Boundless Mind Wants to Fix America's Smartphone Addiction
time.com
time.com
> Boundless Mind makes it easy to hook your users.
That's not that this post's title made me think it was, which was something that make people put away their phones[0].
[0]: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/27/mobile-ph...
"Meet the tech company that wants to make you even more addicted to your phone" – TechCrunch at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/08/meet-the-tech-company-that...
The Time's editor should be ashamed.
> > Boundless Mind’s business model is to develop new versions of the same persuasive tools, combined with machine learning, that big tech firms already use–and then to sell them to nonprofits and companies promoting education, health or social welfare.
It's rare to have a running addiction, but common to have a running habit. Is the line the strength of the compulsion, or the effect on the human...?
With running I suppose the effort to do it, even if it's a habit, prevents most people from getting addicted to it. And then those that have some psychological 'dependence' on running would not generally be considered 'addicted' because running is mostly healthy.
There's a difference between the mission (power tools for your habits) and the current stage (which is "garage SaaS startup")
Speaking generally then, I think it's interesting to note that contrary to popular perception the Amish will often (albeit not always) use modern technology when they decide it suits them for industrial purposes. This includes the (not universal) use of diesel generators, telephones, computers, solar panels, wind turbines, tractors, refrigerators, milking machines, batteries, compressed air, among others. They will (often) use this technology in one aspect of their lives while abstaining in other contexts. They may have a computer in their workplace for workplace related tasks, but they almost certainly won't have a computer at home with which to play CS:Go in the evenings.
I believe this is what toasterlovin was referring to when he attributed to the Amish the question "How can we reap the benefits of this new technology while avoiding it's pitfalls?"
I will say, though, that there are aspects of the Amish lifestyle and belief structure which would not be viable if they were the dominant culture, rather than just a very small minority. The big issue that stands out to me is that I'm not sure that the Amish emphasis on extremely tight community bonds is compatible with the level of economic specialization required for a nation state to be competitive with it's neighbors. There is something kind of magical that only seems to happen in cities, but cities seem to be especially effective at promoting an intensely individualistic lifestyle.
But that's all orthogonal to my original point. You can learn from the Amish without becoming Amish. We could emulate their approach of delineating very specific ways in which technology is to be integrated into our lives. But our society seems to have serious problems with the idea of orthopraxy, so I'm not counting on it.
All I'm saying is that we would be better off if we asked ourselves how to use each new technology in a way that allows up to reap the benefits while avoiding the pitfalls. In no way am I suggesting that we not create or use new technologies at all.
So what this is about is bringing that same tech to places where you can actually reap that benefit, instead of your corporate memetic overlords.
The article reads like an episode from Silicon Valley complete with TJ Miller clone boy.
"He signs his emails with emojis–a bear, a red heart, a sun–describes himself on the company’s website as an 'escaped circus bear' and favors collared shirts unbuttoned to the sternum, revealing a tan wilderness of chest hair."
Really... This is the guy who's going to save everyone from their smartphones?
If an approach of the sort you describe does anything to solve the problem of the behavior pattern it is directed at, you probably shouldn't use “addiction” to describe the behavior pattern in the first place.
Like dog cones. The solution to some skin issue is to not poke at it, and that's it. If you stop poking at it, it'll fix itself.
I want my phone to nudge me if it thinks I'm spending too long on certain apps. I want reddit to stop loading if I've spent more than an hour on it that day. I want to be able to bypass these limitations if I strictly need to (for example, "You've spent 1 hour on reddit already today, click here to pay $0.10 for another 15 minutes). Just in the way that technology can be fine-tuned to grab your attention, I know that it can be designed to help you get the most out of your time. I really would pay $10 / month for a version of YouTube or Chrome that had these features. If anyone knows of solutions like this please let me know.
If you use Android, email me. We're working on something extra strength there.
While I could go through the effort of subverting it, I've found that it has been effective in limiting my usage of distracting apps like Facebook or Reddit. A lot of times, I will instinctively click the app icon when I get on my phone, and the "Access Denied" splash screen it displays after the time limit is up helps me stay aware of my aimless browsing habits and encourages me to do something more productive.
If you can maintain discipline and not disable the app after a time limit has been reached, it can help to deter compulsive news feed consumption and other distracting activities.
I probably wouldn't live here either- but it was just a thought.
The Boundless AI helps companies build habits that help people (fitness, health, financial responsibly, etc). https://Boundless.AI
Space helps people quit habit forming apps. https://youjustneedspace.com