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This is the ultimate problem. It's a human issue, not a technology issue.

Raed667 5y ago
It is a technology issue in the sense that these companies are paying 6 figures to top designers and developers to optimize for eyeball-time.
- redwoolf 5y ago
  Isn't that still a human issue?
robbrown451 5y ago
It's a human issue that technology can exploit to your detriment, or it can help with. Here is an example from my life. I enjoy cannabis. I love the creative mode I get into when I use it, I love how periodic use can allow me to reexamine things from a different perspective, and so on. Great stuff. (and yes, it is legal here and sold in about 4 stores within a ten minute walk) What I don't like is how, if I have it sitting around my house, I am tempted to use it when I need to get work done, and it will get in the way of that and cause me to waste time. I would become an unproductive stoner if it was always around. Enter technology. I bought a lockbox with a timer. Pull out a little bit, then lock it up for 4-5 days. Works perfectly for me. Some people could say "why not just learn some discipline?" (easier said than done) Others will say "if you have an addiction, just don't buy the stuff." I say, why can't I have the best of both? Same goes for things like phone and web addiction. Technology can help. I don't like this solution (too all-or-nothing.... it's like the "just don't buy the stuff" solution), but I do like the idea of technology helping with what is otherwise a human issue.
nonbirithm 5y ago
Maybe it's a fundamental property of increased globalization and communication increasing the amount and kinds of information we're capable of sending? The addictive information shares bandwidth with the practical information by its very nature. I was also considering a feature phone a long time ago, and also like the parent the reason I couldn't bring myself to make the switch was because I was worried I'd end up needing to use Lyft. A Lyft app for feature phones doesn't sound like an attractive business target, and even if the market was such that Lyft felt like making one then in the end Facebook would probably also feel like making their own. Those incentives turn the smartphone game into an all-or-nothing affair if you want the convenience of modern apps, for better or worse.

It is a technology issue in the sense that these companies are paying 6 figures to top designers and developers to optimize for eyeball-time.

redwoolf 5y ago
Isn't that still a human issue?

robbrown451 5y ago

It's a human issue that technology can exploit to your detriment, or it can help with. Here is an example from my life. I enjoy cannabis. I love the creative mode I get into when I use it, I love how periodic use can allow me to reexamine things from a different perspective, and so on. Great stuff. (and yes, it is legal here and sold in about 4 stores within a ten minute walk) What I don't like is how, if I have it sitting around my house, I am tempted to use it when I need to get work done, and it will get in the way of that and cause me to waste time. I would become an unproductive stoner if it was always around. Enter technology. I bought a lockbox with a timer. Pull out a little bit, then lock it up for 4-5 days. Works perfectly for me. Some people could say "why not just learn some discipline?" (easier said than done) Others will say "if you have an addiction, just don't buy the stuff." I say, why can't I have the best of both? Same goes for things like phone and web addiction. Technology can help. I don't like this solution (too all-or-nothing.... it's like the "just don't buy the stuff" solution), but I do like the idea of technology helping with what is otherwise a human issue.

nonbirithm 5y ago

Maybe it's a fundamental property of increased globalization and communication increasing the amount and kinds of information we're capable of sending? The addictive information shares bandwidth with the practical information by its very nature. I was also considering a feature phone a long time ago, and also like the parent the reason I couldn't bring myself to make the switch was because I was worried I'd end up needing to use Lyft. A Lyft app for feature phones doesn't sound like an attractive business target, and even if the market was such that Lyft felt like making one then in the end Facebook would probably also feel like making their own. Those incentives turn the smartphone game into an all-or-nothing affair if you want the convenience of modern apps, for better or worse.