I own a smartphone because I have to; in this day and age. I hate it. I use it for talking on the phone because everyone we know is lon sistance and all of us have the same carrier. So we get to talk for free. My complaint: I am not old old but my vision isn't what it used to be and Verizon does not have one phone with the quewrty keyboard that I can see. So I am one customer who uses it sinply to make calls; because my huband decided we didnotneed a land line any longer...and I really miss my landline

The gadgets may influence sleep quality, but the associations mentioned above are no proof. People that use gadgets before bed may not sleep enough, not because of the gadgets themselves, but simply because of their lifestyle. If people with a lifestyle that is conductive to less sleep are also more prone to use gadgets before bed, it would seem as if it was the gadget's fault, when in fact it's the fault of the lifestyle. If this is the case, changing the gadget usage will make no difference to improve sleep quality.

The same goes for lack of sleep and heart attacks. Yes, lack of sleep seems to cause many problems. However, is the lack of sleep causing heart attacks, or is it simply that people that have more stressful lives are more likely to have heart attacks, and also to sleep less? If this is the case, a person with a stressful lifestyle that manages to increase the time they sleep, but continues to have the same lifestyle otherwise, may not change their chances of a heart attach very much at all.

I agree with all that is mentioned in this article. And would like to add the most powerful negative element of its affect on relationships. How can you converse with your partner/family member while texting to someone else? At end of day when there is so much to share..... The precious time is given to far off people, while ignoring the one next to you! There is need for statistics on how much these gadgets affect relations with spoouse and family members....

I use my smartphone as my alarm clock. I have different get up times during the week (a little later on weekends), so its very handy. Another reason is that many alarm clocks have rather bright displays, even at night, which being on my nightstand, is close to my head. As to using my phone at night, it's very rare, about 2x a month. To me, using it as a smartphone at night is a waste of (good sleeping) time.