"Siri, how's the weather today?" Cell phones in present day have a variety of functions including voice commands that can tell the user just about anything he/she want to know. Present day smart cell phones might be considered one of the greatest technological breakthroughs for society, however, they encroach the safety of phone users and others around them when working, walking, studying, or driving. According to John Hildebrand from The Business Times, Cell phones are a distraction in the workplace. Employers and business owners can lose up to thousands of dollars in profit from distracted employees. Just ten minutes a workday texting for a 12-dollar-an-hour distracted employee can lead up to $575 in overpaid wages and $1,726 in lost productivity a year. These numbers are quite generous considering most employers would say their employees spend 30-40 minutes a day texting/browsing. Money lost in overpaid wages and lost productivity would then be more than tripled (Hildebrand). Cell phones can become not only a distraction, but also a danger in a more hands on workplace. Texting while working for a construction worker could lead to misuse of heavy machinery such as a forklift or jackhammer which in turn could lead to serious bodily injury to the user or someone in the way. Cell phones should be turned off and out of sight while on the job. It doesn't matter if the job requires physical activity or sitting in a cubicle typing on a computer.
Moving From the cubicle to the study room, cell phones are an even bigger distraction. Using cell phones while studying for a test or working on homework loses the opportunity to obtain the information given. All of the attention should be focused on the work at hand instead of checking Facebook. David Meyer, a Psychology professor at the University of Michigan, states, "Under most conditions, the brain simply cannot do two complex tasks at the same time.
