, and the rest of the industrialized world (stable, widely available power that rarely if ever goes down) is a) uncommon in the rest of the world, and b) an anomoly in human existence. Few of my peers know how to make a fire or even what to do when the power goes down (hint, the electric can opener will no longer work).
The level of panic surrounding the Y2k bug should have made this clear to anyone. Far too many people (some of them policymakers) panicked at the thought of "global power outages" and, as Katrina showed, far too many were left stranded, unprepared, and unaided when a real disaster struck.
In my opinion "addiction" to mp3 players is just icing on the cake.
in general)I know too many others who *have no clue*
Growing soft (Score:2)
I beg to differ... (Score:2)
"Dependent upon the government" (Score:5, Insightful)
In the case of Katrina the very government agencies that we have formed, funded and trained to care for the sick, the elderly, the disposessed of our society, were placed in the hands of self-centered morons whose only interest was in settling the "shirtsleeves up or down" issue. People who could not leave because they were too sick and didn't own cars were being told to "take some cash and drive away". Even now no reliable plan exists to get them home and Karl Rove is directing the reconstruction efforts.
We form governments to protect us as a whole, because individual humans, however many guns they have, are weak and likely to die. To suggest that people who looked to the government that they supported to help them were "weak" or overly dependent" is in my opinion incorrect. Rather wwe should say that the government failed the people. The government failed in its most essential function. What's worse it did so because people let it fail, perhaps even made it fail not because it should not have succeeded.
Why just Americans? (Score:2)
I suppose America is the land of $150 monthly Cable TV bills-- that probably has alot to do with it?
Re:Why just Americans? (Score:2)
Bah. We're a buncha luddites. (Score:5, Interesting)
When it comes to technology obsession, the High Street in London and the Akihabara in Tokyo are where it's at.
SoupIsGood Food
Re:Bah. We're a buncha luddites. (Score:2)
I think it's more or less true with every technology. There's little reason not to release the product world-wide, as there's world-wide demand for tech gadgets. Sure some countries have s
Re:Bah. We're a buncha luddites. (Score:3, Interesting)
That's because the US is very fond of wasting ressources. It also wastes space with urban sprawl, huge houses that cost a fortune.
In Europe
Addicted to Technology? (Score:2)
I could not imagine my life without said items. Seriously. I w
drive 5 miles to use a pay phone???? (Score:5, Interesting)
But his daughter, who has doesn't even know what a television is, is very wise for her age (i.e. 7 yrs). Here, I make a distinction between knowledge and wisdom. She may not have all the knowledge, but she is certainly wiser then other kids of her age or even some grown ups.
Would you do something like this? Would you make such a daring move for you children's sake?
Re:drive 5 miles to use a pay phone???? (Score:5, Insightful)
You are purposefully implying, with this question, that it is a good thing (to prevent your child from using technology). Would I do something daring for the sake of my child? You bet. Do I think that removing them from technology represents a case where the child is better off? No.
Your one data point notwithstanding, I believe that a person is more likely to be happy, healthy, and intelligent if they have access to the full depth and breadth of what the world has to offer (including such things as: travelling to other countries, modern healtcare, books of all types, the internet, learning different languages, etc.).
Restricting a child's access to tools is silly. Smart kids will be smart no matter what. Giving them access to more of the world will make them more worldly.
Re:drive 5 miles to use a pay phone???? (Score:2)
If I was the government, I'd take his child away from him.
A necessity as well as an addiction (Score:4, Interesting)
However, for many of us, the dependence is more than just a regular old physical/psychological addiction. My marks at school, for example, depend on my being able to get on a computer and access the internet on a regular basis. Many assignments are made available solely through a class website or WebCT, and in two of my classes this past term, every single assignment had to be handed in via the Unix handin command (or the web-based Windows equivalent). Admittedly, I am a computer science student, but there aren't all that many courses in which computers or other forms of technology are completely absent -- even arts students are expected to write essays, and few professors will accept handwritten submissions these days.
Yes. (Score:5, Insightful)
Or maybe sometimes technology improves your life so you use it.
Addiction is when something makes your life worse, but you keep using it because you are irrationally drawn to it.
How about Japan or Korea? (Score:2)
And all those Korean kids playing Starcraft, some even dying as a result. So I'm going to say, "No, America does not have a technology addiction."
More of a habit than addiction... (Score:2)
Honestly, I love the internet and computers in general. But I consider it more of a habbit or routine than an addiction. Every morning I check my email while I have some juice. Then I get to work and check it again. At lunch I read the news online and do some more emailing....etc.
Yet, on days when I don't have my usual routine (like weekends) I often don't even touch a computer until sometime in the afternoon. And then it is just because I feel bad thinking someone might be waiting for a reply, or mayb
$200 a month!!! (Score:2)
That shows how governments need to nationalize the net, provide it to everyone for free. Then they can make do without forms for businesses, taxes etc.
I'm not addicted to cell phones, pdas, mp3 players, TV. I dont have that list (company provided cell phone). I'm a little addicted to the a
Re:$200 a month!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:$200 a month!!! (Score:2)
However I could get FIOS fiber as well which is 3-15megs a second from anywhere from twice as much to $100 a month on the fastest speed and no upload caps. Also my cell phone bill was outrageously high from an exgf calling me during a bad breakup that equaled $200. I am tempted to hand her the bill for christmas. But I can do that charge easily.
Many spend hundreds a month on Itunes as well purchasing music.
Dont even start with the loans for things like computers and powerbooks. Damn I want
Re:$200 a month!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Wow you didn't read the article.
That bill includes telephone, internet, and TV feeds. In much of the US DSL is down to $14.95, and high speed cable or FIOS is running about $50 for a 15 mb/sec feed in some areas. My cable service just announced a 30 mbit/sec premium service, and has hinted at 50 mbit/sec.
Addicted to Taxes, too (Score:5, Funny)
Make up your mind (Score:2)
But then again this is Wired News + /., so what do you expect?
BTW, from TFA... "The bill for being thoroughly plugged in to entertainment and communications runs more than $200 a month for a third of the households in this country. Four in 10 spend between $100 and $150 a month, according to the poll of 1,006 adults taken Dec. 13-15."
Is it really news no
No different than the... (Score:2)
Leave me along and let me go back to my Crackberry.
Sheesh!
Yeah right (Score:2)
Uh, you mean like we're addicted to cars? (Score:2)
work related (Score:2)
I'd answer but... (Score:2, Funny)
Adapted not Addicted (Score:2)
An addiction is a reliance that is detrimental to an individual's homeostatic health.
The crap journalism that flashes hot terms to flaunt specious thinking to sell advertising space may be a better description of addic
Tivo (Score:2)
But we have become so used to having Tivo record based on the Season Pass feature that it is difficult to go back to using the native remote and the cable box's software. My sister who is visiting for Christmas asked a similar question the Slashdot ar
Good thing (Score:2, Funny)
Ok now the race begins for the next article.
F5. F5. F5. F5. F5. F5. F5. F5. F5. F5. F5. F5.
isn't it obvious? (Score:2)
i've read numerous studies on national happiness (i admit to being well on the periphery of my country's politics and viewpoints and values -- so i'm no where near happy) and the US has yet to rank in so much as the top 10.
what's also amusing is while apparently consumption of Shiny Things(tm) is up so are prescpritions for the attention getting of both adults and children.
no i didn't read the article.
No: Americans are addicted to communications (Score:3, Insightful)
Steps backwards (Score:5, Interesting)
My vetenarian was complaining today that she used to have a system which used Ricochet, a dumb terminal in her truck, and a Xenix server in her office to access horse medical records remotely. This provided a 38Kb/s connection. Since Ricochet went out of business, that's no longer possible. Data over cellular is less available, slower, harder to set up, and more expensive. Yes, you can set up a VPN, and "web enable" the server, but it's more trouble than it is worth.
Re:Steps backwards (Score:3, Informative)
The only problem with Ricochet is that I am almost certain I was the only person in my neighborhood that even new the service existed.
A father once asked his son what he was going to do with a movie theater he had purchased. The
Forest people (Score:5, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
The military is addicted (Score:3, Informative)
a terrible article (Score:3, Insightful)
Some people freely admit to being high-tech junkies.
"The internet connection is my lifeline," said Jennifer Strother, a mother of two young children who lives in Smithfield, Virginia. "It's the connection to friends, e-mail -- especially for stay-at-home moms. I'm hungry for adult conversation and any news that isn't Dora the Explorer or Blue's Clues."
How is this an admission to being a hi tech junkie? The very reason for her use of the internet is not tech, but communication. As with most of the article the authors attempt to classify us as "junkies" fails. He or she fails to see that for the most part, tech purchases are so that we may consume media such as TV or Music or communicate with others. This is not an hi tech additiction as the author would have us believe, because the technology itself is not the motivator for purchase.
Dude, this is the 21st century (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Who pays $200 a month? (Score:2)
Re:Expensive (Score:2)
Re:Expensive (Score:2, Funny)
$48 per month? That's like $3.34 US! How do you guys get internet so cheap up north?
Re:Expensive (Score:2)
The $200 is probably for high speed internet + digital cable + HBO + land line + cell phone + TiVo subscription + who knows what else. (It still does seem high though; adding that up gives me about 150 maybe...)
Not so fast... (Score:2)
My fiber-optic Verizon FIOS service gives me 5 M/bps downstream and 2 M/bps upsteam for $34.95 US per month. I'm not sure of the current exchange rate for Canadian to US dollars (assuming you were quoting Canadian dollars) but I'm not sure you're getting a much better deal than I am (if at all).
Re:Only $200/mo (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Addicted? (Score:3, Funny)
That's a mighty long swim.