Once upon a time not so long ago, people went through life without having a mobile phone, smart phone or tablet attached to their hip. They somehow managed to walk down the street without taking a call. They could watch their child’s soccer match without doing a Google search. They could relax on their living room couch at the end of the day without responding to a text message. They could eat dinner with the family without replying to a client’s umpteenth email. And children could talk about their day at dinner without playing an electronic game. Adults and children alike weren’t continuously “plugged in” and yet were somehow still industrious, successful and happy. Those days seem gone forever thanks to the “Hand-Held Device Revolution.”
According to Comscore.com, in March, 2012, 234 million Americans age 13 and older had mobile devices. Half of those phones were smart phones. Companies provide their employees with smart phones or tablets that have apps, email and Internet connectivity 24/7. Those companies then expect employees to have those devices on 24/7. Indeed, 50% of employed respondents in a survey felt that mobiles increase their workload. That’s because, thanks to those hand-held devices, for many the work day doesn’t end. Even for those who turn off their devices to honor the Sabbath, the hand-held devices are on 24/6. That turns the 5-day, 40-hour work week into the 6-day, 144-hour work week. In fact, many are addicted to their hand-held devices – such as iPads, iPhones, Blackberries (there’s a reason they call them Crackberries), Androids, tablets, iTouches, etc. — and cannot imagine life without them. While many managers may consider this a good thing, few really stop to consider the price being paid for keeping staff constantly ‘connected’. It is not just a vague social or emotional toll, but an actual hard cost. Just as last week we did a cost-benefit analysis of providing employees with unlimited Internet access, companies may also need to weigh the pros and cons of hand-held devices. Here are just a few drawbacks to consider.
Just about anyone can spout the myriad of benefits that hand-held devices provide including convenience, flexibility and immediate access to all types of information. But few would be willing to acknowledge the shortcomings of having and using hand-held devices all the time. Here are just a few.
1. Driving and Hand-Held Devices
In 2008, 25 people died and 113 were injured when a commuter train collided head-on with a freight train outside Los Angeles. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that text messaging may have played a role since cell phone records showed the train’s engineer had sent a text message 22 seconds before the crash. But the danger is not limited to driving a commuter train while using a hand-held device. The National Safety Council estimated that at least 28% of all automobile traffic crashes – about 1.6 million crashes each year – involve drivers talking or texting on cell phones.
It stands to reason. According to a survey in 2011 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 37% of drivers indicated that they have sent or received text messages while driving, and 18% said they do it regularly. That means that about one out of every five cars you pass on the road is likely to have a driver that is distracted with his/her hand-held device.
Moreover, according to Carnegie Mellon University, driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity focused on driving by 37%. Another study in Brain Research examined how multi-tasking driving and use of a hand-held device slows reaction time. Researchers collected MRI images of 29 undergraduates as they simulated steering a vehicle along a curving road, either undisturbed or while simply listening to spoken sentences that they judged as true or false. They found that the listening task reduced driving-related brain activity—the spatial processing that takes place in the parietal lobe—by almost 40%. In fact, talking on a cell phone while driving slows a driver’s reaction time to that of a 70-year-old. Likewise, answering a text while driving takes the driver’s attention away from the road for about five seconds, enough time to travel the length of a football field. A driver’s chance of getting into an accident increases 600% when texting. In a survey, a large percentage of people said they knew distracted driving was dangerous, but did it anyway. Results of the poll showed men were more likely to use a hand-held device while driving. The 30- to 39-year-old age group had the highest percentage of cell phone use in fatal crashes. For those who think using a headset while driving is safer, think again. Studies show that it is the distraction, not the act of touching the phone, that increases the danger. Headset cell phone use while driving has not been found to be any safer than hand-held use.
2. Leisure Activities and Hand-held Devices
For those who think that the deleterious effect of cell phone use is only associated with driving, think again. The Accident Analysis and Prevention journal reported a study by a team from Tampere Institute of Technology in Finland on the impact of cell phone use and non-driving accidents. Their study asked 6000 people if they had actually had any kind of non-driving accident – or had nearly had a non-driving accident – while using a mobile device. They found that leisure activities posed the highest risk with 13.7% admitting to having had a “close call” and an additional 2.4% indicating that they had actually had some kind of accident while using a cell phone. Their conclusion was that cell phone use scatters concentration and increases vulnerability to accidents. Indeed, research by cognitive scientists has shown repeatedly that the brain has limited bandwidth.
In fact, the American College of Emergency Physicians Foundation warned against cell phone use while not only driving, but also bicycling, rollerblading and walking. This was in response to a rise in injuries and deaths related to sending texts while engaging in those activities. Indeed, the nonprofit London-based organization Living Streets installed padded lampposts on a busy street in London as part of a safety campaign targeting distracted pedestrians. The move was prompted by a UK phone survey of 68,000 that found that 10% had been injured while walking and texting on their cell phone. Just ask anyone driving in Manhattan and they can affirm that pedestrians using cell phones while crossing streets are a hazard.
3. Hand-held Devices and Family Time
Beyond the obvious problems of how hand-held devices distract users, hand-held devices hold other less-physical but just as detrimental dangers. One big problem with hand-held devices is that while they provide great accessibility and availability, it happens at the expense of personal contact and good listening skills. The line between work and personal time is at best blurred and at worst eradicated. This is particularly detrimental to home life. Parents who use their cell phones or other electronic devices during family time are absenting themselves from the family dynamic. They are physically present but emotionally missing. This behavior also sets a precedent. When children get older and acquire their own devices, they too will consider it acceptable to use them during family time. Thus parents and children occupy themselves with devices rather than communicating with each other.
The results of a study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family in 2005 showed that increased use of cell phones and pagers was linked to a decrease in family satisfaction and increased stress over a two-year period. Researchers found work worries carried into home life by cell phone use had negative consequences for both men and women. Additionally, women suffered from the opposite effect when carryover of home issues caused increased stress at work. Another study in 2008 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that families “with multiple communication devices” were somewhat less likely to eat dinner with other household members. They were also more inclined to be dissatisfied with their “family and leisure time,” than families who own less technology. How do these findings impact companies? Employees with unstable family lives are more likely to take sick leave, be tardy to work, leave early from work and are less productive than employees with healthy family lives.
Cell phone use may also cause people to be less conscious of others. A study conducted by the University of Maryland linked selfish behavior and cell phone usage. The results of the study, dubbed The Effect of Mobile Phone Use on Prosocial Behavior, showed that cell phones could make users less socially minded. In fact, the experiments showed that after a short period of cell phone use, subjects were less inclined to volunteer for a community service activity when asked and they were also less persistent in solving problems. Apparently, cell phone use gave subjects a false sense of “connectedness” to others which replaced a desire to connect in person. That selfish behavior carried into family and work life is sure to be detrimental to interpersonal relationships and teamwork.
4. Vacations and Hand-Held Devices
The same way that hand-held devices interfere with family time during day-to-day life, it seems to do the same during vacation time. Studies have shown that people who go on vacation and don’t disconnect completely to allow their battery to recharge are more likely to suffer health problems and ultimately be less productive. And a weekend getaway is just not enough of a disconnection from technology. Apparently, the body needs to completely disconnect for more than three days just to begin relaxing.
This was reconfirmed by Matt Richtel, a reporter for National Public Radio, who accompanied several scientists (all of whom were studying the brain), on a weeklong retreat to a remote corner of Utah. During the vacation, they were not allowed to take cell phones or any devices that provided Internet access or technological distractions. Some of the scientists on the “vacation” thought that being bombarded by a constant data stream made it increasingly difficult to focus and concentrate. They believed that heading back into nature could help recharge their mental battery. The other neuroscientists were more skeptical and thought that the benefits of having constant access to information far outweighed any consequences. On the third day of the technology-free vacation, all the scientists noticed something significant begin to happen. They began to feel more relaxed and slept better. They waited a little longer before answering a question and their sense of urgency faded. They dubbed this the “three-day effect”. Apparently, their brains did not begin to recharge until after the third day of vacation.
Similarly, in another study done by UC Irvine and U.S. Army, the researchers found that being cut off from work email for five days significantly reduces stress and allows employees to focus far better. In the study, heart rate monitors were attached to computer users in a suburban office setting, while software sensors detected how often they switched windows. People who read email changed screens twice as often and were in a steady high alert state, with more constant heart rates. Those removed from email for five days experienced more natural, variable heart rates.
Like all things, there are pros and cons to the unfettered use of hand-held devices. Although most people want to only focus on the positive, there are a myriad of ways that unlimited use of hand-held devices negatively impacts daily life. While there are benefits, there is clearly a need for restraint and balance in how and when they are used.
Quote of the Week
“I’m acutely aware that the possibility of fraud is even more prevalent in today’s world because of the Internet and cell phones and the opportunity for instant communication with strangers.” Armistead Maupin
© 2012, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.
