Cell Phone Addiction

In a little over ten years, we have gone from a society which almost never used cellular phones, to one that is completely obsessed with them. People raised in the 1980's and 1990's probably the remember the popular television show "Saved by the Bell" in which the title character, Zach Morris, had a portable phone in his locker. If we watch the television show today, the phone seems so laughable because it was so large and cumbersome.
It seems as though one must have a cell phone in today's society. Even my father, who believes that the world of Terminator is coming when computers will become self aware and enslave us, uses a cell phone and text messaging now. Without a cell phone in today's world, someone feels lost. People feel the need to be able to get in touch with anyone at any time.
There is a tremendous amount of cell phone addiction in this country. Recently I went to a coffee shop and while I was sitting there I noticed that almost all of the people sitting around me with their phones out. This is a time when people are going out with their friends, but they seemed to prefer to be on their cell phone. It seems as though in a world where cigarettes are no longer tolerated in many places, cell phones have become the new fixation.
So what? What's the big deal about cell phone addiction? It's not like being addicted to drugs or alcohol. It seems as though one thing cell phones and similar technology have lowerd our attention spans. People have a hard time paying attention today without seeing some kind of technology. Children today are no longer impressed by having computers, in fact they expect these kinds of things in our society. Adults get very bored easily and always need to have something to do.
Cell phone addiction is a symptom of our addictions to consumer products. In today's world it is customary to buy as many things as possible all the time. Get a new app for your phone, buy a new computer, download music immediately. Does this constant ability to buy things make us happy? I would argue that it does not. It leaves us wanting and disapointed. We feel we need to buy all the time. People are now racking up tremendous debts to buy consumer products and spending as much as possible on everything. Savings seems to be a thing of the past.
It seems as though our ability to consumer new products has become our primary focus as human beings. Since we were little we have been exposed to massive amounts of advertisements encouraging us that buying things will make us happy. We grow up dreaming about what things we might be able to buy if we just had a little more money.
Is there any way to change this? Probably not. Even as I write this, I am using a computer which I am completely dependent on. But eventually the massive use of technology will have some kind of backlash or large scale negative effect. Only time will tell if our addictions to cell phones and other technology will turn us into junkies all looking for our next fix.