Cheung 1 Jenny Cheung Kristen Foster CO150.

400 October 23, 2013 Social Impacts of Apple Products Within Last 10 Years As hundreds of college students roam across the campus, from classrooms to libraries to the streets, there is one thing students cannot seem to detach themselves away from. That is the portable technology device. These portable devices include phones, music players, and laptops. After Apple introduced its first iPhone, with functions beyond any other phones, the crave for Apple products, what I refer it as the Apple Boom, started to take its place within society. Within the last seven years, I have seen countless iPhones, iPods, iPads, and MacBooks pass by. People use these tools for various purposes. For example, the music player function has become a popular way of entertainment. Anything you do not know the answer to? Just Google the answer with our fingertips at anywhere, anytime. It has become impossible neglect Apple products presence. I, too, have also become a consumer of Apple products, including: an iPod, a MacBook Pro, and the newly released iPhone 5S. While Apple products have become vital tools for people to depend on, I have also started to notice the drawbacks it has created. For this research, I was interested in finding the answer to what are some social impacts that Apple products have lead to within the last 10 years? This question is worth examining because Apple continues to develop new products every year. Furthermore, the negative affects are starting to influence people socially undetectably. I fear that in the near future the essential part of socialization will be lost to technology.

Cheung 2 Before I refined my issue towards Apple products social impact specifically, I first looked at an article that presents the correlation between the Internet and social impact. It is crucial to inspect the Internet because it is one of the main functions of Apple products. I started off with an academic journal article by Michael Patterson and Robert Kraut called Internet Paradox: a Social Technology That Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being. The authors conducted an experiment on 231 individuals. The test subjects would complete a questionnaire before and after the experiment regarding their social involvement and psychological well-being. According to the results, extensive usage of the Internet has lead to a decrease in social involvement such as family communication and social support (Patterson and Kraut 1028). It also has an effect on psychological aspects like loneliness, stress, and depression (Patterson and Kraut 1028). From the article, I learned that there are also social impacts I cannot see based on public observation. An example would be family communication that happens at home. The articles statistical data was very interesting as it gave me a numerical understanding on issue. After reading an article that proposed technology reduces social involvement, I was curious if there are any articles that would argue the opposite, promoting social involvement. From Academic Search Premier, a database suggested by a CSU librarian, I found an academic journal article called Key Factors Mediating the Use of a Mobile Technology Tool Designed to Develop Social and Life Skills in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. This article is based on an experiment on children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) using a smartphone application. The results were constructed on a number of interviews with teachers opinion on how effectively the application facilitated children with ASD with their social and life skills. The application had the following results: six believe the application had no effect; six felt there was

Cheung 3 positive impact; six were uncertain if there was any effects; and one believed the application had a negative impact on children with ASD (Lerman). One example how the application helped a childs social skill is where the application taught the child how to relax under certain circumstances (Lerman). This article slightly changed my views on technology dependence. I learned that technology is able to help those who deeply in need of it, in this case, ASD children. However, my doubt still remains. If that child continues to depend on that application, what would happen if the smartphone were to break one day? I am not sure whether Steve Jobs widespread of smartphones has brought us harm or benefit. Since I received my first Apple product much later than most people, when I see little children carrying iPhones these days, I become a little jealous. It seems that they are using the device for gaming purposes more than anything. Somehow, it makes me think of back in the days, I wish idea. I continued my research by going to Google and typing in the keywords child social impact iPad iPod iPhone. Filtering through the searches, I found an article from the New York Times called The Child, the Tablet and the Developing Mind by Nick Bilton. In this article, Biltons sister had to calm her children using two shiny Apple iPads (Bilton). The author utilizes several experts opinion and a research published in the Millennium Cohort Study to come to an answer. Bilton quotes the expert, Dr. Gray Small, claiming spending time on technology instead of socializing could hinder a childs development of certain communication skills (Bilton). In the Millennium Cohort Study, those who are exposed to three hours of television, videos or DVDs had a higher chance of conduct problems, emotional symptoms and relationship problems(qtd. in Bilton). Through numerous analyses, he concludes with

Cheung 4 Sherry Turkels view on technology that children should become independent on their own instead relying on technologies (Bilton). From this article, I believe that technology is slowly trending towards younger consumers. Young children are slowing becoming addicted to technology. It has become evident that it is not only affecting young adults around campus, but also future teenagers. Since Apple is known as the leader for this technology boom, I felt that Apple is perhaps responsible for impairing childrens communication development. Another article that attracted my eyes, scrolling through a few pages under the same keyword search in Google, was Kids and Tablets: at What Age Is It OK to Buy Your Children Their Own?" When I saw the title, it targeted another question in my mind from the previous article. At first, I thought that maybe there is a right age for children to start using iPads, iPhones, or iPods without impairing communication development. Jason Gilbert focuses on what clues give parents the idea that it is the right time to give their children access to tablets. Gilbert quotes Dr. Ari Browns suggests that we should think what children would gain from the tablet instead of the negative side effects (Gilbert). To control childrens usage on technology, DeCesare said, If they misuse it take it away (qtd. in Gilbert). DeCesares quote has given me an insight providing a solution to prevent children becoming too addicted to technology. Although she does not state whether or not to confiscate tablets in result of over usage, it is still the parents responsibility to determine the limit. For example, in the previous article, Biltons sister should not have just handed over the iPads to calm her children. It just sets them up becoming an addict of technology. Instead, her children need to learn the right time to use technology. I believe that parental supervise on technology usage has also become a required skill to prevent the negative social impacts from technology.

Cheung 5 Before I entered college, apparently, a MacBook pro as a graduation present was one of the top choices listed in our schools newspaper. I would often hear various reasons of getting MacBooks for college in side conversations. One of the main features was its user-friendliness. During my years in China, technology was not a necessity but rather a tool to help us in our tasks. In the article, "Technology in Schools: Weighing the Pros and Cons", it examines a country utilizes technology to enhances learning and one that does not. For example, students in South Korea enjoy learning English from a robot rather than a teacher (qtd. in Sullivan). Despite the dependent use of technology on learning, the article states that South Korean students would leave behind their iPods and iPhones. In contrast, students from Finland, with merely a piece of chalk and a chalkboard, still perform outstandingly on standardized tests (Sullivan). The article also gives statistical data on the amount of money allocated to technology in education in the United States. The amount of money that the government gives to support technology in education is quite shocking to me; even the government believes it is necessary to give students exposure to technology. When the Koreans said they preferred learning from a robot, it has lead me to believe that we are already in a state where we cannot break away from technology. As a part to my research, I thought it would be a good idea to read a book that gives a more in-depth view on technology. The book I read was Technopoly by Neil Postman. In the first chapter of the book, Judgment of Thamus, he discusses how technology has changed our way of thinking. One of the main points was that technology has already changed the way we communicate. For example, number is used as a form technology to communicate data and statistics. Words are tied with new meanings. Some examples he gives in his book are, television changed debate and telegraph changed information (Postman 8). He guides the readers into

Cheung 6 another way of thinking of technology. For example, instead of thinking of computers efficiency as a teaching tool. We need to know in what ways it is altering our conception of learning (Postman 19). Although the book was very difficult to understand, it was enjoyable to learn about things that I would have not considered before. He describes some concepts changed by technology that I am currently living under the influence and unaware of. Throughout the research, I refined my answer to the question over and over again. After reading Technopoly, I feel that I have yet to gather enough information to answer my thesis question. I am still split between whether Apple products have placed a positive or negative impact. Before I started the research, I was leaning towards believing that the technology boom created by Apple was a harmful advancement for the society. But the research that supported smartphones aided children in their daily and social life lead me to believe that technology has its benefits if used correctly. When I thought I came to an answer, Technopoly just lead me to more questions. For example, what are some invisible changes that have already happened in the Apple Boom? Further investigation is needed in order for me to properly address this issue.

Cheung 7 Work Cited Bilton, Nick. "The Child, the Tablet and the Developing Mind." New York Times. The New York Times Company, 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. Gilbert, Jason. "Kids and Tablets: at What Age Is It OK to Buy Your Children Their Own?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. Lerman, Stephen, et al. "Erratum to Key Factors Mediating the Use of a Mobile Technology Tool Designed to Develop Social and Life Skills in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders [Comput. Educ. 58 (2012) 5362]." Computers & Education 59.4 (2012): 1387. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. Patterson, Michael, and Robert Kraut. "Internet Paradox a Social Technology That Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being." American Psychologist 53.9 (1998): 1017. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. Postman, Neil. "The Judgment of Thamus." Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. New York: Knopf, 1992. 3-20. Print. Sullivan, Lauren. "Technology in Schools: Weighing the Pros and Cons." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Oct. 2010. Web. 3 Oct. 2013.