Watch Louis C.K. explain why he hates smartphones
"You never feel completely sad or completely happy, you just feel kinda satisfied with your product, and then you die."
Smartphones are evil and they kill people. If you didn't know that already — didn't somehow feel it deep in your bones — watch comedian Louis C.K. explain to his old boss, Conan O'Brien, why he hates smartphones, and will never, ever buy one for his daughters.
He tells O'Brien that smartphones have hurt our ability to empathize with one another. The gadgets, he says, are "toxic, especially for kids":
Neetzan Zimmerman at Gawker notes that C.K. nails it when he goes on to talk about how smartphones are bad for grown-ups, too. People would rather text while driving — and "murder people" — than simply relax, drive, and be alone, says C.K. "While C.K. agrees that smartphones can help create a sense of community," Zimmerman says, "he believes that therein lies the problem:"
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Plus, there's an added bonus, says David Haglund at Slate. "His case against smartphones also includes dueling Springsteen impressions by him and Conan. The whole thing is worth watching."
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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