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Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

wired.co.uk

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Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#21

Post by DonaldPShimoda »

cryptoz wrote: post #3

Tony Fadell says, > I think that manufacturers and app developers need to take on this responsibility, before government regulators decide to step in. Tim Cook recently said, "I think the best regulation is no regulation, is self-regulation". And Tony Fadell expresses a similar idea here. That no regulation is the best idea and that companies should "behave" so that the status quo of no regulation continues. But how…

> Tim Cook recently said, "I think the best regulation is no regulation, is self-regulation".

This quote was made with regard specifically to Facebook's recent problems with privacy, and Cook then immediately said: “However, I think we’re beyond that here.” Clearly he thinks regulation can be necessary sometimes, and specifically he has been an advocate for user privacy. I don't know that he intended these words to be applied generally to all companies for all issues.

> But how do they keep these opinions in the face of all the enormous evidence that companies are very specifically designed to be unable to self-regulate?

1. I don't think companies are "specifically designed to be unable to self-regulate." Where did you get that from? While it may be true that this is often the case, it seems odd to suggest that this is a specific part of the design of a corporation.

2. Apple has self-regulated with regards to user privacy and security, in ways that other companies have not. They have deliberately made themselves known for not selling user data, and have drawn direct comparisons between themselves and other companies for not collecting significant amounts of user data to be used for any purpose.

I dunno, your points don't really seem very well researched. You said "Companies will behave badly as long as the law allows it" and I certainly agree with this to an extent (and this seems to be your main point), but your overly strong statements ("corporations ... break as many laws as possible") reduce the effectiveness of your thesis.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#23

Post by francisofascii »

dayjah wrote: post #2

In general, I agree strongly with this sentiment: > What does a healthy, moderate digital life look like? I think that manufacturers and app developers need to take on this responsibility, before government regulators decide to step in As a bicyclist and driver I believe one of the best ways to enact this would be add a feature that allows investigators / insurers to answer the question of “whether the device was I u…

I agree. Additionally, the rule against using a phone while driving should actually be enforced. It is very much like speeding. Enforcement is practically non-existent so of course everyone continue to do it.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#24

Post by chadash »

whitepoplar wrote: post #5

I think smartphone use has split into two paths: utility and "discovery." Utilities are the tools we use every day, the tools we want to be stable, fast, and (relatively) unchanging. E.g. sms, maps, browser, phone, camera, email. "Discovery" is all the new, unstable, changing stuff. I think there's an enormous market for a utility smartphone...and it doesn't even have to be a smartphone. Something between an old Noki…

This. I have thought a lot about switching to a "dumb phone" recently. There were two things that I use regularly that would make this switch tough though:

1) Google maps. This is so much better than using a built-in or dashboard-mount GPS that it would be hard to go back. 2) Podcasts. I listen to these in the car and having a good app for them is nice.

Ultimately, I decided to delete the apps on my phone that were sucking up my time, but it takes a good amount of self control not to install some of the new ones, and I still succumb to checking my notifications more than I'd like.

I would love the product you are describing though. In particular, I remember my old Nokia had like a week of battery life and I'd be willing to give up a bunch of functionality for that alone.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#26

Post by DonaldPShimoda »

Something that I don't know if they've mentioned specifically in public was that the Apple Watch was partly designed to deal with smartphone addiction.

I don't have a citable source handy here, so it's just my word, but when I interned with Apple last year there were a few "town hall" events where interns could ask questions of senior management (Cook, Ahrendts, Cue, Maestri, etc). At one of them (I think the Tim Cook one but I'm not 100% certain) someone asked about smartphone addiction. He pointed out that the Apple Watch actually plays a role. It gives you a tap when you get a notification, but the tap isn't too intense and doesn't go for more than a moment. In user studies, they found that people were much more likely to simply dismiss notifications from the Watch than if they weren't wearing one.

The effect of this was that people weren't unlocking their phones as often, and by merely avoiding unlocking the phone people were not as tied to using it. It used to be the case for me that I would get a notification, unlock my phone and attend to the notification, and then immediately afterwards open Reddit or Facebook or something because, well, I was already on my phone so why not?

Since getting an Apple Watch, I've noticed I do this much less. Maybe part of it is that I'm more cognizant of the problem, but another part is that it's much easier to simply disregard the notifications since they're more fleeting now.

I'm sure this sounds like a sales pitch for the Watch to some people, but I don't mean it that way. I just thought it was very interesting when Cook (I think) pointed out that this was a deliberate consideration with the Watch and then I was able to anecdotally confirm its effectiveness myself. I wish I had an actual source to cite for this, but notes are forbidden in the town hall events.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#27

Post by kristofferR »

rock_hard wrote: post #11
whitepoplar wrote: post #5

I think smartphone use has split into two paths: utility and "discovery." Utilities are the tools we use every day, the tools we want to be stable, fast, and (relatively) unchanging. E.g. sms, maps, browser, phone, camera, email. "Discovery" is all the new, unstable, changing stuff. I think there's an enormous market for a utility smartphone...and it doesn't even have to be a smartphone. Something between an old Noki…

I don't think sms, maps, browser, phone, camera, email are the apps most people use though. Wikpedia(1) says in the US its actually: Facebook, Facebook Messenger, YoutTube, Google Maps, Google Search, Google Play, Gmail, Instagram, Apple Music and Amazon For other countries you just have to swap out Messenger for Whatsapp and such...but otherwise its basically the same. Mind you this includes preinstalled apps! So I'…

That list doesn't include non-downloadable apps.

I can guarantee that the browser is more used for googling than the Google Search app, for example.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#28

Post by physicsyogi »

brandon272 wrote: post #13

I have to wonder - what is staring at our phones all day doing to our necks? And are we going to have an epidemic of debilitating cervical spine issues pop up 10 or 20 years from now?

They're calling it "text neck". https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/2...

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#29

Post by cryptoz »

DonaldPShimoda wrote: post #21
cryptoz wrote: post #3

Tony Fadell says, > I think that manufacturers and app developers need to take on this responsibility, before government regulators decide to step in. Tim Cook recently said, "I think the best regulation is no regulation, is self-regulation". And Tony Fadell expresses a similar idea here. That no regulation is the best idea and that companies should "behave" so that the status quo of no regulation continues. But how…

> Tim Cook recently said, "I think the best regulation is no regulation, is self-regulation". This quote was made with regard specifically to Facebook's recent problems with privacy, and Cook then immediately said: “However, I think we’re beyond that here.” Clearly he thinks regulation can be necessary sometimes, and specifically he has been an advocate for user privacy. I don't know that he intended these words to b…

> Cook then immediately said: “However, I think we’re beyond that here.” Clearly he thinks regulation can be necessary sometimes

If there is even a slightest chance of a hundred-billion dollar corporation ignoring morals and helping foreign powers install a dictator and destroy truth in publishing and trust in America, then it should be clear that Regulation was required from the start. There is no "oops now we get it we should have had regulation for this particular instance". You can't do that, it's too late. Regulation was required from the beginning. It always is.

> 1. I don't think companies are "specifically designed to be unable to self-regulate." Where did you get that from? While it may be true that this is often the case, it seems odd to suggest that this is a specific part of the design of a corporation.

There's another reply to me asking this, but I'm not sure how to respond. It just seems obvious to me that the tragedy of the commons situation that results from raw competition (and enshrined in corporate structure, tax law, etc) results in corporations being incentivized to find ways "around the rules" to get a competitive "advantage" over others.

> Apple has self-regulated with regards to user privacy and security, in ways that other companies have not.

You don't know this, though. You can't know, because you can by definition never know what "self-regulation" a company might be doing. From the outside, all Apple is doing here is marketing material. You can't know what their self-regulation means.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#30

Post by mattkrause »

olivermarks wrote: post #17

An Apple cash cow is financializing your personal data via a vast sprawling ecosystem http://www.visualcapitalist.com/personal-data-ecosystem/ To pick Up Faddell's analogy, this is like letting big sugar regulate itself. It doesn't and has spent millions pushing red herrings like 'low fat' to protect its profit machine. In a parallel universe 'How to take on Big Sugar and win' 'Camilla Cavendish, the initiator of the…

This seems more like a criticism of Facebook or Google.
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