Hunched over my smartphone while my family slept, I knew I had to break my addiction. But how? | Will Clempner

The modern world just isn’t set up for non-smartphone users, but after a few faltering steps away from mine, my life changed

My 16th birthday was a big deal. Not only was I allowed to throw a party at my dad’s, I was also given a brand new mobile phone. I was giddy. Back in 2006, nothing said liberation to a teenager quite like unlimited texts and a free house.

My friends and I set about creating the sort of chaos only a group of repressed teenagers yet to be fully exposed to the unadulterated excesses of the internet could. Little did we know that those heady days of pumping out noughties R&B from an iPod were to be some of the last of their kind. Just a few months later, Steve Jobs would unveil the first iPhone, altering the way we interact with ourselves and the world around us for ever.