Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Will Clempner

Hunched over my smartphone while my family slept, I knew I had to break my addiction. But how?

Apple’s then CEO, Steve Jobs, demonstrates the first iPhone in San Francisco in 2007.
Apple’s then CEO, Steve Jobs, demonstrates the first iPhone in San Francisco in 2007. Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP

My 16th birthday was a big deal. Not only was I allowed to throw a party at my dad’s, I was also given a brand new mobile phone. I was giddy. Back in 2006, nothing said liberation to a teenager quite like unlimited texts and a free house.

My friends and I set about creating the sort of chaos only a group of repressed teenagers yet to be fully exposed to the unadulterated excesses of the internet could. Little did we know that those heady days of pumping out noughties R&B from an iPod were to be some of the last of their kind. Just a few months later, Steve Jobs would unveil the first iPhone, altering the way we interact with ourselves and the world around us for ever.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.