Abx,
Things that are addictive* can lead to bittul z’man — on that point I won’t argue. But that doesn’t mean that only addictive things are assur because of bittul z’man. There are plenty of things that are complete wastes of time, even though they aren’t addictive that I think we can all agree should be curtailed because of bittul z’man.
Furthermore, I agree with you that photography isn’t addictive for most people — I thought I made that point in my previous post. But, as I outlined above, some could argue that the time I take to take pictures of plants, bugs, etc. could be better utilized. So, why isn’t that bittul z’man (according to MKY)?
As to your last question… I have often put hours into taking picutres at a stretch. The Sunday before this past Purim I took pictures for about six hours.
The Wolf
* Because a child enjoys doing something and wants to continue doing it does not necessarily make the activity addictive. Similarly, the case you brought regarding the kid who played for 26 hours is hardly proof either — almost anything can be (and has been) abused to an unhealthy degree in the past; but isolated cases do not make it addictive. Nor, for the record, am I saying that it’s not addictive — I simply don’t have the data to show it to be or not to be. If you can point me to a study or two that shows that handheld electronic games are addictive, I would certainly be willing to further hear your argument.