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owenversteeglast Wednesday at 6:10 PM2 repliesview on HN

A handful of years ago, before anyone had figured out how to properly optimize for attention, we all had small-screen phones. The “small phone” problem is really just that it’s not as addictive. Apple wants you to spend more time on-screen [0] and so do you [1.] I really hope you’re not thinking about spending less time on-screen. Technology companies love you and care about you. They usually know what’s best. You should probably just get a bigger screen.

[0] see: massive financial incentives, developer tooling to help maximize engagement, product design focused on extended use, notoriously useless screen time feature etc

[1] we don’t have exact mini sales, but estimates are they were around 6% of total iPhone sales (aka: low, but billions a year in revenue, enough to keep barring other incentives) - more revenue than many other Apple products or the SE, for example. Even if you’re Apple you don’t axe billions in revenue for nothing!


Replies

culilast Thursday at 5:14 AM

Is there actual research suggesting smaller screens promote less screen time?

avgdlast Thursday at 6:58 AM

> I really hope you’re not thinking about spending less time on-screen.

Your sarcastic tone reminds me of a Steve Jobs interview.

> In 2010, a New York Times reporter had a conversation that revealed a lot about the life of the founder of Apple. Nick Bilton commented, “Your kids must love the iPad, right?” After the launch of the device. Jobs replied, “They haven't used it. We limit the amount of technology our children use at home. "

Yeah, they know what it is that they are doing to the world. And they do not care, profits > humanity.