200 students surveyed in a Stanford study were found to be “addicted” to their iPhones. “When asked to rank their dependence on the iPhone on a scale of one to five – five being addicted and one being not at all addicted – 10 percent of the students acknowledged full addiction to the device, 34 percent ranked themselves as a four on the scale, and only 6 percent said they weren’t addicted at all.”
According to the survey:
Nearly 85 percent of the iPhone owners used the phone as their watch, and 89 percent used it as their alarm clock. In fact, 75 percent admitted to falling asleep with the iPhone in bed with them, and 69 percent said they were more likely to forget their wallet than their iPhone when leaving in the morning.
Is this really addiction? It’s not clear how many students shed other accessories — like a watch or an alarm clock — as a result of their iPhone. I suspect a lot of people are happy to ditch a stand-alone alarm clock at home in favor of using their phone for that task in order to simplify their lives. I’ve been using my phone as my alarm clock for several months now, and I’m perfectly happy with it. It goes with me when I travel, so my nighttime routine remains the same, regardless of where I am. And yes, I use my phone as my watch, since I don’t wear a wristwatch. Using a phone as a timepiece makes perfect sense, especially since the phone automatically updates as you travel around timezones.
The survey is not all doom-and-gloom, thankfully:
The survey also suggests there are benefits to having an iPhone fixation that may balance out the potential negatives. Over 70 percent of those surveyed said the iPhone made them more organized, and 54 percent said the iPhone made them more productive.
My own experiences jive with the Stanford survey. I add little reminders to my calendar all the time to keep me focused and organized.
The link above closes with the obvious observation that “the current survey didn’t cover attitudes toward other smartphone. [sic] It’s possible that other phones with similar features might be just as useful and endearing to their owners as the iPhone is to the Stanford students.” I think this is pretty obvious: I know lots of people who similarly rely on their Blackberries or Androids or Palm Pres to be organized and functional in today’s always-connected world.
I think the real question is not “are you addicted to your iPhone”, but rather “do the applications and features provided by your iPhone change your lifestyle?” After all, the iPhone itself isn’t terribly useful beyond time, scheduling, and communications. It’s all the apps — things like Evernote, for example — that I can’t live without.
Addicted?!?!? Say it aint so!!
haha, you think there will still be a nexus one in 6 months?… im joking, apple will settle, but I am certain that most people love the smartphone they own and are therefore addicted to it as much as an iPhone user. I am all for the iPhone, but I dont think that iPhone users love their phone more than most other smartphone users (other smart-phones that make people happy excludes the storm and storm 2 as well as any win mobile phones).
On a scale of 1 to 5, please rate survey questions written to satisfy the surveyors point-of-view, where 5 is “I think every survey question ever asked was highly biased” to a 1 being “I have never participated in an unbiased survey — ever”.
No wonder Scott, even I am addicted to my iPhone. I just can not live without it.
I’d like to see you test that “I just can not live without it”.
it gets worse, everything I do on my iPhone I can now do easier on my pc, plus some…. http://smi.sh/70846
Not sure what “addicted” means. I do depend on my iPhone a lot but mainly for constructive stuff (i.e. managing homework, look stuff up, and now, with the iPhone app I am about to launch, see how much I need to work to get the grades I want). It really depends where your priorities are though. A lot of my friends are almost constantly plugged in, tweeting, or browsing Facebook before, after, and often during class.
“So, that iPhone-coholic Lindsey didn’t text you????”
“iPhone-whatta?”
That’s $100M dollars for LiLo, please!
Bake when I when to Stanford, the talk of the town was addiction to fun thangs lai surfing, drugs, gambling, and (white) women. I thing it so lame that today students are adicted to stupid a little electronic gaget I done know what the heo…
Oh, and yes, btw, I am a Stanford grad.
Yah right, you sound like a Stanford Grad – “Bake when I when to Stanford”. Jeeze, I sure hope you aren’t an example of what’s coming out of Stanford…
@momar So what you’re saying is that you’re a Cal grad posing as a Stanford alum. That’s cool. Sometimes I troll the Internet searching for tech blogs in whose comments I can pose as a Cal grad, too. Maybe you should try impersonating a Stanford grad on a resume; then you could get a job instead of wasting your time posting unamusing comments.
hahahaha obviously you have to be a Stanford grad aye? that grammar is horrific to say the least, not Stanford quality, why not impersonate someone else instead?
Done hate just because you not get into Stanford Mr. Ish it ok you much better suit for the comunity college you attending right now the reason my grammar better than your it because I done spend all my time addict to a stupid telephone..
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone.
so i guess there are different levels of this. so are you addicted to the music or to the games? or just the internet? the device disappears, after some time.
Sick of replacing 3 broken phones in 1 year, I used a smartphone with a broken screen for about 4 months and was surprisingly pleased with the lack of distraction. Not being able to text or see incoming calls was mildly annoying but it definitely takes you back to simpler, saner times. I’ve used smartphones for 5+ years but if all of a sudden they were gone I wouldn’t miss them (much like Twitter).
haha. funny follow up momar ^^
Addicted to their iPhone? How idiotic. I think they mean the things they can do with it. Or would they be just as pleased if it had no power.
The most annoying thing a writer can do is to annotate a quote with [sic]. Even if its not meant in pejorative condescension. We understand its a quote. Let it stand on its own. Stop making me [sic]!
“Students are addicted to their iPhones.” Yeah. And everybody else, for that matter. Honestly, has there ever been a survey that ranked a bigger “DUH!”?
This is almost as good as the iPhone Stockholm Syndrome news… :-)
http://www.9to5mac.com/weird_science_30189
To be fully honest, I’m a student, heading to University in Oregon this fall! graduating from school in 4 weeks!
i don’t feel at all attached to my iPhone, no doubt it has it’s massive advantages with the maps and what not, alarm clock is extremely useful, but then again I used to use these accessories on my old phone as well, I wouldn’t say i’m addicted to the iPhone, no doubt I use it a lot. But certainly not addicted, utilising a product to it’s fullest potential doesn’t mean you’re addicted to it!
Panic! My wife is also addicted to the iPhone. It’s definitely used alot but i’d say much more time as a “gaming” system then web accessing.
Boy O golly oh geeze whiz,Like we didn’t know that.
The Padrino
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