How addicted are we to our gadgets?

By: Eva Yong

In today’s world, it’s common to see people treating their gadgets as gold.

In fact, a lot of us would agree that it is practical and important to own on as others can easily communicate with us.

However, gadgets these days have become increasingly more addictive as users are able to install various apps that can occupy them endlessly until they lose track of time.

“I can control myself though even though I have more than 20 apps on my iPhone and have many online gaming friends,” said Alex, who owns 3 iPhones, an iPad mini and a laptop.

People also tend to collect gadgets just because it has the latest technology in them.

Our gadgets have also caused us to rely heavily on it as many of us use our gadgets for various functions.

Cherry says she uses her phone as her camera, communication tool, alarm, calendar, watch, and many other things whereas her iPad works as an entertainment tool as well as a study tool.

This, however, is not uncommon for today’s modern era.

When asked, most of us have owned a gadget for an average of 4 to 6 years.

After owning a gadget for such a long time, Tsuey Jing says that she “feels lost without it and cannot communicate with others, or keep track of time or errands for the day.”

Kelly, on the other hand, can live without one despite owning one for more than 8 years.

By owning a gadget, it has allowed many people to improvise on their skills, talent, and update themselves more on social websites, news and even tabloids.

 Cherry justifies this as she managed to improvise on her cooking skills and stay updated with the latest and trending news globally.

 However, there’s only one problem.

“I can’t seem to get enough of watching food channels on my iPad!” she jokingly adds. .

Sarah, too, says the same thing as she uses her smartphone to learn and understand more about the world and new things, and also as a source of entertainment if she’s away from her friends’ company.

 Yoggita says it allows her to keep track of her loved ones as she stays away from them.

When asked about whether the thought of owning the latest gadget in the market entices to them, Yvonne said yes as it feels good to own the latest technology amongst her friends and family.

Lehman says that with the latest technology, the gadget is equipped with more facilities, making it more convenient for the user.

 However, Sarah begs to differ as she says “as long as it benefits me in a long term, then I wouldn’t mind getting onto the bandwagon too!”  

But, when the question about why gadgets were needed in our lives, Anthony said that working needs was one of the main reasons why people got themselves a gadget instead of entertainment or update purposes.

 In fact, owning a gadget just for the sake of entertainment merely defeats the main purpose it was created for.

 Vanessa has a different take on that as she feels that gadgets are created for working, social, entertainment, and updating purposes.

 “How else would we be able to stay connected with the world then?” she ponders.

Lim, 50, scoffs at the addiction of today’s addiction on gadgets.

“We could live comfortably without the needs of gadgets back during the days! In fact, now it’s only become more and more annoying to see people getting more addicted to their gadgets. People are also allowing the gadget to take control over their lives rather than they take control of it.”

Justin also gets annoyed with those who lug their big gadgets around, especially to concerts.

“I find those who bring their iPads to concerts or pubs to record the performances mood killers because you’re blocking the audience behind you! You can’t even enjoy the atmosphere properly with people constantly waving their devices up in the air, and you have to smell their pit smell,” he shudders.

Even though owning a gadget can be relevant in today’s world, we have to learn how to control our addiction.

It may cause us to severe ties with our loved ones and friends despite owning the latest technology in the market.

Although some might argue that this addiction is better than getting hooked on to drugs or sexual activities, but this addiction is spiraling out of control day by day.

All in all, it all boils down to how well we can live without our gadgets, and how long can we abstain from using it.