In this Sept. 9, 2015 photo, people look over the new Apple iPhone 6s models during a product display following an Apple event in San Francisco. Credit: Eric Risberg / ASSOCIATED PRESS
This week's Digital Savant column was prompted by two letters I received from readers about a column I wrote early the summer.
The upcoming release of new iPhone models reminded me that I should share those letters and talk a little bit about the world of people who are not iPhone owners and who look at the rest of us and wonder why we always seem to lost in our phone screens.
Here’s an excerpt from the column:
In June, I wrote about the time I drowned my iPhone 6 in Hawaiian seawater, then experienced improbable bliss — and itchy withdrawal — as I wandered around phoneless for about a week. The column resonated with some readers, in particular two who wrote in similar responses that I held on to and thought about all summer.
Carol Hitchcock, in a handwritten letter, wrote, "Dear Mr. Gallaga, your column of June 7, 2015 struck a note with me. You are on point with people being addicted to their iPhones.
"We were recently in Jamaica at a beautiful beach resort and people could not put their phones down to enjoy the wonderful scenery and, like you said, a gorgeous sunset or even converse with their traveling companions.
"We are in our 70s, so I know we don't understand all this new technology. We don't own an iPhone and I realize it has many useful applications, but I think it's sad that people are so addicted that they cannot enjoy surroundings or the people they are with.
You can read the rest of the column, which ran Tuesday in print and on MyStatesman.com, here.
Are you addicted to your iPhone? Do you think non-iPhone owners are making too big a deal out of what they perceive as an unnecessary distraction in our lives? Let me know what you think by posting a comment!
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