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Keller @ Large: Curb Your Smartphone Enthusiasm

BOSTON (CBS) - If you see a bigger-than-normal crowd on Boylston Street in Copley Square Friday morning, it's because the newest iPhone model is going on sale. And as always, our gadget-obsessed society is on high alert to get down on the latest smartphone wrinkle. And after reading and thinking about the iPhone 7,

I have some good news for you - and some bad news.

boylston street apple store iphone line
The line outside the Apple store on Boylston Street Friday. (WBZ-TV)

The good news, according to the reviews, is that the new phone has longer battery life, works faster than older models, has a better camera inside, and get this - you can allegedly even use it in the shower without destroying it. In other words, the iPhone 7 gives you more than that iPhone 6 you thought was the be-all and end-all. Funny how that works, isn't it?

But the bad news comes in the form of a question - in this case, is more really better?

iphone 7
Apple's iPhone 7. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Smartphones are swamping our culture. Four years ago, 35-percent of U.S. adults owned one; that number has almost doubled since then. And as you know, the invasion is raising plenty of questions.

Is the fascination with smartphones interfering with human relationships? Are we becoming more isolated from one another, losing the ability to converse in person, physically endangering one another by driving, biking and walking with noses buried in our phones?

Apply these questions to the four-in-ten teenagers who have smartphones and the concerns multiply. And now even the shower is no longer a smartphone-free zone?

Don't get me wrong, I like my smartphone just fine. But our craving for the things ought to come with a warning - be careful what you wish for.

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