Stephanie A Kilroy

The article I read called “Twitter and Tumblr Leaders Ditch Phones to Combat Addiction”, refers to the everyday dependency and possible addiction of constant smart phone use. I was interested in this article because the use of smart phones and digital media is ubiquitous. It has become an accessible way to communicate and connect with the world, however, it has proven to become too invasive in our lives. According to a report from Ericsson Ab,” By 2020, 90 percent of the world’s population over 6-years-old will have a mobile phone” (Rahn & Mawad, 2014). While I don’t think this statistic is necessarily surprising it does go to show how the digital world is consuming reality. Even top executives from companies like Twitter and Tumblr are uneasy in the topic of digital dependency. Some believe that being able to take a “digital timeout” is extremely important in balancing their lives.  The article mentions that the head of creative strategy for Yahoo, David Hayes, will go without his mobile phone for weeks in order to better experience reality. However, other top executives do not see this “digital timeout” as a necessity. The COO of Dropbox Inc., Dennis Woodside, never takes a break from his mobile technology. He believes that accessible information all the time can only be a good thing. While, I am not a top executive of a company I can definitely relate to digital dependency. In my opinion, I think a “digital timeout” can really be important to get back to reality. Instead of always looking through Twitter to find current news it might be more important to sit down and read a newspaper. On the other hand, the digital world can keep us well informed and connect us all over the world. I can definitely see the positives and negatives of digital dependency, but what do you all think?  Do any of you believe that you are too digitally dependent? Have you ever tried to take a “digital timeout” or do you think that they aren’t really necessary? Why or why not?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-19/twitter-and-tumblr-leaders-ditch-smartphones-to-combat-addiction.html

“Google to launch modular phone that can switch parts in and out”

On Google News, what I saw today was the endless sensational technology development by Google. Google announced that the new launching technology which is the smartphone can able to separates its batteries, speakers and cameras in and out as needed. This technology might seems odd now, but what Google has been doing recently will affects the future technologies. For example, Google innovated several ideas including that modular phone that can switch parts in and out and Google glass for make life easier. Eventually, these technologies aren’t quite noticeable now, but these endless ideas gives hope to students like us that there are many parts that we can still develop on for better future.