4th Hour 4: The Push For Legal Addiction

Addiction is always seen as a an extremely negative thing because of its connotation with drugs. Obviously people have been raised to view drugs as bad and because we are raised with seeing drugs as the only addictive thing that is easily accessible. However, now people are seeing a new addictive drug that is not in fact a drug but rather technology.

When modern technology began revolutionizing the way people communicate, it was only a matter of time before companies could see a way to make more money. This chance to make more money came in the form of smartphones. The concept itself seems too appealing to for the consumer to pass up on. A phone that can communicate in multiple forms with ease and handle every modern demand thrown at it from planning a schedule to finding the perfect song for you was the golden ticket for phone companies to get to your wallet.

Consumers started switching to smartphones in droves once the first few generations were tested and deemed the next step in technology. But, according to the interview, there was still relatively low phone usage in 2008 so companies needed a way to amp up there products to be more enticing. This has sparked much controversy over the years as companies now do psychological studies to figure out how to make their product not just more addicting but the most addicting. These companies want the consumer to think about their product every second of every day and for the most part it is working. This is good for the companies but for humanity as a whole it posses some very big issues.

The main issue that is being discussed in today's media is the issue of people not knowing how to carry on a simple conversation with strangers. People have lost the ability to communicate with each other face to face because they are so used to having time to think and carefully craft each reply over text.

Another issue that goes hand in hand with the issue of conversation is just how addictive these devices are. They overpower peoples will and conscious and they are on them talking constantly to other people instead of their friends who are directly in front of them. These devices and their addictive nature is an interesting ethical and moral dilemma because you could think of a question such as, what happens when a company develops a product that is truly too addictive to put down? How would the nation respond to a device like this. Would there be regulations that would need to put in place by the government and how would the government measure how addictive a device is?

All these questions lie in the close future as these devices and technologies continue to get more complex and addictive.