Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies

by Gaia Bernstein

Our society has a technology problem. Many want to disconnect from screens but can't help themselves. These days we spend more time online than ever. Some turn to self-help-measures to limit their usage, yet repeatedly fail, while parents feel particularly powerless to help their children. Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies shows us a way out. Rather than blaming users, the book shatters the illusion that we autonomously choose how to spend our time online. It shifts the moral responsibility and accountability for solutions to corporations. Drawing lessons from the tobacco and food industries, the book demonstrates why government regulation is necessary to curb technology addiction. It describes a grassroots movement already in action across courts and legislative halls. Groundbreaking and urgent, Unwired provides a blueprint to develop this movement for change, to one that will allow us to finally gain control.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology, Psychology, Self Help, Audiobook, Science

248 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 2023

About the author

Professor and Co-Director of Institute for Privacy Protection and Gibbons Institute for Law Science and Technology at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Reviews

[Janssen]

This was fine

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an addiction specialist, I have mixed feelings about this book.
1. Knowing that the author is a law professor, I expected a more complex approach from a judicial point of view.
2. I haven´t learned much new stuff, but that's probably due to my own profession.
3. It´s very repetitive.
4. I Can´t shake off the feeling, that this is more about the author than about the actual problem.

I agree that the topic is important and needs serious action from authorities now. And yet, this is a very complex problem on so many levels that I´m afraid it´s simply impossible to tackle it by a swift wave of a law act.
P.S. Where is the editor? There are a lot of words that are either put together or spaced out.

[Bill Zawrotny · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is absolutely horrific. We can agree that technology addiction is a significant issue that is causing a lot of harm. We can agree that technology companies have intentionally created products that are addictive. But then the author makes a ludicrous jump to solving the problem through lawsuits and regulations, comparing the problem to smoking and junk food addictions.

Throughout the book, she is completely dismissive of personal responsibility and individual autonomy. Put your phone down, delete the apps, and be better parents to your children by protecting them from addictions. Just like other things, it is all about self moderation.

Lastly, the writing and structure are both very poor. Don't waste your time on this mess.

[Kim W · Rating 4 out of 5]

She attempts to make the analogy of why we need laws and company responsibility on stopping us from our cell phone, addictions through comparison of what happened with cigarettes and trans fats. Well, I was thinking about the smoking comparison I have thought of secondhand smoke, and she did raise an interesting point about how cell phone addiction also has secondhand effects in regards to not paying attention to your relationships and or setting a precedent of it being normal to be seen on your phone to children. That was interesting.As for loop boxes and video games, I’m just glad I don’t have children to have to fight that battle with. It’s definitely written for the masses even a little lighter than a Malcolm Gladwell book. So that makes it very digestible.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read quite a few books by now about the harms of phones, social media, etc., and I am fervently anti-phone (despite being just as addicted a user as anyone else). But this one did nothing for me. My main criticism is that was bloated with filler, when really this was an essay about how anti-tech legal efforts can learn lessons from the history of anti-tobacco litigation. But also, I deeply disagree with her premise that there is no, can be no, and should be no personal responsibility regarding tech overuse. She advocates litigating and legislating against companies whose job is not - and you should not expect it to be - your or your kids' well-being. She did nothing to convince me that it is not the litigious parents who should be held responsible for their child playing Fortnight until 3am or blowing thousands of dollars on in game purchases.

[Cilia Antoniou · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We never autonomously decided to enter this symbiotic relationship with our devices” (pg 177)… I loved this book! If you watched the Social Dilemma documentary and are concerned or interested in this issue, then this might be a book for you

I’ve fallen prey to device addiction, am purposely not on tiktok and I remember slowly noticing more phone use happening in the world around me when I was in my 20s…all this to say that I’m so glad Gaia Bernstein published this book!! This is a very important issue to solve that I don’t think enough people realize is a DIRE situation.

Bernstein draws parallels between our devices & social media with the battles our societies have faced with smoking and junk food. I especially think cigarettes was a smart one to talk about because it once seemed like it would be impossible to ever have restrictions on smoking

I’ve seen some negative reviews of this book pointing to Bernstein’s “dismissal” of personal choice and free will and that we should just be more responsible with our internet and device use… but I don’t see this dismissal at all. In fact, I see that Bernstein’s pointing to the fact that this is usually the advice for this issue and that this advice doesn’t work because like cigarettes and junk food, our devices and social media are purposely designed to be addictive. (Because the business model of these companies rely on us giving the most time and attention to them as possible for maximum profit)

It was interesting to learn that Europe sees privacy as a human right and because of their strict laws, the US has had to adjust privacy practices on the internet. It would have been nice if Bernstein also showed how Europe handled the battle with the previously mentioned addictive things in our society: cigarettes and junk food. From my experience, cigarettes are way more common in Europe although it’s less than previous generations and junk food doesn’t seem to have such a big grip hold- at least in my limited experience of Germany, Holland, and Switzerland. Those cultural differences seem fascinating and maybe can bring out more solutions but I know this book was more focused on law/policy than sociology

- - -

In part 3 of the book, Bernstein starts talking about solutions. I do think this part of the book barely scratches the surface, probably because this is such a huge issue that’s actively being tackled but at least books like this push solutions forward.

While there are some good ideas on the design side it doesn’t seem feasible because of the financial cost. Those being the financial losses to companies who rely on our time and attention so they have our data to sell, costs to tax payers for infrastructure for more connected and less isolated communities, or costs to users with a subscription-based business module to use things that are currently “free” for us (like Gmail, Instagram, etc).

I love the idea of paying for these services, however that creates even greater class divides and would cut people off who cannot afford another monthly expense from access to job opportunities, education opportunities and more. Not to mention, this probably goes against the intentions of the inventors of the internet

Bernstein touches on some establishments like hotels and cafes giving incentives for people locking their phones away and this to me sounds like the only plausible design solution that I’d love to see more widespread.

The idea of warnings popping up as soon as someone plays an online game or logs into a social network I think is a good idea along with multiple pop ups as people spend more time on the platforms

It’s ironic to learn that China “is a major innovator in regulating online games and social networks” (pg 160) when they have the western world addicted to TikTok

The shutdown system shared that other countries implement is something I don’t think is possible in the US, unless we ban using VPNs

All of the ideas to use legislation to solve this issue I think are good, however Bernstein says so herself that technology moves too quickly for law to keep up with it. I think we also need professionals from various fields to come together on this because it’s not only laws that affect our decision making habits. There are certain personal and interpersonal skills like mindfulness and emotional intelligence that I think could have a huge impact on the problem if they were taught from preschool on.. however it’s still a complex issue that I think will require solutions from all levels and angles.

This book is definitely a great conversation starter for people concerned about this issue and hopefully it presses researchers, law makers, psychologists, and people from all fields to come together to solve this for the sake of humanity’s future. In the epilogue, Bernstein writes “…we cannot win individually against an invisible and ever-evolving rival…we have no choice but to do so collectively” (pg 177) which is absolutely right!

[Anne Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Gaia Bernstein rings a resounding alarm about the dangers of our growing addiction to technology. Perhaps the most explicit analogy she gives about what’s happening is likening us to frogs in the water. Like the hapless frog, we sit unaware in the slowly heating water, not realising it’s coming to the boil until it’s too late and we’re cooked.

Written in an engaging manner, Bernstein not only documents the insidious takeover of our lives by digital technology but proposes workable and innovative strategies to counter it. Awareness is the obvious first step, she points out, and while that’s growing, it’s something we prefer to ignore.

On a personal level, I know what technology has done to my capacity to focus and concentrate. As a writer, I sit at a laptop wired to the internet for many hours each day with iPad and iPhone close at hand. I feel like a dog walking down a street lined with canine scented telegraph poles. My attention span is shot. Just in drafting this review, it was impossible to write more than a paragraph or two without succumbing to the urge to check Instagram, Twitter or look up something on Google.

Bernstein shows we need to learn from history. She demonstrates in compelling prose how the wars against tobacco and obesity can be used as blueprints for taking on the technology industry. Consumer action matters and it’s nowhere more likely to be incited than in the case of harm to minors.

Children, she says, are “the achilles heel”. Parents are rightly concerned about the harmful effects on children of technology addiction, especially when they’re fighting constant battles with defiant kids about excessive smartphone use and time spent on social media and digital games instead of homework, In real-life examples of her own experiences and those of parents she's counselled Bernstein makes a strong case for this as a social dilemma with widespread repercussions if not addressed.

But she believes there is hope. As with the tobacco industry, although it took years from the time scientific evidence emerged until smoking was officially decreed a major health hazard and the harmful effects of passive as well as active smoking were acknowledged, real change was implemented and smoke-free zones in public places are now the norm.

Such real change, Bernstein contends, can only come from the bottom up. Change is possible, but individuals can’t affect it alone, it must be a collective effort. She suggests a number of strategies, such as technology free zones and the rejection of abusive designs (defined as consciously manipulative ways the technology industry constricts our autonomy). The technology industry, like the tobacco and fast-food industries, must be held to account.

“Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies” is not just topical but essential reading for all of us concerned about the many hours we spend aimlessly scrolling on our devices when we could be doing something more rewarding. More than a behavioural quirk, or even a bad habit, it's becoming an overwhelming urge against which, like addiction to alcohol or drugs, we and our children are increasingly powerless.

Thank you to Cambridge University Press for providing me with an advance review copy of the book.

[Ann Garth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.25, rounded down) I hadn’t previously considered the possibility of suing companies for making addictive/overuse-prone technology, and this book gave a good overview of the types of cases that have been made against other industries, the way that has played out, and what the pathway for legal action against technology companies might look like. Unfortunately the book was pretty poorly-written (repetitive; not organized well; didn’t fully explain some legal stuff and left it to be figured out by inference). I also disagreed with the way the author talked about legal vs. non-legal mechanisms for addressing screen addiction and overuse. She’s weirdly critical at some points of recommendations for how to spend less time on screens, saying that only legal solutions will actually address this issue. But that (a) empirically is not the case for the subset of people who have managed to escape screen overuse after working hard at it and (b) also doesn’t mesh with the analogous movements she centers much of the book around, related to smoking and unhealthy food — there are people who quit smoking before any legal battles happened through sheer force of will — and (c) seems in tension with things she says elsewhere in the book about how legal battles will lead to behavior change. I feel like a better framing would have been “Some people are able to quit addictive/overuse-prone technologies, but not everyone, and even for the people who do quit it's harder than it should be; we need to simultaneously share best practices for quitting while also engaging in legal advocacy to make these technologies less addicting.” In spite of my criticisms, I do feel like this book gave me a new perspective on ways to fight overuse-prone technologies, which I really value!

[Loralee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I pretty much disagreed with her entire premise- that our dependence on technology and the damage it has done is not a result of personal choices and lack of control/ability to manage our time, but rather entirely the fault of tech companies for providing access to technology that we just simply have no ability to resist. Try telling that to parents to who are successfully and tirelessly working to teach their children appropriate boundaries and skills as it relates to tech usage and who keep their kids safe from the dangers Bernstein claims are inevitable. Sure, we would all love to have big tech held accountable, but to be perfectly honest- that will never happen. Ever. So in the meantime instead of wringing our hands, let's teach our kids, model appropriate behavior, and deny them access until developmentally appropriate. This is something Bernstein simply cannot get on board with, because that's harder than pointing the finger of blame somewhere else. There are much, much better tech safety books out there. Also, I lost count of the number of times she mentioned Russian election interference in this book- my poor eyes were tired from rolling by the end.

[Professor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It should be prefaced that this is not a self help book, and the author mentions this right at the beginning. I enjoyed the history lesson of food and tabacco industry legal regulations, and how it relates to the ways technology is being regulated now and how the landscape may change in the future. I do agree with other reviewers that the author repeats herself too much (but this is probably because she recognizes that our attention spans have already been fried by our smartphones). Her personal anecdotes are quite interesting but can come off as pretentious. I also got very annoyed that she mentions South East Asian restrictions at length towards the end of the book, but spends most of the section talking about China and Korea (which are not a SEA countries). Also, she talks about how the free licensing of Android OS can make iPhones and iPads cheaper (what? They run iOS not android! As someone who wrote an entire book on technology and teaches technology law, you'd think she'd know this). Despite all the annoyances, it's an insightful read.

[Emiliano Justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated the opportunity to read this book before publication. It provides a holistic assessment of the dangers of technology overuse, the role of industry and market forces in exacerbating it, and most importantly the prospects for countering these forces through legal, public policy and consumer education mechanisms. The broad historical view adopted by the author is invaluable in placing today's technology conflict in the context of decades long struggles to identify, publicize and rein in the manipulative, harmful practices of other corporate players, including the tobacco and food industries.

This is not only the first legal analysis of the topic, but it is also unique in being both comprehensive and meticulous in its evaluation of the prospects and pitfalls of plausible strategies for regulation, while remaining accessible to anyone who cares about this topic. This is the most hopeful book I have read on the topic. A must read!

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75. If we’re going by quality of writing and ability to keep me engaged, lower. If we’re talking content, higher. This book is written by a law professor and looks at the comparisons between addictive technology and junk food and smoking. The author takes the stance that getting less addicted to technology goes beyond the personal habits of individuals and should be looked at as a corporate concern. Much like how tobacco companies and junk food were proven to be bad for adult, but specifically kids, we need technology companies to undergo some changes in order to protect the next generation(s).
I wholeheartedly agree with most of this book. As someone with a human development and child advocacy background, I think the dangers of social media and tech and screen time are quite large and there should be corporate responsibility taken to think about better ways to have h to is technology but not have harmful and addictive outcomes.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the approach of this book. It makes me feel much less guilty about my technology use. Although I always felt like technology could be addictive, I've never seen the information so starkly presented and compared to things like tobacco and food.

I think that this is a useful conversation to have. We need to address this issue with laws. But also in the meantime, while these corporations are constantly fighting laws and making their technologies more and more addictive, it feels almost helpless to try not to succumb to technology use.

I don't think that it's impossible to regulate your technology use. Especially if you seek help from friends. I think that some of the language that Bernstein uses makes it seem like it's impossible to regulate yourself.

I also think that there was a little too much repetition of the same ideas.

[Jj Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book felt like taking several doses of very bitter and unpleasant medication several times in a row, but medications we know will be good for us. Bernstein has a very incisive way of looking at things, and while I know I personally have a screen time problem, she makes several great points about how the collective action can work to move us towards a solution. I have other books for the self help angle, but this may be unique (or leading the charge) on a collective solution. Some of the comparisons to big tabacco and big food are hard to swallow though. Now to get on my long rehab back - hopefully I can advocate for change along the way.

[SJ_BlackPhoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Berstein takes the time to break down our addiction to social media and the tech industry's response to the tobacco industry and the food industry. Each ends with summaries and recommendations. MY biggest takeaway is that the the tech inudstry has a responsibility to youth who are still developing and yet, consume social media the most.
If you enjoyed the movie "The Social Dilimna" on Netflix, this you will enjoy this book.

[Sara Temba · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a bit of a skim. It didn't have much practical personal advice but she was right that it is going to take government action and society-wide movements to reign in addictive, distracting technologies and websites that prioritize misinformation. Hopefully this can happen in my lifetime, but she does point out when it has been done before. Of course the divisive world that it has wrought seems like one that makes mass change difficult, but we shall see.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent collection of contributors to addiction to technology, but focuses a lot on the extremes like kids murdering their parents bc they won’t let them play games, which deserves more background. And frankly some of her parenting anecdotes are telling on herself

Signed,
A person with unfettered access to the internet in the family home from age 10-17 and most likely had a problem

[Gavin Brand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the perspective shift Bernstein proposed in the book. Instead of doubling down (again) on how we all need to limit our screen time, she engages the history of legal battles with big corporations (like the fight against big tobacco and the food wars) to help generate ideas about how to push back on our collective screen addiction. As a legal scholar she brings a lot to that discussion and also tells of her own journey from being an outspoken advocate for personal responsibility to believing that the personal responsibility angle is just one more way for big tech corporations to continue evading responsibility for actively trying to addict us to their product’s. Her argument is made more powerful for drawing so many parallels to other historic legal battles with big corporations.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read for anyone who cares about where technology is leading us. It is a great read and a rare combination of a big picture view intertwined with personal stories. It made me hopeful that things could change.

[Judith Labrador · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a thought-provoking and practical guide to understanding and managing our relationship with technology. With engaging anecdotes, solid research, and actionable strategies, the book explores how addictive technologies impact our lives and offers empowering ways to regain control.

[Paige Swidarski · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s bleak, guys.

Tech is just as guilty as tabacco and food and pharmaceutical companies when it comes to manipulating their customers. The only solution is regulation. Unfortunately, there are no laws here anymore so good luck to you.

[Peter Hamel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved her description of the problem and suggestions for how we can deal with it. Treats addictive technologies in a similar vein to the tobacco industry and discusses the role that law could play in reshaping it.

[Zach Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it had some good points and legislation views for how tech overuse can be reduced. By the halfway point after talking about Big tobacco and the fast food industry I got kind of bored.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty compelling illustrations and recommendations for legal reform in the area of addictive technologies.

[Kassidy Hat · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I know I need to be off my phone but HOW??

[Matt Haynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative read!

[Caitlin Cobau · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting

[Eden Wen]

DNF @ 20%.

[Sekaie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a light read and a change of a mode compared to the neuroscience and psychological books I was into lately. Specifically, I was taking a break from 'Thinking Fast and Slow' by reading this one. Right from the beginning, the writer did not promise a transformative solution which is good. We can't ignore reality and pretend we can unwire whenever we want to. The introduction was nice and got me hooked just like any other book but I struggled to finish the book because I was bored of the details in the smoking and food wars chapters. I understand their importance and relevancy and that the author was building a case of 'the history is repeating itself' and that we can learn from these battles and anticipate the future when it comes to fighting technology. However, the buildup was too long for the size of the book. I know it didn't help me much because what was supposed to be a light read turned out to be a forceful process to finish the book. There were good points but they kind of got buried under redundant and lengthy chunks of text. I liked the ideas about redesigning technology to help people unwire. However, the author's emphasis that the battle is against how tech companies design their apps is an oversimplification of the real problem and I believe the real problem is much deeper than that. Now, I'll go back to the neuroscience and psychological books to read about the roots of the problem.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ Part 2. It read entirely up to that point like a manifesto with very, very little meat.

I must be a unicorn (and, therefore, not the target audience), because I was able to temper my social media use long ago - something Bernstein insists is impossible. It was reading as if Bernstein was giving everyone a pat on the back instead of addressing the root causation of habits and habit formation around something that was created to be addictive. She instead places the entirety of the blame on the designers of addictive technologies, and she relies on anecdotes of outliers (ex, a child who murdered his parents because they took away his copy of Halo) to emphasize the dangers of the so-called technology "addiction" without highlighting the fact that this is an outrageous and rare circumstance.

The average social media addiction (i.e., as represented by the majority of the human population) is a far cry from what a true clinical addition looks like, yet she relies heavily on this comparison. Willpower is enough to delete social media apps and accounts; willpower is, almost always, not enough to end a drug addiction.

From what I had read, it is missing the meat and the psychology behind the argument.