Note: this entire blog is satire and should not be taken seriously. A shocking study shows that after people look at their phones, two things happen that go against anything anyone will ever tell you about phone addiction. First, your brain gets bigger as it retains more information in various forms of media: video, audio, text, image, etc. Second, your eyes are strengthened by the UV light coming from the screen as they form an immune system (of a sort) against it; it grows stronger by being exposed to UV light intensively and for long periods of time. The effects of these changes are already apparent. John Smith, a current student at Tech High School, said, “Miracles have been working on me ever since I got a phone. After looking at it on a daily basis for just one month, I was somehow able to retain information during lectures that I would normally daydream through and the glare of the sun that always bothered me on my walk home is now no more to me than a tiny speck of light in the distance. It is a win-win situation!” But, the goodness doesn’t stop there. Scientists are developing new phones that incorporate smell and texture as media options, enabling the human brain to grow unlike ever before, and that also uses rougher “training” lights to truly achieve the coveted ability of “night vision” and possibly even X-Ray vision. Scientist Gina Wright says, “We are excited at the prospect of a phone that would make addiction a good thing; a thing that could grant us superhuman abilities.” She is currently working to create a new phone company, Superphone, that will supposedly be “the tech of the generation.” But even a regular phone works; just be sure to stare at it every day! As important as they may be, phones aren’t the only ones in this business. Laptops and desktops can grant superhuman powers at an even faster rate, mostly due to the volume of “rough” light and media taken in at once. However, even though these devices empower you at a faster rate, they aren’t as commonly stared at as phones, thus trading speed for time. Even though eye and brain improvement and expansion are the main aspects that are being focused on right now, technology addiction can also cause physical changes. On a phone, since most scrolling and texting is done with your thumbs, they will also grow bigger and stronger. The effects of a tablet are similar. However, for laptops or desktops, the effects are different. Instead of having your thumb grow, all your fingers grow, but each at a slower rate. This is good if you often have to do things that require multiple fingers at once, but if you have trouble with something like opening a can, which is mostly a one-fingered job, it is better if you stick with a phone or tablet. You can also get devices that focus on just one aspect. For example, a television set would focus on improving and expanding the eyes, while a CD player would focus more on expanding the brain. Isn’t it exciting to think that, with only the help of everyday objects, Earth could be inhabited by superheroes? Maybe one day, our brains will be so advanced we could obtain the skill of telekinesis, and your eyes would be so durable they wouldn’t be burned when looking directly at the sun. I’d like to leave you with this final thought: we can only dream of these things because scientists found the good in something we previously thought bad. Perhaps if you dig down deeper into something, you might uncover astonishing and world-changing secrets!
Is Apple Really as Green as it Seems?
Every year, around 151 million Apple products are thrown away. This is because they are made explicitly hard to repair, and the constant production of new products encourages Apple users to discard their old products and buy the new ones to keep up with the trend. Nearly every year, Apple makes a new Macbook, a new iPhone, a new iPad, and pretty much a new version of every product that they’ve made. Also, because Apple doesn’t carry replacement parts, most repair is done by third-party companies. In addition, although Apple claims it runs on 100% renewable energy, many third-party companies that manufacture Apple products don’t. As a result, because of their limited repairability, and therefore the encouraged discarding of old Apple products, greater e-waste is being contributed by Apple, and although Apple claims to have good environmental initiatives, it might not be as green as it seems. Apple products are very hard to fix once they are broken. Many parts are glued together, making them hard to dissect when trying to replace parts that can no longer function. One example is the 2013 Retina Macbook Pro. According to David Veksler, the Director of Technology at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), “It has non-upgradable solid state drive and memory that is soldered to the mainboard, the battery is firmly glued in place, the display assembly is bonded into a single unit, and proprietary pentalobe screws discourage me from opening it at all.” While all this wording may seem complicated, Mr. Veksler’s point is easy to understand: the design of Apple products discourage breaking them up and/or repairing them. For example, if your battery got damaged, it would be very tedious to take it out and replace it. But, Apple does have its reasons for doing this. It is often easier to design computers the way Apple is: bonding multiple components together. This is because If they bond parts together, it could provide modular advantage, and their employees don’t have to carry replacement parts or need to be trained for repairs. However, sometimes pieces are bonded together even when no modular advantage. Also, if you were to take apart your Apple device, it would void your warranty, which would be considered a risky move for most consumers. This lessens the amount of people that are willing to attempt to dissect Apple products even more, to the point that Apple wouldn’t profit much if they sold replacement parts. Finally, the fact that Apple makes its products hard to repair encourages Apple users to discard their old products to buy new ones. When a new Apple product is released, consumers are lured to buy it. Many will want it because they feel like their old products are out of date, but a lot of this also has to do with Apple products’ limited reparability, life, and durability. Because the typical consumer doesn’t have contact to third-party repair shops, and because Apple doesn’t carry replacement parts, most consumers’ only choice when it comes to a broken iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, or any hardware problems, is to straight-up buy a new device. Here is Mr. Veksler’s experience: “I replaced [my old computer] in 2016, only three years later because I had filled up the hard drive and decided to upgrade to a new computer. My new, maxed-out MacBook Pro with Touch Bar cost just about $3,000.” Just think about that $3,000, invested just because your hard drive was maxed out. Most hard drives cost no more than a few hundred dollars! As you can see, this scam results in more profit for Apple. Although Apple does care about the environment, they clearly care about profit more. Each year, around 150 million Apple products are thrown away, mostly because of the open-looped flow of products, detailed above, in which products are tossed rather than recycle and reused. An even more appalling fact is that last year, Apple made around 265.6 billion dollars, yet they didn’t use a whole lot of that to help the environment. Clearly, they could have invested money into reducing their e-waste (e.g. making hardware that is easier to repair), but they really haven’t. Also, not only is Apple dishonest in their sales, they are dishonest in their claims, too. Perhaps you have heard about how Apple runs on 100% renewable energy. “We’re committed to leaving the world better than we found it. After years of hard work, we’re proud to have reached this significant milestone,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish new creative and forward-looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it.” This is partly true, but again, Apple is lying. Although nearly all of Apple’s in-house operations are running on 100% renewable energy, many third-party factories which manufacture Apple products do not. Although Apple has initiated a Supplier Clean Energy program, Apple relies on more than 200 manufacturers, and only a fraction of them have reached the goal of running on 100% renewable energy, and around a quarter and at most half are aiming for it. According to Harry Domanski at Techradar (Of April 2018), “The 23 suppliers that are currently on board represent a promising start to the program, but Apple will need to do more than ‘drive broader awareness’ and ‘empower suppliers to set goals’ if it wants to incentivize the uptake of the program to the remaining 200 odd suppliers and, ultimately, reduce the 21,175 million metric tons of carbon emissions that the manufacturing process produces.” This means that, although Apple has good intentions, it needs to find a better way to make people believe them than lying or telling half-truths. Apple’s failed efforts to make dishonest profits, and even worse, their efforts to cover them up with lies, does not bode well for the reputation of the company. If Apple really
Charlie
Have you ever met someone that changed your life by teaching you things that you have never learned before? I have. My friend, Charlie, taught me to explore new things and try things you have never done before. At first, I was reluctant but then began to accept the idea of trying new things and unleashing my inner rebel. It all started when I met Charlie at church. Our parents were good friends, and soon, we had formed a strong bond. Charlie and one of his other friends, Justin, liked to do daring things on the church playground, such as jumping or swinging of the slides, standing on the sides of the railings, etc., and I liked to tag along. But, the first few times, I was reluctant to join them, because I had never done things like what they were doing before, and was worried that something bad would happen. However, after seeing how much fun they were having, I finally decided to try doing what they were. But I clearly was not built for this. While Charlie seemed carefree as he swung on the railings and jumped off from what seemed like really high places to me, I tensed up at even the slightest chance that something bad would happen. In fact, I gripped the railings so tightly and jumped so tensely that by the time my mom picked me up, I had blisters on my hands and my legs were sore! After many, many times on the playground with Charlie and Justin on the playground, I finally had the hang of it…sort of. Even though I only did things that Charlie had already done and said were safe, my grip wasn’t so tight, my legs weren’t so tense, and I definitely worried less. I actually thought it was pretty fun! Soon, we went on a camping trip with Charlie and Justin, and I was looking forward to hanging out with them. I was glad when I saw both of them at the campsite but little did I know, trouble was near and would be when I least expected it. Later that day, Charlie, Justin and I were playing a game in which we had to walk on a narrow strip of asphalt as fast as we could. It sounded fun, so I opted in. However, as I sped along the thin outcropping of concrete, I took a tumble. It didn’t hurt that bad, but when I examined the wound, I nearly fainted. The wound was about an inch by a centimeter, and was around one to two centimeters deep! Now, it might not sound that bad, but know this: it is not your typical skin scrape or type of injury you would expect from falling from a strip of asphalt. In fact, I had to apply bandages, gauze, and ointments daily after being rushed to the ER (Emergency Room). Nevertheless, the second day after I got injured, Charlie and Justin asked me if I wanted to make an exciting hiking trip with them. At first, I was reluctant because of my injury, but after they told me it wasn’t going to hurt, I finally agreed. I guess Charlie was beginning to rub off on me! Turns out, climbing rocks and weaving through trees and bushes with them was actually pretty fun. Charlie and Justin were really encouraging, too! As the days passed, I went on more and more adventures like these with Charlie and Justin, who I now prefer to call “Nitsuj” (Justin backward). The more adventures I had with them, the more I found how fun it is to unleash the inner rebel of your heart and let it lead you to do crazy things. For example, last year, I was pretty scared of rock climbing, but this year, at Harker Summer camp, I gave the climbing wall a try, and it turned out to be pretty exciting. Now, whenever I go on hiking trips, I like to climb the rocks on the hills or by the beach. I was amazed at how much fun I got out of this valuable lesson Charlie taught me!
