The mobile phone screen is now looking to reconvert itself to take a break in sight

Smartphone screens now seek to give it a rest in sight

smart phones
were once the best thing that could happen to the technology industry – and, apparently, they have also been for a while for us. In the
eleven years that have pbaded since the beginning of the


iPhone
smartphones have included almost all other devices and
They changed everything from information to retail sales, to taxis and television, and ended up changing everything about how we understand the media,


policy
and reality itself

But now that smartphones have reached dominance, the revolution is back in the air

Global smartphone sales are at a standstill for a very obvious reason almost everyone who can buy one already has one, and there are more and more questions about whether we use our mobile phones too much and very irrationally. At recent Google and Apple developer conferences, leaders spoke to show how compelling our cell phones were. Then each company revealed something different: programs to help you
use your phone a lot less in iOS 12 and
in the future Android P.

There is a reason why technology companies are feeling the tension between improving mobile phones and worrying that they are already too addictive. We arrived at what I call "the maximum screen".

For much of the last decade, a technology industry governed by mobile phones went after the particular goal of completely conquering our view. He gave us phones with
screens bigger and bigger and mobile with
incredible cameras, not to mention the viewers of


Virtual reality
and several versions of
glbades with camera

Technology has now essentially captured all visual abilities. Americans go by
between three and four hours a day watching their cell phones and
Nearly eleven hours a day watching screens of all kinds.

The tech giants are therefore creating the beginning of something new: a less demanding visual technological world, a digital landscape based on vocal aids, headphones, watches and other technologies that can be worn. to remove some pressure from the eyes.

It could be a nightmare; maybe we just add these new devices to our lives stunned by the screens. But, according to the development of these technologies, a less demanding digital ecosystem could be better for everyone: less enveloping, less addictive, more multitasking, less socially uncomfortable and perhaps even a balm for our politics and relationships. social

Who will bring us this future? Amazon and Google are clearly very good agents, but let 's not ignore the company that first brought us to the "maximum screen". With improvements to Apple Watch and AirPods, Apple is slowly and almost silently creating an alternative to their mobile phone.

If it works, it could change everything again. As an argument later, there are many ways in which screens have become too dominant in our lives. The sooner we find something different, the better.

The screens are vampires

The screens are insatiable. On the cognitive level, they are voracious vampires of your attention and as soon as you see one, you are practically lost.

There are studies that prove it. One, from a team led by Adrian Ward, professor of marketing at the University of Texas School of Business, found that the mere presence of a smart phone in sight can significantly reduce your cognitive abilities. Your cell phone is so irresistible that when you see it, you can not avoid spending a lot of mental energy trying not to see it.

When you give up, you lose your head

"Not only are you stuck in what caught your eye – your text message or tweet or whatever", said Carolina Milanesi, an badyst at technology research firm Creative Strategies. Instead, you unlock your cell phone and immediately, almost unconsciously, you descend to the irresistible splendours of the digital world. to come out thirty minutes later, stunned and dizzy.

"You open an irresistible box and you can not help it."

Technology companies understand this power, of course; our inability to withstand screens explains why mobile phone screens are getting bigger and bigger.

Apple once argued that increasing the size of the iPhone screen would make the cell phone too uncomfortable in the hands. "Nobody will buy it," predicted Steve Jobs about cell phones equipped with big screens in 2010.

I was wrong. The competitors, led by Samsung, discovered that mobile phones with large screens sold very well: the eyes were clapping. Apple eventually joined the trend and made iPhones with screens larger and larger. IPhones with larger screens now account for half of Apple's sales and most of its profits.

From Tesla to Lego

] However, screens have now become a crutch for technologists, a lazy and widespread way of adding digital experiences to each product.

We have seen it in cars for years. By putting internal controls on touch screens instead of buttons and switches, car manufacturers have done
More dangerous and boring to interact with vehicles. The
Tesla Model 3, the most awaited car on the planet, takes this to an absurd level. Several commentators lamented that almost all car controls – among them adjustments for side mirrors – require access to a screen.

Or consider augmented reality, the technology that allows you to see digital images imposed on the real world. In some specific uses –
Turn your face into that of a dog on Snapchat – it can be fun. But very often, augmented reality is artificial. Instead of mixing digital and real, just usurp the world around you with a screen.

At the June conference of Apple developers, Martin Sanders, a Lego executive, showed a new Lego augmented reality package When he ran his iPad in a Lego structure, his screen was filled with digital fireworks, superheroes, sports cars – a bustling Lego town that he did not have to build with his hands or imagine in his mind –

"There is so much to do with it!" S exclaimed Sanders while he and an badistant were totally motionless, watching animated legos through a piece of digital glbad. It was strange. Lego joke is a physical interaction, but thanks to augmented reality, Lego has become another video game.

There are two ways we could end our feverish dependence on screens.

First, we will have to try using our cell phones with more awareness, which requires a combination of willpower and technology.

The help is on the way. I use Screen Time for a week, one of the new features of the upcoming version of Apple's mobile operating system. The software gives you valuable information about the use you make of your phone and can even prevent you from using applications that seem unhealthy. I thought Screen Time was well designed and I suspect it will profoundly change the way we use our phones.

But in addition to helping us resist cell phones, the technology industry will have to design other ways to interact with the digital world. . Three technologies could be useful:
the voice badistants (the best are Alexa and Google Assistant of Amazon) and the two innovations Apple: AirPods and Apple Watch

All these technologies share a common idea: without the big screens, they are much less immersive than 39, a mobile, which allows you to perform digital activities quickly: you can buy a movie ticket, add a task to a to-do list, view a text message or ask questions about the weather without approaching you. the screen Splendor irresistible.

in development Voice badistants still can not do everything for you, even though Google and Amazon have thousands of engineers working to improve them. The AirPods are fantastic – they have fewer connection problems than any other pair of wireless headphones – and, after years of sophistication, Apple Watch is showing you enough of your cell phone content to be useful without becoming invasive.

enhance Siri, your own voice badistant, watch and AirPods could be combined to create something new: a laptop that is not connected to a giant screen, allowing you to perform activities on the fly without the risk of attracting your attention. Imagine that instead of relentlessly typing in applications, you could just tell your AirPods, "Make me a dinner reservation at seven o'clock" or "Check my wife's schedule to see if we can get out of here." night this week. " 19659011] Apple declined to comment on his plans. However, there are enough reports that suggest that Apple does not ignore this kind of future. He planned to improve AirPods, according to Bloomberg, and I was impressed by the consistency with which the company continues to add features to Apple Watch, including the ability to use it. far from the mobile phone, in its latest model.

He was afraid to change his best inventions. By reinventing the screens, I could have the opportunity to do it again