Tech Backlash Grows as Investors Press Apple to Act on Children’s Use

Tech Backlash Grows as Investors Press Apple to Act on Children’s Use
professor, “it turns out that Apple is the company best positioned to act.”
In a statement, Apple said that the parental controls already on its devices “lead the industry” and
that “we think deeply about how our products are used and the impact they have on users and the people around them.”
“We take this responsibility very seriously,” the statement continued, “and we are committed to meeting
and exceeding our customers’ expectations, especially when it comes to protecting kids.”
Fears about technology addiction are not new.
A creator of the iPhone called the device “addictive.”
Now, two of the biggest investors on Wall Street have asked Apple to study the health effects of its products
and to make it easier for parents to limit their children’s use of iPhones and iPads.
“Companies have a role to play in helping to address these issues,” said Barry Rosenstein, managing partner of Jana Partners, an investment firm
that wrote an open letter to Apple this weekend pushing it to look at its products’ health effects, especially on children.
“Apple’s business model is not predicated on excessive use of your products,” Jana and Calstrs said in their letter to the company.
“We believe the long-term health of its youngest customers
and the health of society, our economy and the company itself are inextricably linked,” the investors said in the letter.