Slashdot Mirror
Should Addictive Tech Come With a Health Warning?
holy_calamity writes "Academics researching how technology addiction affects businesses and employees say 'habit-forming' gadgets like Blackberries should be dispensed along with warnings about the effect they can have on your life. 'We don't want to be in a situation in a few years similar to that with fast food or tobacco today. We need to pay attention to how people react to potentially habit-forming technologies.'"
That's the ticket. Convince them that it's no problem to give up "worthless" freedoms, because it's "for the public good". Then we can cite those changes later as the basis for the removal of more widely valued freedoms -- not only will they be used to giving up rights, but we'll have an easy-to-rationalize "logic" on which to sell the more offensive restrictions.
Any freedom is of value, whether or not you partake in that freedom. I value the freedom of the press. I, however, do not use that freedom (basically). Doesn't mean I wouldn't be pissed if it were revoked, suddenly -- much less so without the consent of the people.