Cellphones, just like Alchohol, need to be regulated. (opens in new tab)

Ever since the first iPaqs came out I was hooked to mobile computing. First (2001) an iPaq HX series, some Windows mobile phones, and in 2005 the HTC phones came etc. Traveled by train a lot and remember being the smug hipster MSN/IRC chatting away in the train while everybody was still reading newspapers and using T9 SMS etc.

Then in 2007 the iPhone came out, and more, and more. By 2013 I started to get tired of it. It started feeling like an addiction, never enjoying the countryside when traveling always glued to the screen that got bigger and bigger and brighter. After the 8th iPhone (5) I stopped. Got a "dumb" phone with HSDPA tether option only so I can pair to my Macbook when I need to get some work done on a proper platform.

Now I really notice late-adopters like my grandmother grabbing their smartphones the whole time. It's a rude practice, it's actually pretty anti-social.

I feel saturated by smartphones.

All the use cases the author provides at the bottom for disabling / downgrading cellphone functionality could be captured in one app. The phone can even detect the bluetooth connection to a car and render itself useless during that time. If the author wants this, he should go ahead and pursue it, but forcing it on others is inappropriate. There are a myriad of much more dangerous tools to others than a cellphone. Cars come to mind immediately. Not only that, some people really do need to stay in constant communication. Perhaps that ringtone that the author wants to get rid of would have been heard by the doctor waiting for a page.

The whole article reads like a holier-than-though rant with no support or logic other than the author's clear intent of forcing his opinions and way of being upon others. Others people's phone screens really bother him? That's absurd. Other than driving while using the phone--the only valid complaint in the whole article--the rest are at best annoyances.

Since practically the beginning of human history, mankind has fantasized about instantanious long-distance communication -- telepathy, mind-stones, oracles. And now that we are on the precipice of realizing that fantasy for all -- young and old, rich and poor -- you want to regulate it? So that you can have a better conversation over a cup of coffee?

Sorry, I'm busy talking to someone more interesting on the other side of the planet. Deal with it.

The author asserts cellphones are harmful but doesn't give any compelling evidence. A woman crashed her car while on her cellphone? Apps depress you? Noise pollution from ringtones? Brightness hurts our eyes? These reasons seem spurious when you consider all the other items one can own which are not cellphones but which have these same qualities.

Or, just like alcohol, need not.

The author talks about what effectively are his feelings. Original teetotalers spoke about what were they feelings, often enhanced by religion. (At least there is nothing against cell phones in the scriptures, I presume?)

Excessive phone usage is bad. But regulating it is a bit invasive. I can understand regulating using a phone while operating heavy (and dangerous) machinery, much in the same way you are not allowed to drive while operating a phone. But leave me alone in my spare time. I can put the phone away, but sometimes I want to use it all day. In much the same way, I have no trouble limiting my childrens usage and teach them that computers and the like are not something that should consume you.

Flagged as "get off my lawn" clickbait.

If this is the argument, also computer usage should be regulated.

While it sounds like a tempting choice, I believe the better way is more freedom (also for drugs & alcohol) coupled with more serious punitive measures whenever others get hurt.