How Bad Will Cell Phone Addiction Get?

Earlier this morning on the show, we had the "content queen" Kristi Gustafson Barlette from the Times Union talking about a phone obsessed America.  If it's bad now, how much worse do you think it will be in 20 years?

I'll admit, my cell phone is my link to just about everyone and everything that's important to me and I panic when it's not near me. Texting is far and away the #1 way for me to communicate with others.  I'm not proud of that, it's just a fact.  It's quick, to the point, takes just a few seconds, and effective.

Actual conversations seem to be few and far between.  Sitting down and having a real talk with someone seems like a lost art. An emoji or a quick text can never replace a face to face conversation that contains real raw emotion, genuine sympathy or compassion, sarcasm, humor, philosophy, sports, good natured debates, politics, food, music, or anything else for that matter.  Adding more emoji's to your phone means that we as a society will actually talk LESS!

My son will be 2 on July 1st.  He can say words, but not quite actual sentences yet, but he's getting really close.  He does this thing where he'll hold up his hand in front of his face (like he's talking to someone on speaker phone) and have a conversation with his imaginary friend, using his imaginary cell phone.  Will my son be addicted to his phone when he's older?  Absolutely, and in ways that I can never imagine.

Naturally, I take a fair amount of the blame; but at least he was talking to his imaginary friend on the phone, not texting.