Wolf, sorry for sticking into your conversation, but I happen to agree with MKY. I really think that the ‘addictive’ and ‘bittul zman’ arguments are one and the same. Something which is addictive wastes more time, no?
Secondly, face it, no one gets addicted to photography to an unhealthy extent. As for gameboys, I don’t know if you’ve seen it before but I have. They say, just one more game, just one more game, and then another, before they know it, they’ve been sitting there for hours looking at a screen, while the brain freezes up. I know because it happened to me. This is one of the Nisyonos of our generation. The technology. Around two years ago, one of my teachers came in and told us that there was a boy (non-Jewish) who just died from playing video games. He sat for 26 hours straight. His mother begged him to stop, but he didn’t. It ended when he collapsed. I know, it’s an extreme example, and who knows if it’s really true. But it is so realistic. I can see it happening. As for photography…what’s the longest you ever spent taking pictures?