521–530 of 706 posts
When I see all these "phone ban" experiments, I always wonder, is the phone that's the issue, or is it the apps/websites tailored for engagement (a.k.a addiction)? Maybe instead of banning kids from using phones, they should consider banning companies from making their apps addictive on purpose.
I find all of these bans quite interesting because when I was at school we would be figuring out how to circumvent the web filters and would be building apps to hide the games we had open on Miniclip when a teacher walked past. I think I kind of owe my software development career to these early days as that is what inspired me. We didn’t have smartphones when I was at school and I guess things weren’t as optimised to…
our minds tend to fantasize a lot about our early days. our memories are flawed and what we remember now are full of gaps filled with fantasies that make us feel good.
I find all of these bans quite interesting because when I was at school we would be figuring out how to circumvent the web filters and would be building apps to hide the games we had open on Miniclip when a teacher walked past. I think I kind of owe my software development career to these early days as that is what inspired me. We didn’t have smartphones when I was at school and I guess things weren’t as optimised to…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's exactly what I was going to say. Every software dev I know who works on apps, social media, etc. all keep their kids from going near the shit. They know, conflict of interest or not. I've not seen anyone behind these products once they hit a mature state where they start psychologically stripmining their audiences who's eager to get any of their family onboarded.
It’s sad that these people know this and still work on them. I can’t imagine living my life day-in, day-out knowingly making other people’s lives worse.
Can we have smartphone threads where everyone discloses whether they're an app developer or have another conflict of interest? Some of us know these kids are cash cows and are behaving like the anti-gun-regulation lobby of the tech world. I am not an app developer and derive no income from the sale or usage of smartphones or their software.
The only mobile phone app I did is a boring industrial thing that reads some sensors and massages the data however the user directs it. It's so boring I bet no one ever starts it except during work hours.
I find all of these bans quite interesting because when I was at school we would be figuring out how to circumvent the web filters and would be building apps to hide the games we had open on Miniclip when a teacher walked past. I think I kind of owe my software development career to these early days as that is what inspired me. We didn’t have smartphones when I was at school and I guess things weren’t as optimised to…
I remember being forced to take a typing class my senior year in HS, at which point I was already a very proficient typer. So I figured out how to hexedit the program save files and mark my exercises complete.
I feel that the new era of phones and apps have two major drawbacks:
1. The always on distraction in your pocket and on your wrist.
2. The walled garden hardware and software that makes it nearly impossible to tinker and gain a deeper understanding of the magic behind the screen.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's exactly what I was going to say. Every software dev I know who works on apps, social media, etc. all keep their kids from going near the shit. They know, conflict of interest or not. I've not seen anyone behind these products once they hit a mature state where they start psychologically stripmining their audiences who's eager to get any of their family onboarded.
I worked on the Twitter iOS app. Can confirm my kid isn’t allowed a phone until they’re a teen. Once they get one, I’ll be spending hours figuring out how to MDM brick the thing so they can’t get anywhere near social media. Having said that, I’m still an app dev (personal finance & budgeting) and I’m excited to onboard my kid into that world.
You can set the phone to only run an approved list of apps (like Phone and Messages, and that’s it, no App Store)
Disclosure: I work for a social media company. However I live in the UK. Most schools in the UK ban phones in school. The difference here is that in this study phones were taken away for 21 days, even after school. They lost access to the phone completely during that time. I am less convinced that we should wholesale ban phones for kids, because in the UK at least, there is no longer any culture of letting kids go ou…
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There are a lot of things schools themselves have done that end up essentially requiring it. Here's a short list from my kids' district: * Use an LMS called Infinite Canvas. Among other things, the kids have to submit homework online -- which can be done on the web app -- which often requires them to take a photo of handwritten work to upload. Have you ever tried taking a photo of a piece of paper using a $200 Chrome…
> which often requires them to take a photo of handwritten work to upload. Have you ever tried taking a photo of a piece of paper using a $200 Chromebook? No, but I've used a scanner before. Surely that's still an option? Maybe it's unusual that we've kept them, but both my ancient inkjet and my wife's ancient laser printer both have flatbed scanners on top.