There is such a thing as a technology life-cycle (TLC). It refers to time and cost of developing a product through the expense of research and development phase, and the financial return during its life. There is also the product life-cycle (PLC) that deals with the life of a product in the marketplace with respect to timing of introduction, marketing measures, and business costs. There are some who think the PLC is drawing to its end when it comes to digital devices such as smart phones. This is not a unanimous theory. This interesting topic came to us from Gulf News Thinkers in their article, “Our love affair with digital is over.”
There have been many beliefs shared in the media on the iGeneration being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades with much of that being blamed on their phones. You can imagine that it didn’t take long for their parents to declare the pejorative and painful phrase – “I told you so”.
But is it true? Emerging research indicates that like every other question psychologists can think to ask about human behavior, screen use and its association with psychological well-being varies based on a multitude of contextual and personal variables. There is good reason to think that smartphones and social media may have positive effects as well as negative effects.
Melody K. Smith
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