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Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

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Re: Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

#61

I think it's worth taking a look at the parental controls that Nintendo put in for the Switch. They have a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03bAayBtcb0 I think it's worth watching, if for no other reason than to see Bowser & Bowser Jr.. iOS app link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1190074407 Play store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nintendo.z... For me, the only annoyance is th…

Silent FaceID can be used to auth every X mins with as a config tbh. Could even work as a blacklist

Re: Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

#62

1950's Can we have a study of Comic Book addiction in Children. 1960's Can we have a study of Television addiction in Children. 1970's Can we have a study of Dungeons and Dragons addiction in children 1980's Can we have a study of Console game addiction in Children. 1990's Can we have a study of Computer game addiction in Children. 2000's Can we have a study of Internet addiction in Children. 2010's Can we have a stu…

What's wrong with doing all of these studies? Aren't you glad we know about the harmful effects of tobacco smoke, UV light, radiation, too much sugar etc.?

Yeah, because those are all equivalent.

"People who smoke are getting lung cancer. We'd better investigate the carcinogenic properties of tobacco."

"People who get too much sun are exhibiting symptoms from melanoma to premature aging. Could this be related to UV exposure?"

"People who work with radioactive material are dropping like flies. What the heck's up with that?"

"People who consume excessive sugar are experiencing symptoms from obesity to insulin resistance to heart disease. Could there be a connection?"

"Kids who spend a lot of time on iPhones are ... well, fine, I guess, but there's got to be some grant money in there somewhere."

Re: Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

#63
post #54

I'm sure Apple can create some more granular controls to restrict certain apps, but it's probably going to hurt CalSTRS. I took a look at their 13F filing and some of their holdings include Google, Facebook and Twitter. They should probably start with divesting that if they feel really strongly about this.

I would think this is Jana's move and CalSTRS is just a pawn. Rosenstein is scrappy and happy to stir the pot to invoke a stock price spike (see PetSmart sale and Whole Foods).

Re: Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

#64

1950's Can we have a study of Comic Book addiction in Children. 1960's Can we have a study of Television addiction in Children. 1970's Can we have a study of Dungeons and Dragons addiction in children 1980's Can we have a study of Console game addiction in Children. 1990's Can we have a study of Computer game addiction in Children. 2000's Can we have a study of Internet addiction in Children. 2010's Can we have a stu…

One of the most effective things about capitalism is that when new things replace old things, the new things are preferred by consumers over the things they replace.

This is an extremely good feature when talking about most consumer goods. Modern cups are just as good as old cups but way less expensive. Modern cars are significantly better in basically all ways (perhaps excepting repairability).

There may be a danger, however, when talking about technologies that people use, in part, to keep themselves from being bored - to absorb their attention in other words.

For me personally, Facebook/Internet/Computer Games >> TV >> Radio >> Books at capturing my attention. I suspect that this isn't a very unusual experience.

It may seem reasonable on its face to not let technological artifacts push you around or manipulate you, but honestly, it's not just a computer or a TV. Between TV, the Internet and Computer Games, it's the very best and most able of hundreds of thousands of people working every day to capture your attention.

Honestly, I have no idea if the current generation of attention capturing technology is dangerous. But I do know that what ever displaces what we have now will be better at capturing our attention. And the next generation will be better than that. And eventually, if the trend continues, there will be something that's so good at capturing attention that it is dangerous.

Re: Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with doing all of these studies? Aren't you glad we know about the harmful effects of tobacco smoke, UV light, radiation, too much sugar etc.?

Yeah, because those are all equivalent. "People who smoke are getting lung cancer. We'd better investigate the carcinogenic properties of tobacco." "People who get too much sun are exhibiting symptoms from melanoma to premature aging. Could this be related to UV exposure?" "People who work with radioactive material are dropping like flies. What the heck's up with that?" "People who consume excessive sugar are experie…

Yes, of course, everything seems obvious in hindsight.

Re: Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

#66

1950's Can we have a study of Comic Book addiction in Children. 1960's Can we have a study of Television addiction in Children. 1970's Can we have a study of Dungeons and Dragons addiction in children 1980's Can we have a study of Console game addiction in Children. 1990's Can we have a study of Computer game addiction in Children. 2000's Can we have a study of Internet addiction in Children. 2010's Can we have a stu…

Exactly! If it wasn't a problem before then it won't be a problem today either. Nothing fallacious about that. The evolution of technology usually has very limited impact; WW1 and WW2 were barely more destructive than the wars that preceded them, after all, and WW3 will surely be no worse. Edit: The above is sarcasm. It probably deserves the downvotes, but at least I want to make clear that I don't mean this stuff. T…

And what's more, television certainly did drastically change people's attention spans, the nature of news and the public debate, etc. Compare the rhetoric of 19th-Century politicians with what you hear today.

Re: Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

#67
post #54

I'm sure Apple can create some more granular controls to restrict certain apps, but it's probably going to hurt CalSTRS. I took a look at their 13F filing and some of their holdings include Google, Facebook and Twitter. They should probably start with divesting that if they feel really strongly about this.

I would think this is Jana's move and CalSTRS is just a pawn. Rosenstein is scrappy and happy to stir the pot to invoke a stock price spike (see PetSmart sale and Whole Foods).

Jana is raising a fund for activist socially responsible investing, so that's clearly their motivation [1]. CalSTRS is $1.3B of the combined $2B so I doubt they're "just a pawn".

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/wall-street-fighters-do-gooders...

Re: Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

#68
post #2

This seems like a weird request. Are iPhones supposed to be more addictive than Android phones or something?

It's not a relative thing - Camels may not be more addictive than Marlboros, but either company would presumably want to understand the impact of its products addictive tendencies to stay ahead of any regulation.

Re: Apple shareholders push for study of phone addiction in children

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, because those are all equivalent. "People who smoke are getting lung cancer. We'd better investigate the carcinogenic properties of tobacco." "People who get too much sun are exhibiting symptoms from melanoma to premature aging. Could this be related to UV exposure?" "People who work with radioactive material are dropping like flies. What the heck's up with that?" "People who consume excessive sugar are experie…

Yes, of course, everything seems obvious in hindsight.

And resources for scientific snipe hunts are basically unlimited.
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