Tags: Android, Apple Inc., iPad, iPhone, Smartphone, Technology Article, U.S. Economy

We Want to Hear From You: How Have New Technology Trends Affected You?

By , Associate Editor, Money Morning •

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) delighted smartphone consumers and technology enthusiasts Monday when it unveiled its new iPhone 4, which will go on sale in the United States June 24. The phone upgrades previous iPhone versions with a front-facing video camera for video calls, a higher resolution screen, slimmer body, and an operating system that accommodates multitasking ability.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs referred to the phone as the "biggest leap we have taken since the original iPhone."

It's aimed at keeping the Apple momentum going as Motorola's Droid phone using Google's Android system nabs some market share from Apple.

Apple's iPhone and much-hyped iPad have helped supercharge the mobile-communications market. Those products - and others - have helped make sure that consumers and companies alike are inundated with new technologies, new applications, and a slew of new products. All these new options have potential buyers asking such questions as "Can this help me?" or "Do I need one?" or "Should I upgrade?"

"We're living in extremely exciting times right now," said Nokia Chief Executive Officer Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. "It's quite challenging to define what industry we are in because everything is changing."

Shareholders are certainly pleased. In the midst of a troublesome economy and a moribund stock market, Apple shareholders have enjoyed an 18% year-to-date surge in that company's stock, and profit opportunities in semiconductor stocks and software companies appear to be on the upswing.

But are we becoming too dependent on technology? Are we spending too much money on new "toys," especially after a recession that left many households on strict budgets?

The impact may be even wider than most realize. Indeed, experts say the excessive stimulation from electronic devices is actually affecting the way our brains work by interrupting our ability to focus. The habit of receiving a message that creates excitement leaves us bored without the trigger and less able to fully engage in face-to-face situations.

"The technology is rewiring our brains," said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse and one of the world's leading brain scientists.

Computer users who sit in front of a screen all day at work change windows or check e-mail about 37 times an hour, according to a study.

"We are exposing our brains to an environment and asking them to do things we weren't necessarily evolved to do," Adam Gazzaley, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, told The New York Times. "We know already there are consequences."

That brings us to next week's Money Morning Question of the Week: How has your lifestyle changed with recent technological advancements? Do you want to own every new gadget or do you long for a simpler, less technologically dependent time? What do you think about the options for investors and consumers in the tech world: Are we in a good place or have we let ourselves become too enamored with "the latest-and-greatest" new product?

Send your thoughts, questions and concerns to [email protected].

[Editor's Note : Is there a topic you want to see covered as a Question of the Week feature? Then let us know by e-mailing Money Morning at [email protected]. Make sure to reference "question of the week suggestion" in the subject line.

We reserve the right to edit responses for length, grammar and clarity.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to participate - via e-mail or by posting their comments directly on the Money Morning Web site.]

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