If not for religion – for mental health: Millions of people, who are not necessarily ultra-Orthodox, are choosing of their own free will to purchase kosher phones in order to wean themselves off their addiction to smart devices, reports the New York Post.
The 'kosher' phones, which receive the flattering name 'dumb phones' in the article, lack the smart technology of smartphones, which have become a tool with almost endless functions.
""Data shows that the average American spends no less than three hours a day in front of their smart device screen," reported experts in the field, who also examined the sales rate of smart devices and came to surprising data:
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
In 2017, the rate of phone sales grew to 1.6 billion devices, but at the same time, in the last quarter of the year it shrank by 5 percent [and in numbers: 80 million devices].
The explanation for the surprising data lies in the understanding that people are in no hurry to replace their smartphones - as long as they work properly, but it is possible that another factor in the decline in sales is consumers' recognition that these devices are harmful to them on a psychological level.
Real addiction
Dr. Daria Kos, an American psychologist who studies compulsive smartphone use, was interviewed by the Sky News network and warned that these devices may indeed develop a true addictive disorder in consumers, and in many cases, even when they are aware of it, they are unable to stop themselves.
Kos' warnings, which join other publications on the subject, raised public awareness of the issue in the US, and millions of people chose to switch to 'dumb phones'.
""I hated the fact that I was in front of a screen all day," Mark Erskine, an American citizen, told Sky News. "I was in front of my Facebook pages all day, checking Instagram 150 times a day, and the more you do it, the more you feel an inexplicable need to look at the screen more and more.".
The New York Post reports that the new mindset has also permeated the giant technology companies, which are aware that their customers are becoming concerned about the increasing use of smartphones. For example, last year, Apple introduced new software that allows consumers to know how much time they "waste" in front of a screen each day.
So who said that the Rabbinical Committee for Media Affairs of the Haredi Public belongs to only ten percent of the Dossim in the small State of Israel?
