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Former iPod Chief Tony Fadell Believes Apple Should Tackle Smartphone Addiction

fairuz said:
iOS 11 throttled my phone so badly that I all but stopped using it. I'm not kidding. 11.3 unthrottled it, but by now I'm in the habit of not touching my phone. Finally got around to deleting my Facebook too (not because of the recent news; I was going to do it a while ago).

Total screen time is down massively. I pretty much only respond to messages on my computer, leftover from when keyboard lag made it tough on my phone, and it's never been a practical issue so far because the general talking via text messages was never important. E.g. I visit my girlfriend more instead of messaging her, similarly with friends. It's great. I feel way more relaxed.
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Great to hear!
 
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He's still bitter that Apple went with iPhone OS instead of his souped up iPod OS.
Anyway, instead of talking about phone addiction, he should be talking about how Google is handling his company Nest, and the implication of privacy and Google's "addiction" to abandon projects willy nilly.
 
Ploki said:
Well that doesn't mean that they will be used less in the long run.
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No it's not, but they're best equipped to do it.


Question? Spend 3 hours scrolling your Facebook feed.(Some pre-tech realworld equivalent)
Question? Spend 2 hours making selfies for your instagram account. (Some pre-tech realworld equivalent)

I was a teen when social technology was in its roots (we were using IRC for communication over internet) and I just can't find real-world equivalents for the two I mentioned.

Nobody is going to say you're addicted because you use Maps or listen to music...
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Who cares? People can make personal choices and it's not always someone's "job" to do what they see as "best" for someone else.
 
steve-jobs-eddy-cue-tony-fadell-phil-schiller-jony-ive-and-scott-forstall-800x587.jpg

I think what we should be focusing on is the fact we have a picture of all that talent but not one decent pair of jeans.​
 
Baymowe335 said:
Who cares? People can make personal choices and it's not always someone's "job" to do what they see as "best" for someone else.
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My whole point was that if they have enough vision (and i actually think they do) they can benefit out of this as opposed to be harmed by it.
 
Ploki said:
My whole point was that if they have enough vision (and i actually think they do) they can benefit out of this as opposed to be harmed by it.
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They aren't going to be harmed by it in any meaningful way. It's good people are addicted to these devices.
 
Ploki said:
No it's not, but they're best equipped to do it.
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How? Some apps and websites make people addicted to pointless stuff, and others are actually useful. Smartphone makers can't do anything other than not selling phones anymore or severely handicapping them in ways that would limit their usefulness.
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Ploki said:
Why is any addiction good?
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It can be good to do certain things automatically. I was addicted (in a serious way) to work for some period of time, and it was definitely in my best interest during that time. I realized and cut it out after a couple of months. But no, I would not call smartphone addiction good in almost any case.
 
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Ploki said:
Why is any addiction good?
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It's good for Apple. They don't need to worry about your habits. They sell devices you like and aren't illegal.

Hershey's doesn't need to make sure you don't buy too many of their chocolate bars either. Make better choices. On your own.
 
Baymowe335 said:
It's good for Apple. They don't need to worry about your habits. They sell devices you like and aren't illegal.

Hershey's doesn't need to make sure you don't buy too many of their chocolate bars either. Make better choices. On your own.
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oh that.

well yes, but when dieting is trendy hershey's makes "diet chocolate" and its good for them (and arguably, the consumer)

fairuz said:
How? Some apps and websites make people addicted to pointless stuff, and others are actually useful. Smartphone makers can't do anything other than not selling phones anymore or severely handicapping them in ways that would limit their usefulness.
[doublepost=1523987668][/doublepost]
It can be good to do certain things automatically. I was addicted (in a serious way) to work for some period of time, and it was definitely in my best interest during that time. I realized and cut it out after a couple of months. But no, I would not call smartphone addiction good in almost any case.
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ok first, addiction to work doesnt count.

about how apple is best suited: they have literally tons of data of how you use your phone and could easily crunch the data to a most effective way of curbing addicition.
 
JilzVT said:
You can't honestly expect a company to design a way for people to use their product less.
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Well, casinos nowadays have pamphlets that explain gambling addiction, and hotlines if you need help.
Alcohol products do warn you about drinking to impairment.

It can work, but it'll probably require government regulation.
 
Ploki said:
about how apple is best suited: they have literally tons of data of how you use your phone and could easily crunch the data to a most effective way of curbing addicition.
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They don't collect detailed information on your phone usage, and they don't want to.
 
It is interesting, that for all the work people have poured into computer hardware and software over the years, the ultimate destination of all of it, the greatest economic carrot dangling in front of the world, was not in design software to design products for better living, not banking software to help people build their lives, not defense software to run nations, not automation or medical software to enable us to live lives of greater ease and health. It's a device whose use physically isolates a person, and traps their attention by appealing to their vanity in a constant barrage of positive feedback loops.

Great Ape + Phone + Facebook/Insta/Twit = checkmate.

When indulging in the addiction, the fully addicted will not be able to imagine any alternative to continuing the addiction.
 
fairuz said:
They don't collect detailed information on your phone usage, and they don't want to.
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Time tracking/management apps such as Moment require you to snapshot battery usage from which they calculate your app usage.

this is actually already quite detailed, and they don't need to *collect* it, they only need to make an option to crunch it on the device itself
 
Breaking Good said:
Because, you know, we never had crazy people until we had smartphones. :rolleyes:
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And replaced it with what? Did you provide them with other activities to occupy their time?
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My mom never provided me with other activities to occupy my time, she told me there'd be he!! to pay if I was back before dinner and we always found things to do
 
Ploki said:
Time tracking/management apps such as Moment require you to snapshot battery usage from which they calculate your app usage.

this is actually already quite detailed, and they don't need to *collect* it, they only need to make an option to crunch it on the device itself
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Just looking at app usage time isn't going to fuel an anti-addiction policy. They need to look at usage patterns and determine whether the user has "unhealthy" habits like cycling through a few social media apps. Even then I barely have any idea how that would be effective.
 
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