Are we all addicted to our smartphones?

RESEARCHERS claim people check their smartphones every 12 minutes (Mail). I have to admit that until I got such a phone, I used to think people who were on them all the time were rather sad. Yes, they are addictive, but they are also a great source of knowledge and more entertaining than watching TV. Do they make you stupid? No, if used wisely, they can make you knowledgeable on every subject imaginable. DIANe SIlVA, lytham St Annes, lancs. ONE area that Ofcom’s report on smartphones usage didn’t look at is their effect on how people interact with others, especially when shopping. I work in a supermarket, and many customers pay little or no attention to me while I’m scanning their shopping because they’re too busy sending texts, checking Facebook or making a phone call. Some don’t say a single word to me, never mind ‘please’ or ‘thank you’. It is a sad reflection on society when people no longer have the manners to interact with the person providing a service to them.

P. HOllOWell, Wallington, Surrey. I DON’T agree that the Facebook generation check their smartphones every 12 minutes — their noses are welded to them every waking moment. Most people aged 12 to 50 walk around town while staring at their phones as if in a hypnotic trance straight from a sci-fi horror movie. MArTyN CUrTIS, Caversham, Berks. ON A 40-minute bus journey, I saw a young mother on her smartphone and her small child in a pushchair playing with a tablet, both tapping away furiously. There was no interaction between them.

Mrs J. PATerSON, lymington, Hants. IF WE are using our smartphones too much, is there a helpline we can ring to solve this problem? It’s a tough call.