Long before iPhones, the cigarette was the companion of choice for fidgety hands. And, long before Facebook, it was tobacco that promised to enhance your social life. Now, quitting smartphones has become the new quitting smoking.
Of course, technology does not yellow your teeth, cause emphysema or lead to cancer. But some individuals are so concerned that device addiction is damaging their mental health that they have spent January trying to reduce their dependence. Cal Newport, author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, ran a digital declutter experiment with thousands of followers of his blog, while in the UK, Time To Log Off has run a 30-day digital detox campaign.
Even in Silicon Valley, people are turning off the notifications that constantly buzz for their attention, banning smartphones from the bedroom and, curiously, changing the colours on their screens to a less seductive scale of grey.