Andrew Lefler

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102-004
18 April 2016
Smartphone Overload
Modern society has been overtaken within the last decade, more so than in recent decades,
by the use of technology and the continued development of smartphones. These touch screen
phones have been extremely popular to the human race, as you cannot walk into a room without
seeing them held in peoples hands. Since the creation of the telephone in 1878 by Alexander
Graham Bell, the development of cell phones has exploded in the power that they can do. People
used to only have land lines, which were stuck to the walls in peoples homes. This was
followed by the mobile phones, and now have been updated to smartphones which allows the
user to have access to nearly anything they want to look up, or communicate with anyone in the
blink of an eye. Smartphones can give you up to date stock quotes, weather reports, video chat,
and they even have a compass built in. But, how truly beneficial are these ingenious creations
for modern society? How would society be if every person did not possess a handheld
computer? With helpful scholarly work, I dive deeper into why I feel smartphones have begun to
control our everyday lives and the impact this has on society in the United States, with examples
in individuals everyday lives.
The basic definition of a smartphone is a mobile phone that has a display screen and a
variety of other features, including personal information-management systems and a computer

operating system (OS) that allows users to perform a variety of functions (Michele). The first
ever smartphone prototype that was developed in 1992. The IBM Simon, was created by the
company BellSouth and was first sold in 1993. Throughout the rest of 1990s, companies began
developing and improving the prototype. In 2000, the touchscreen Ericsson R380 became the
first mobile phone marketed specifically as a "smartphone" (Michele). These were the early days
of the smartphone industry, as these smartphones began to be introduced to the public.
The early years of the smartphones were unique in their own way of being brand new to
the world. However, in 2007, the market changed as the computer company Apple introduced
what they called the iPhone. Each year, Apple began to better develop the content of their
phones, increasing the iPhone capabilities in all aspects. In 2009, the applications sales through
Apples app store were estimated at roughly $769 million of Apples revenue. This generated a
new slogan of sorts for smartphones as theres an app for that became increasingly popular
(Michele). In the year 2008, Google teamed up with Open Handset Alliance to develop the
Android phone. With this new company, there began a rivalry between the two powerhouse
companies. By end of 2011, smartphones were used by 44% of Americans as their primary form
of telecommunication (Michele). The rapid development of smartphones and all the
characteristics that they offer to the user are primary reasons for their popularity and use in
individuals lives.
In my own personal life, I have not always been a great user of smartphones; this is because I
did not own one for a great portion of my young life. When I was 12 years old, all my friends
had cell phones which had the ability to slide and flip. I eventually got one, as all my friends had
one, and then the first generations of smartphones began to come out. This left me with a flip
phone for five years, separate from the smartphone craze. My senior year of high school rolled

around, the world was preparing for the next wave of phones by Apple and Andriod, and I only
possessed a flip phone. The separation was evident as in one of my classes, my teacher asked for
the class to pull out their phones to look something up online, and I could not do so, as I had a
flip phone. I was the only student in the 30 person class who could not do this. I eventually got
my first smartphone for Christmas, an iPhone 5s, and when I went to school the next week,
people were proud that I finally came out from under a rock in which I lived in the eyes of
technology. To this day, I have personally fallen into the inevitable smartphone takeover, as I am
constantly on my phone for communication, social media, and personal use each day. This
shows the extent of the smartphones and the overtaking of many peoples lives in todays society
even when they do not intend for such.
The use of internet in individuals lives has allowed for a rapid change in the culture in
which people live their lives on a daily basis. The web was first accessed on desktop computers,
and has evolved to smartphones and tablets everywhere (Sauter). This is known as the World
Wide Web, and how easily accessible it has become in the modern day with the help of wireless
Internet. However, the use of the Internet is not the only thing to blame when it comes to
smartphones and technology taking over the world, to speak. The popular use of applications on
smartphones, tablets, and now computers has allowed for society to lose sight on some of the
most meaningful things in life (Sauter). The use of these types of media have played a role in the
changing evolution of modern society in the United States. People now communicate less in
forms of face-to-face, personal connections have devalued, and people are glued to screen;
instead of the world around them. This shows that civilization is advancing, and the use of
technology has a lot to do with this rapid expansion.

The continued development of the World Wide Web will allow individuals to have their
personal lives overtaken by the use of smartphones. According to the article, 3g, 4g and
Beyond: Bringing Networks, Devices, and the Web Together, written by Martin Sauter,
applications and services are continuously evolving and the user is part of the development
process (357). The use of evolving applications in the world, has made society become part of
the process when it comes to technology. I feel that with the rapid increase in technology,
peoples old way of doing things, is now a thing of the past. These old practices, such as
writing a handwritten letter, can encompass everything an individual will do on a daily basis;
regardless of the age of the person. The use of extreme reliability of technology is what society
lives and breathes each day.
The use of smartphone applications has helped establish how smartphones have been so
popular. In the article, There's an App for That (or Soon Will Be): Smart Phones, Social
Networking, and Internet Gaming, written by Mr. Martin D. Owens Jr., who is known for his
work of Gaming Law Review and Economics introduces him as a lawyer and is knowledgeable
on the topic of technology. In his article, he addresses how the use of applications has helped
influence the use of gambling in individuals. Mr. Owens references, Cell phones generally have
made Internet gambling available to the general public as never before (174). This shows that
all one has to do is access the Internet in the application on their phone in order to gamble.
Smartphones have been used in the eyes of the public within the last two decades for
primary usage of society. In the piece by Raento, Oulasvirta, and Eagle known as, Smartphones
an Emerging Tool for Social Scientists, they discussed the use of technological advances which
have been used for social scientists in their work. The authors are noteworthy for their work
with Google UK, London (Raento), Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Finland

(Oulasvirta), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (Eagle). According to the

article, Smartphones are, simply, programmable mobile phones (Raento 427). These phones
are so easy to become addicted to as you are just one click away from what an individual wants.
Smartphones seem to be so simple, yet individuals allow them to overtake their lives.
The usage of smartphones in society has also allowed people to gravitate towards a life of
revolving around Social Networking Sites. These sites are also known as social media, and is
mainly used by the younger generation, which allows the user to communicate with other users
of similar ages. In the piece written by Shapiro Spies and Gayla Margolin, called Growing Up
Wired: Social Networking Sites and Adolescent Psychosocial Development, they investigate the
usage of individuals social media websites as they are accessed by hundreds of millions of users
globally. However, these sites, such as Facebook, are used by the older generation as well as the
younger people. According to the article, Moreover, despite the terms of service of Facebook
restricting its use to those age 13 or older, it is estimated that 7.5 million younger children also
have accounts (Spies 2). This statistic shows that even though the social media site known as
Facebook has an age restriction in order to sign up for an account, there are still roughly 7.5
million users who created an account before the age requirement. The predominant usage of
social media is used by that of the younger people; in which some of the popular platforms are
Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. All of these sites are primarily used by teenagers, but also
individuals young and old, which can affect the individual in different ways based on their age.
These social media websites have begun to take over the lives of individuals old and
young. The overdose of smartphones by individuals allow for even easier usage of these social
media platforms. Spies and Margolin opened up the piece with a they say, I say format by
saying:

Although computers initially were developed for adults, adolescents have fully
embraced these technologies for their own social purposes and typically are the
family experts on how to use electronic media and social networking sites (1).
This quote discusses how the usage of technology was originally designed by the use of adults,
until the creators did testing and found out how quickly phones become addicting to adolescents.
Ever since the establishment of smartphones and social media websites, individuals have been
able to communicate in the blink of an eye with others globally. Also, with the use of these
platforms, people are given the opportunity to talk to others privately. An example of this is
through Twitter with a DM or direct message and in Snapchat by sending pictures of yourself
to others in conversation style. The practice of social media websites have played a major role in
the increase of usage of smartphones and technology.
In a recent study, ABC News Juji Chang, interviews the Klauses of New Jersey on possible
connections of toddlers development and technology. The title of this study was known as
Generation Ipad: Could It Hurt Toddlers' Development? In the video, Ms. Chang reports to find
out if Generation iPads future is bright, or if it has negative effects on young childrens
development in the future. Previously, the three young Klauses children would play on their
family iPads/ iPhones, until this study, in which the family took away the childrens technology
away for a month to see how the children would react. During the month, the children find other
ways to entertain themselves via imaginary play, dolls, or playing small games. However,
throughout the month, the children were notably more aggressive with each other and their
surroundings (Chang). Following this study, the results were that the use of technology does
have a positive effect on childrens learning skills, however, long daily exposure can harm the
childs social skills.

An issue with the use of smartphones in todays society is the result of addiction and how this
technology can affect an individual's academic performance. This piece titled, Relationships
Among Smartphone Addiction, Stress, Academic Performance, and Satisfaction with Life, was
written by Maya Samaha and Hawi Nazir, who both work with the Computer Science
Department at the University of Notre Dame. The authors conducted a survey of roughly 300
college students. The results of this survey consisted of:
The average respondent was 20.96 years old (SD 1.93) with an overall range
between 17 and 26 years old. The percentage of students who were at high risk of
smartphone addiction (44.6%) was slightly lower than that of students at low risk
(49.1%). The percentage of students identified as having high levels of perceived
stress (53.4%) was slightly greater than the percentage of students reporting low
levels of perceived stress (46.6%) (Samaha 323).
These results are from a small random sample size with only 300 responses; however, this shows
that there is a positive correlation between smartphones and the addiction of individuals. This
also shows that students identify with having slightly higher percentage of stress levels than
individuals with lower smartphone usage.
I wanted to try a similar poll survey to see what people in the year 2016 had to say about their
smartphone usage. So I decided to conduct a Twitter poll of how long individuals are roughly on
their smartphones on a daily basis, and had 67 total responses. In my poll I asked the participant
to respond to a range of estimated time from 0-3 hours, 3-6 hours, and 6+ hours daily. My
results back up how individuals may be over using their phones daily. The results included: 0-3
hours: 6%, 3-6 hours: 48%, 6+ hours: 46%. These statistics show that of the 67 votes cast, 94%
responded by using their phones for at least 3 hours a day. Of that 94%, 46% of those

individuals reported by saying they used their phone for more than 6 hours a day. These results
backup my previous statements of how most people are guilty in todays American society of
their overuse of smartphones. The majority of the responses recorded highlighted that for
roughly a quarter of the day, a single individual was constantly using their phone on average.
Throughout my research, I have found out that the use of phones have had a major impact on
the society we live in, day in and day out. The extensive usage of smartphones has been found
harmful to younger individuals who are exposed to the touch screens, as they can affect one of
the most important characteristics of life, being sociable. However, the use of technology has
allowed for more rapid development in young peoples learning. The impact smartphones have
had on people can be viewed on the user, but for the extent of the use, this technology should be
controlled by the user; or there could be harmful after effects later in life. The usage of
smartphones is still relatively young with little information and statistics about the topic,
however, at the pace individuals in society are going now, the future is uncertain.

Works Cited
Chang, Juji. Generation Ipad: Could It Hurt Toddlers' Development?New York, N.Y: Films
Media Group, 2013. Internet resource. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Michele Lellouche. "Smartphones." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Detroit: Gale,
2015. Student Resources in Context. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Owens, Jr Martin. D. "There's an App for That (or Soon Will Be): Smart Phones, Social
Networking, and Internet Gaming." Gaming Law Review & Economics. 14.3 (2010).
Print.
Raento, M., Oulasvirta, A., & Eagle, N. (January 01, 2009). Smartphones. Smr/sociological
Methods & Research, 37, 3, 426-454.
Samaha, Maya, and Nazir S. Hawi. "Relationships Among Smartphone Addiction, Stress,
Academic Performance, and Satisfaction with Life." Computers in Human Behavior. 57
(2016): 321-325. Print.
Sauter, Martin. 3g, 4g and Beyond: Bringing Networks, Devices, and the Web Together.
Chichester, West Sussex, UK: John Wiley and Sons, 2013. Internet resource.
Spies, Shapiro L. A, and Gayla Margolin. "Growing Up Wired: Social Networking Sites and
Adolescent Psychosocial Development." Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review.
17.1 (2014): 1-18. Print.
Twitter Poll.