The subject of the crescent addiction on smartphones has been a constant issue here in It is in the technological press in general, and not least: if it continues at the current pace, the issue will soon become a serious public health problem.
So, of course, Apple was put in the middle of the whirlwind and experts wondered if the company (which, in addition to being one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world, one of the biggest trendsetters, too) could not take responsibility for containment of the problem. Ma investors asked for some nominal action and, as a result, Apple put up a page showing all of its types of parental controls and methods of regulating use.
enough? Only time will tell, but a very important name for the story of Apple itself does not think so.
In an article written for WIRED, Tony Fadell considered the “father of the iPod” and one of Steve Jobs's right-handers during Apple's renaissance period, between 2001 and 2008, he believes that the company, with the power it has, can (and should) do much more to deal with the problem of addiction in smartphones and proposes a way to get there: "Empowering users so that they understand more how to use their devices."
Fadell explained that, contrary to what many people think, the issue of smartphone addiction is not just a “Facebook problem” (or, in this case, companies that base their profit on usage time and create strategies to addict people) or a “children's problem”; instead, it affects everyone, so everyone should think of a solution for him, including the people there in Cupertino.
Apple is one of the most suitable companies to start this trend.
In the inventor's view, the first step in dealing with the problem is to determine what the levels would be healthy and unhealthy use of smartphones. Fadell made a parallel with food: we know, in general terms, how well we are eating and where we start to eat poorly. With that in mind, he suggested, Apple could create a kind of digital balance that would accurately report each user's usage patterns so that, from there, each would adjust their behavior according to the information obtained.
Just as we create goals in the health and wellness apps, how to take so many steps a day, we can establish goals for using the smartphone, such as reducing the screen time to x hours; as the tool would make a very clear separation of the types of use we make of the device, it could also help us focus on tasks with modes like “read only” or “audio only”, so that we could read or listen to some content without constant interruption of notifications.
Fadell concluded by stating that, for Apple, building a tool like this would not be difficult, since “the parts are already in place” and the process would be much easier and cheaper than building a self-driving car, for example. In addition, as the Apple business model does not involve the screen time itself, the company is one of the most suitable to start this trend, which, according to him, would be promptly followed by other manufacturers in the industry.
To be?
via TechCrunch
