I am not sure why nobody here defend the poor phones so I will take this thankless task. Obviously there are some things against it.
I daven Mincha from the siddur on my phone.
- the shul doesn't have a lot of siddurim with my nusach
- the phone is much lighter that the siddur
- I can increase the font in the siddur app
- when using the siddur nothing else pops up on the phone
- I don't use it for anything else/look at anything else during davening, it's my 15 minute appointment with G-d
Some listen to shiurim during their commute, effectively using it as an mp3 player
Someone I know does daf yomi on it (probably bad for his eye)
Camera, Google Maps, Boarding apps/passes... Whatsapp, even contact lists (anyone remembers Palm Pilots?)
There was life before smart phones, before cell phones, even before phones, but people were not necessarily a happier or holier bunch.
my 2 cents:
Set limits
don't give it to young kids
teach your teens how to set limits
turn it off / put it away at home (if your job/boss let's you :/)
delete apps that are time wasters
don't stare at the screen while walking in Manhattan because you are more likely to get hit by a car, annoy other pedestrians.
Look up, there is a world out there
Otherwise I am not sure why this is worse than other innovations? Why don't you protest having a car? A lot of people became karbonos because of them.