IOT
“ AS HUMANS , WE CAN ’ T HELP BUT FEEL JEALOUS OF THE PICTURE PERFECT , THOUGH NOT LIKELY ENTIRELY ACCURATE , LIVES OF
THOSE THAT WE FOLLOW ”
JOE HOLLIER CEO , LIGHT
[ LIKE ] IS THE DRUG Roxy Music references aside , let ’ s be real here . We ’ re all addicted to our phones .
However , there ’ s a risk when it comes to framing things as an addiction . People tend to have an unpleasant tendency to turn things around on the addict , framing continued use of the addictive element of their lives as a crisis of willpower or a lack of perspective . While determination and perspective are very helpful when it comes to breaking out of an addictive pattern of behaviour , those of us looking to kick the habit are up against more than we realise .
“ Smartphones are pretty miraculous devices ; we are able to bring the entire internet around with us in our pockets , at our side 24 / 7 ,” says Joe Hollier , co-founder of Light and maker of the minimalist Light Phone . “ The problem is that we as humans are vulnerable , and many of the apps inside the smartphone are being engineered to use these very vulnerabilities against us because their business model is directly tied to how much time users spend with their product .”
Just about every app inside your smartphone , from social media platforms to games to YouTube , have a vested interest in being as addictive as possible . Their business models - and therefore bottom lines - are
mobile-magazine . com 125