Dear iPhone–It Was Just Physical, and Now It’s Over

I use my phone a lot during the day, but that's because I'm not sure if I would categorize it first and foremost as a book reader or communications device. I spend much lot more time reading books/fiction on it than I do using it as a communication device (and don't use any social networks beyond HN), but the communication aspects of it are so important that I can't easily discount them as secondary.

Interestingly, if I carried a paperback around with me, and pulled it out to read it when waiting for things, and read it before bed, would I be considered to have a "page time" problem, or is that more acceptable? If it's more acceptable, maybe that points to this being less a problem about spending time on the phone, and more about what we spend our time on in general.

I’m guessing you are writing this from your computer then.

Me it’s from my phone. It’s 30 past midnight here in London and I’m eating, alone in the Airbnb I booked (don’t worry, I had a great evening :-), so I guess I could watch TV.

But I’m reading HN.

Today I visited London a bit, gone to British Museum, and made a lot of bus time.

So I used my smartphone, while on the bus or in the queue to BM to follow events in Paris and France (as I’m french)

Again, with my smartphone.

So is it wasted time ? Maybe. I don’t know what else I could have done. Speaking with people was not possible, queuing between Italians and people from another country that I didn’t get the language.

I could have listen to music (or a podcast or whatever) but I was concerned with the situation in France.

So for me it’s a computer that I can use anywhere.

On the other hand, do I waste time on it ? More than I should. But I too waste time on my computer doing the same stuff !

> I guess I feel like I don't have a screen time problem because [...]

That's an odd thing to volunteer and present a justification for when no one has accused you of having a “screen time problem”.

This is essentially what I do. I don’t pull my phone out unless there is some intent behind why I am pulling it out. If I pull it out to check the time, I don’t then unlock it to mindlessly browse the web.

If I pull it out to read a book, I’ll treat my phone as if I’m reading a book and won’t care so much about how much “screen time” I have. Or if I’m using something like Instapaper. If I’m using Reddit, I’m looking for news on a specific thing or I’m looking for information on a topic, and Reddit is just one stop I make along the way, that doesn’t change whether I’m on my phone or laptop.

If I’m watching a movie or something in bed, then it is time I would have spent on a television screen anyway. If I’m taking notes, I’m taking notes. If I’m journaling, I’m journaling.

I’m not interested in how much time I spend on my phone specifically, I’m interested in knowing if I waste time. So far, I don’t feel like I waste time. My recreation time is well accounted for, and some of it is spent on my phone too, but I’m not against spending some of it on my phone.

At the end of the week when iOS 12 sends me a report on how I spent my time, I’m generally not surprise. If I am surprised, I try to be more conscientious going into the next week.

Because it's an essay of personal experience, and the author's drug, er, device of choice was an iPhone (“iPhone” and “smartphone” are used interchangeably in the body to refer to the author’s device.)

The fact that other people might share similar experiences with other devices, and that the author even recognizes this, doesn't change the fact that the personal experience being addressed relates specifically to an iPhone.

They also answer the question of how we would approach the creation of sentient AI that is capable of suffering -- they switch their attention from the smartphone to a sentient being that they created that is capable of suffering.