Concern about tech addiction increases

Several ex-Facebook executives have begun to speak out in alarm.

Your phone buzzes. A message, an Instagram post, a tweet — some bit of digital effluvia has come in, and it’s right there, promising a brief but necessary hit of connection. All you have to do is look.

But, just as an experiment, how long can you resist looking? A minute? Two?

If you make it that long, how do you start to feel? Can you concentrate? Does your mind wander at what you’re missing? And if you give in — as you surely will, as you probably do many times a day — how do you feel about yourself ?

The issue of “tech addiction” has been a staple of tabloidy panics for as long as anyone can remember. Yet this ancient worry has now taken on a new and more righteous flavor.

What is interesting is who has been pushing the issue. Several former Facebook executives, the very people who set up the likebased systems of digital addiction and manipulation that now rule much of online life, have begun to speak out in alarm about our slavishness to digital devices.

And their worries seem resonant. Now that we all have phones, and we’re all looking at them all the time, how can we deny that they hold some otherworldly, possibly unhealthy bondage over our brains?

“It’s a social-validation feedback loop,” Sean Parker, Facebook’s first president, told Axios in an interview in November. He described Facebook and other social apps in terms once reserved for cigarettes — as products specifically engineered to exploit addiction pathways in human psychology. “God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”

■ Bottom line: Padlocks move to the 21st century. Cool technology worked well.

Etymotic MK5 isolator earphones

Etymotic makes great earphones. The last ones I reviewed, the ER4SR, sounded fantastic and cost $349. That’s great if you can afford $349 earphones, but not everyone can.

Luckily for the rest of us, Etymotic brought out the MK5, which looks almost identical to the ER4SR but costs only $64.95.

Of course, the difference in price means a difference in technology, but thankfully, not too much of a hit to sound quality.

The MK5 uses a conventional dynamic driver instead of the balanced armature drivers used in the high-end models.

The MK5s come with two sizes of silicone flange ear tips plus a set of expanding zfoam tips. The idea is to get them to seal in your ear canal, which should be doable with one of the ear tip choices.

The MK5s are comfortable, and they sound a ton better than the ear buds that came with your phone. They would also make a great gift.

■ Pros: Good isolation, great sound for the price.

■ Cons: None

■ Bottom line: If you are ready to replace your stock earbuds, try the Etymotic MK5s.

Evoluent Vertical Mouse 4 Wireless

Does mousing around on the computer make your wrist hurt?

If it does, you’ve probably already thought about an ergonomic mouse.

I hope for your sake that you’ve already run across the Evoluent Vertical Mouse. If not, this is your lucky day.

The Vertical Mouse 4 ($109.95, evoshop.biz) comes in a few configurations. I tested the Windows version that ships with a 2.4GHz USB dongle.

Connect the dongle to your computer, and the mouse just works.

There is also a Mac version with Bluetooth.

There is free software that allows the user to configure any of the Vertical Mouse’s six buttons, including buttons on the thumb side.

The mouse works well, and while I don’t have any trouble with my regular mouse, I did find the Vertical Mouse to be more comfortable.

There is a bit of a learning curve with all the buttons, but I got used to it in less than an hour.

■ Pros: Super comfortable, lots of buttons to configure.

■ Cons: Expensive.

■ Bottom line: The Evoluent Vertical Mouse 4 is a worthy investment in your health.

QacQoc GN30H USB-C hub

I recently picked up a used Macbook Pro. It’s the 13-inch 2016 model with only two USB-C ports.

Because of the port configuration, Apple made the decision that we all should collect dongles to connect our peripherals.

Of course, Apple sells those dongles, for prices ranging from $19 to $69.

This is what Apple would call a “third-party opportunity,” meaning it might be a product segment best left to others to fill. It didn’t take long for cheaper dongles to arrive.

Combination dongles also started to appear. These are more mini-hubs.

Chinese company QacQoc has introduced the GN30H ($59.99, Amazon) a USB-C hub about the size of a business card that houses three USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, a 10/100/1000 RJ45 Ethernet port, SD and microSD card readers and a USB-C port you can use to connect a power adapter.

These are just about all the ports you’d need.

Toss this in your bag, and you’re all set.

It comes in colors to match all the Macbook and Macbook Pro color options.

■ Pros: Great collection of ports, easy connection.

■ Cons: None.

■ Bottom line: If you have a new Macbook Pro, this should be your first accessory purchase.