Gadget Obsession and Multitasking: Bad for You?

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060320-6417.html' target='_blank'>http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...60320-6417.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The cover story in Time magazine this week, entitled "Too Wired For Their Own Good?", condemns the youth of the nation as gadget-obsessed, perennially multitasking, social failures who can't really get into anything important or even relax... The article says that "[t]eenagers who fill every quiet moment with a phone call or some kind of e-stimulation may not be getting that needed reprieve. Habitual multitasking may condition their brain to an overexcited state, making it difficult to focus even when they want to." That extends to social interaction as well, and the parents can be intimidated by their teenagers' scattered focus."</i><br /><br />Even the influential writers at Time Magazine believe that the current generation of youths are too "plugged in". Gadget obsession, multitasking, and staying connected - apparently, all this is breeding personal dysfunction and disjointed familial relationships. What do you think? Are we witnessing a disaster in the making, or simply a new and accepted way of life in our digitally-enhanced world?

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I was actually listening to a radio station discuss this article yesterday morning and they had some teens call into the station to talk about the impact of technology on their lives. Suprisingly, many of them acknowledged that they do have a hard time focusing on any given task for an extended period of time because they're always on IM or checking email or surfing the net. So what should take 30 minutes to complete a basic homework task could potentially take hours.

I'm an absolute proponent of technology. Used efficiently, most all of the communication mediums today enhance my ability to reach people or knowledge nearly anytime and anywhere, but I also know that personally, some of my most valuable skills and/or items of knowledge were only made possible by some long, focused, and involved "study" sessions that would not have been possible if I was constantly multi-tasking between menial tasks.

Ultimately, I don't blame technology. Just like 10-20 years ago, when there were limits on how much television kids could watch or how much time they can spend playing games, I think it's important to have limits on surfing/IM/cellphone/etc and the Time article was very clear in that only a small minority of parents polled ever set those types of limits.

Just my 2 cents...

[daS]

It's funny that the parents of today (my generation 8O ) are saying the same things about their kids as their parents were saying about them in the 60's and 70's! Rock and Roll, flower children, the "me culture" political activism (and don't get me started on drug use.)

The excesses of youth (and their side effects) seem to have a way of dissipating with age. But as Scott Adams likes to say "But of course there are the obvious exceptions."

[SteveHoward999]

every generation thinks its children are going to cause the collapes of society as we know it because of some new fad. Strangely it keeps plodding on, evolving over time, but never collap-sing completely.

Quit worrying. It will work out fine ... just remember, though, that when you reach 67.75 you lose your geeks license and can o longer work the toys ... kinda like how your grandmother could never figure out the video recorder ...

[xdev]

being a teenager myself i have to say i agree with it to a certain extent. but i guess its nothing a little thing called self discipline and focus cant fix :wink:

[DaleReeck]

[i]...can't really get into anything important or even relax...

That's funny. My parents and grandparents think that kids relax too much and don't work nearly as hard as they did :D

[egads]

Like some have said past generation teens have all done things that have had all of the adults of the time saying the civilized world will end when the kids grow up. At least being a hippy, hard rocker, or a disco gigolo got the kids of the time together and interacting with each other. Now most teens would rather sit at home IM'ing and talking on the cell phone than walk across the street and interact in person. Even when they do get together they are not talking to the person next to them, they are on the cell phone talking to someone else or playing a video game. We actually have to threaten our kids sometimes to get them to go out and interact with other kids.

I'm pretty sure the world will not end because of all of this but I worry about how today's kids will make it in the job market when they grow up. Being 43 and un-adaptable (didn't used to be), I forget how adaptable younger people are...
.

[Kacey Green]

doom and gloom, bah
natural selection, those that can't cope don't survive nature has this covered (so does modern medicine)

[daS]

Now most teens would rather sit at home IM'ing and talking on the cell phone than walk across the street and interact in person. Even when they do get together they are not talking to the person next to them, they are on the cell phone talking to someone else or playing a video game.
My mother (now in her late 60s) loved to tell the story how when she was a kid in NY, she would take the telephone into the hallway outside the apartment door and talk to her friend down the hall that was outside her own door looking back at my mom while they talked by phone.

The technology may have changed, but 50+ years hasn't changed much about they way kids use (and abuse) it. :D

[wirelessbeachbum]

I didn't have time to actually read the article I was sending some emails, and talking on the phone.....


But my 2 cents on the subject and what I teach in my PDA training classes (to adults) is that as many things as a PDA will do, email, web, calandar, task...and even phone calls. The most important part of the equation is using the device as a tool to connect with other people. Instant messaging and cellular calls are still interpersonal skills. Many owners of pda's get caught up in the technology of the device...the end game is the phones are just a tool for communication with other living and breathing human beings.

Of course if you are even reading this post on Pocket PC Thoughts you most likely are beyond saving when it comes to being a tech geek...

And if you are reading it on your Pocket PC...then you are really far gone :mrgreen:

[Steve Jordan]

I'm pretty sure the world will not end because of all of this but I worry about how today's kids will make it in the job market when they grow up.

Don't sweat it: When they get into the job market, they'll be working at home or in the field with no office, taking orders from clients in Boston, Bangladesh, Bahrain, and Buford simultaneously, so all that IMing and cell phone multitasking will make them fit right in.

But check it out: Kids can focus when they know they have to... like when they're trying to pick up a date, or keep a relationship going. Trust me: They'll work it out when they have to.

[SteveHoward999]

Don't sweat it: When they get into the job market, they'll be working at home or in the field with no office, taking orders from clients in Boston, Bangladesh, Bahrain, and Buford simultaneously, so all that IMing and cell phone multitasking will make them fit right in.

Sounds like my work now!

But check it out: Kids can focus when they know they have to... like when they're trying to pick up a date, or keep a relationship going. Trust me: They'll work it out when they have to.

And spending 17 hours stright playing the latest video games! THey (like us when we were young) have a poor attention span for the things older folk think should be important *** BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO!!!***

And quite right too ... I still think carpet bowling is boring as ....

[Steve Jordan]

Just like us, they'll realize the importance of work (and focus) when they realize it's their only source of money (assuming their parents will eventually throw them out of the house). That's when they straighten themselves out to get a real job, or wind up flipping burgers. And if they want to blow their paychecks on video games, well, at least they're supporting the economy...

[Watti3460]

It’s a cliché to answer a cliché with a cliché. Yes there were adults who said that Rock and Roll would ruin kids back in the 50’s. And actually they were right – from a certain perspective. We just do not recognize that what it destroyed was any better than what replaced it.

Rock and roll contributed to the acceptance of civil rights, the ecology movement and sexual liberation. Remember when putting black kids on TV next to white kids on American Bandstand was a big deal? Rock did this. Hippies and ecology and “free love” – Rock again.

The downside of rock was primarily drug abuse and marketing to a younger generation and the crap it inspired.

If you wanted kids to stay the same as they were in the 50’s than you have to admit that yes Rock ruined kids.

The key to any technology is does it solve more problems than it creates. I think it is a hard sell to argue that for the majority of people in the US the cell phone has solved any major problems.

I am not talking about the fraction of careers and first responders who actually have benefited from personal communication. I am talking about Joe/Josephine user who has a Verizon account and razor phone.

And as far as kids are concerned there is no reason you can give me why anyone under the age of 18 needs a phone. Safety – this is a myth. The cell phone has not decreased the number of kidnappings or murders in the US. So this is simply a red-herring. Keeping track of your kids – hey with caller Id they will not answer the phone if they know it’s you on the other end. So (game show noise here) I’m sorry but that don’t fly.

The test is, can you take the cell phone and IM or any instant access away from a child and have them not go through “withdrawals”. If the answer is “No” then the fact is that technology has affected society to the point that children feel they can not function without it.

One user said “It will work out fine” – and no doubt. But the question is not will it work out fine but, I think, if I were to come back in 50 years would I like who and what my grandchildren have become through technology.

[Steve Jordan]

Rock and roll contributed to the acceptance of civil rights, the ecology movement and sexual liberation. Remember when putting black kids on TV next to white kids on American Bandstand was a big deal? Rock did this. Hippies and ecology and “free love” – Rock again.

Actually, Jazz had an earlier and stronger influence on integration, civil rights and sexual liberation, because it brought the races together back in the 20s and 30s. Blacks and whites were dancing together in Birdland, before Bandstand was invented. Rock just rode the coattails of already-evolving societal changes. But anyway...

The key to any technology is does it solve more problems than it creates. I think it is a hard sell to argue that for the majority of people in the US the cell phone has solved any major problems...

...And as far as kids are concerned there is no reason you can give me why anyone under the age of 18 needs a phone.

Because kids can have the same emergencies that adults have, requiring the need of a cop or ambulance on the spot. If kids don't need that, I guess adults don't either. Or are the kids just expendable?

Point is, you can't condemn the technology for being abused. Or, as the cliche goes: "Technology doesn't hurt people... people do."

[JonathanWardRogers]

This is how my company is run, and it has nothing to do with gadgets. People do not spend quality time on any one idea because they fear the lost opportunities. I find it sad, but then again, I'm old fashioned. This is the way the whole world is turning out to function. I don't think singling out teen use of gadgets is very astute.

[Watti3460]

Actually, Jazz had an earlier and stronger influence on integration, civil rights and sexual liberation, because it brought the races together back in the 20s and 30s. Blacks and whites were dancing together in Birdland, before Bandstand was invented. Rock just rode the coattails of already-evolving societal changes. But anyway...

Actually it was Ragtime which was the progenitor of jazz which...

You really undercut my arguement by splitting hairs. My point still stands; from the perspective of 1950's parent Rock did ruin kids, if you liked your kids the way they were. they were never the same after that.

Because kids can have the same emergencies that adults have, requiring the need of a cop or ambulance on the spot. If kids don't need that, I guess adults don't either. Or are the kids just expendable?

Ooooo now you have implied I wish children harm. Wow you like to be agreessive don't you.

So by your logic kids must be safer than they were in the 1970's. Because I seem to remember in the 70's we survived with out cell phones.

There is no justification for purchasing a plan, phone, ringtones, voice mail ect for a child. Period. If you do then you are just doing it because you can not refuse your children and/or you wish to make a statement on how you can buy baubles for your child.

The number of children who have saved lives with cell phone is so minisucle as to be totoally irrelvant.

Kids use their cells phones for fun.

Point is, you can't condemn the technology for being abused. Or, as the cliche goes: "Technology doesn't hurt people... people do."

I did not condem any thing. I do not want cell phones outlawed. If people say that technolgy is ruining kids that fact is that it is changing them and some people will say that's ruining them. That's a judgement call. If you think that children who can not sit still for ten seconds without checking voice mail, e-mail or call friends to gossip - have fun cause that's whats happneing.

Frankly my children will not get a cell phone until they get their own jobs and pay for the bills themselves.

Of course you would say I'm abusing them and making them less safe. But the fact is they will be fine without them.

[Watti3460]

This is how my company is run, and it has nothing to do with gadgets. People do not spend quality time on any one idea because they fear the lost opportunities. I find it sad, but then again, I'm old fashioned. This is the way the whole world is turning out to function. I don't think singling out teen use of gadgets is very astute.

You are right it goes beyond teens.

I actually have a cell phone. You know why, because the day care for my daughter said if my daughter becomas sick at school for any reason, I need to get her one hour after they call and leave any sort of message. If i do not, I can be fined $50.00 and have our contract terminated. All day cares are like that now. Because "everyone" has a cell phone.

I asked them if they had this policy 5 years ago and they said no. But since "everyone" has a cell phone now, this is the policy.

So I have had a phone for a little over a year now. Funny I have NEVER needed it for any emergeny in that time. I do not give out the number and it is used only for day care and peditracian calls. My family (the grandparents) do not even know we own them.

But that is just me.

I love my PDA but it's a tool. I do not play games on it and I do not watch movies. I listen to music sometimes and microbrewing podcasts when I am commuting. Primarly it helps me remember appointments and allows me to do work processing away form the desk.

So, I think technology can be used effectively. I just do not understand why kids need devices like cell phones.

[JonathanWardRogers]

So, I think technology can be used effectively. I just do not understand why kids need devices like cell phones.

It appears to me that you are falling victim to the same fallacy of which you accused Steve Jordon. I've read about and heard first hand your same arguments applied to the telephone, the computer, recordings, tv, etc. The fact is that society is fluid, life changes and people must change with it. Stagnation is never good. It's frustrating for those that like things the way they are, but like it or not, those people are in the wrong. Change is the natural order, stagnation is not.