A new addiction plagues the planet. From the classroom, to the hallway, to the living room, to the mall, you can’t escape it. It’s almost as if the sound — the metallic chime from your phone, every time you get a notification — is committed to memory, stuck on repeat. Every thought you think, every purchase you make, every picture you take, you can’t help but hear the sound — over and over and over again. This addiction is mental. Every waking moment of every day, you -- along with another 3.5 billion people around the world -- have fallen hostage to the very device that many hoped would jumpstart a new era: the smartphone. But what began as a noble innovation in the early 2000s, has proliferated beyond creators’ wildest imaginations and now instead of defining a small subset of people, it defines an overwhelming majority of those across the planet. In current society, the smartphone industry perpetuates toxic mentalities and sets the precedent that a modern lifestyle is not only fast-paced but disposable. 

Smartphones plant toxic seeds of belief that oftentimes come to define the self-centered and oblivious nature of many consumers. Accompanying the rise of these devices, is an alarming trend of materialism that plagues younger generations, fixating their focus on wealth, inanimate objects, and image. Smartphone users are constantly bombarded with materialistic propaganda on all avenues of their digital experience; from pop-up advertisements to online sales for clothing brands, it becomes difficult for people not to internalize the bottom line of all these ads: buy more things. But at what cost is this virtue engrained? As a society, we are less emotional and sympathetic towards others primarily because smartphones have inhibited our ability to feel and live without intertwining a complicated web of credit card bills, catchy advertisements, and designer items into every thought. Such a dire consequence, however, does not limit itself to the arbitrary borders of first-world countries, it is universal. Rural India is a poignant example of the adverse effects of a smartphone boom. While the smartphone may be the first camera, alarm clock, and video device for many in rural India, it has also elicited an explosion in pornography. With about 70% of one of India’s largest cellular data company’s bandwidth being porn -- and violent porn at that -- it becomes clear that a smartphone is a weapon. A weapon that, for the young boy living in a rural Indian village that isn’t sensitized to the female body, presents dangerous entry points into the world of relationships and sexuality. A weapon that, for a country where a perpetual rape culture endangers millions of girls annually, provides rapists with fuel to ignite the perverted fire burning within their minds. Much like the materialism epidemic in developed countries, smartphones degrade the value of ethics and morals in developing countries as well, except in a manner that not only internalizes the patriarchy but fortifies the social hierarchy, where men are given access to media that encourages them to impose themselves on women regardless of consent or agreement. 

The smartphone industry has also evolved into an integral aspect of what would be considered a modern lifestyle, and defines it as not just fast-paced, but disposable. Smartphones are notorious for decreasing the quality and length of users’ sleep as an addiction takes clearer shape, because as users -- most notably school-going teenagers and young adults -- find themselves falling asleep later and later into the night, the days begin to meld into one. The routinely and timely separation between each day of the week blurs into a carousel of events, places, people, feelings. Although proponents of the smartphone claim that it offers a multifaceted platform to perform virtually any desired task, that is primarily its downfall. The smartphone creates an unwanted fluidity and quick tempo in someone’s life -- blurring the lines not only between each day, but between areas of life such as business and personal life -- essentially sacrificing any inkling of definition, structure, or leisure. It is not a person that controls their own life anymore, it’s their phone. And without it -  in today’s fast-paced society -- a person is frighteningly incomplete. Considering the pace and ignorance with which people live their lives, it’s inherent that we analyze not only a smartphone’s poignant impact on their mentality but the impact it has on users’ wallets. The price of the highest-end iPhone model from its unveiling in 2007 to 2018, has grown from an intermediate $750 to a flamboyant $1500. Clearly, Apple’s price elasticity knows no discernable bounds as iPhone sales have skyrocketed despite the prices. Apple is currently the most successful company in the world. People will virtually buy any device they roll out regardless of the price point; because in a world so caught up in digital media and online personas, what is something as small as money? Just like smartphones have degraded the value of money, they have degraded the value of life. Everything from money to relationships to items have become outright disposable at the hands of these metal-bodied parasites. 

And in true grandiose fashion, these parasites have monopolized each and every aspect of daily life. From fostering materialism and encouraging the patriarchy to dissolving the structure of someone’s life and degrading the value of money, the smartphone industry now holds 3.5 billion people captive, choking every last living breath out of them. Wires have replaced veins. A processor takes the place of a brain. Beady eyes are traded for OLED screens. We need to ask ourselves, how much use is too much these days? We need to minimize our digital use and truly manifest ourselves in the present — in real life — to be happier, to be more sociable, to be more human. Nowadays, there may be an app for virtually any task you desire, but is there an app that will bring you your life back?