In recent months, growing numbers of tech executives and others in the industry have expressed concerns about the impact of technology on society and human minds, as research has pointed to links between mental health and tech usage. Children who use smartphones for three hours a day or more are much more likely to be suicidal, and and an eighth-grader’s risk for depression jumps 27% when they frequently use social media. Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook, charged that social networks are exploiting human “vulnerability,” warning: “God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.” Chamath Palihapitiya, another former Facebook executive, said late last year that social media is “destroying how society works,” and said he felt “tremendous guilt” for what he helped make.
“In the back, deep, deep recesses of our mind, we kind of knew something bad could happen,” Palihapitiya said, although he later walked back aspects of his remarks after they attracted significant international media attention. And Roger McNamee, an early investor in Facebook and Google, has been increasingly vocal in his criticisms of those companies. “The people who run Facebook and Google are good people, whose well-intentioned strategies have led to horrific unintended consequences,” he told The Guardian in October. He continued: “The problem is that there is nothing the companies can do to address the harm unless they abandon their current advertising models.”
Apple itself has recently come under significant criticism regarding how its products affect children.
After two major shareholders publicly raised concerns that kids were becoming addicted to iPhones, the company promised to introduce new features to help combat the issue. Meanwhile, Tony Fadell, cocreator of the iPod and iPhone, lumped Apple in with other tech giants when he charged that the industry wasn’t doing enough to tackle tech addiction.
“Apple Watches, Google Phones, Facebook, Twitter — they’ve gotten so good at getting us to go for another click, another dopamine hit,” he said in a tweet. “They now have a responsibility & need to start helping us track & manage our digital addictions across all usages — phone, laptop, TV, etc.”
Cook’s steps to limit his nephew’s use of technology resemble those of other tech executives. Former Microsoft mogul Bill Gates capped his daughter’s screen time and refused to let his children get smartphones until they were 14. And Steve Jobs, Cook’s predecessor as CEO of Apple, said right after the iPad was released he had banned his kids from using it.
“We limit how much technology our kids use at home,” he said.
Apple itself has recently come under significant criticism regarding how its products affect children. After two major shareholders publicly raised concerns that kids were becoming addicted to iPhones, the company promised to introduce new features to help combat the issue. Meanwhile, Tony Fadell, cocreator of the iPod and iPhone, lumped Apple in with other tech giants when he charged that the industry wasn’t doing enough to tackle tech addiction.
“Apple Watches, Google Phones, Facebook, Twitter — they’ve gotten so good at getting us to go for another click, another dopamine hit,” he said in a tweet. “They now have a responsibility & need to start helping us track & manage our digital addictions across all usages — phone, laptop, TV, etc.” Cook’s steps to limit his nephew’s use of technology resemble those of other tech executives. Former Microsoft mogul Bill Gates capped his daughter’s screen time and refused to let his children get smartphones until they were 14. And Steve Jobs, Cook’s predecessor as CEO of Apple, said right after the iPad was released he had banned his kids from using it.
“We limit how much technology our kids use at home,” he said.
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