This week I got an Apple Watch and saw a 50% drop in my screen time almost immediately.
Perhaps adding more screens might be the best way to reduce our screen time overall. Here’s my unsolicited thoughts…
Phones & Laptops Do Everything
Most of us do pretty much all of our work and many leisure activities on our phones & laptops. They can do everything, and that’s the problem: if you open your phone to respond to an urgent text, there’s a good chance you’ll then be distracted by another notification or reflexively open a social app. The devices that can do everything are inherently pushing for more screen time.
How Does the Watch Help?
When I receive a notification on my Watch, the screen size limits the actions I can take easily; so many notifications are ignored until later. Notifications are also less distracting, they don’t dominate the Watch face, and I don’t find myself going into Watch apps to “clear” notifications.
The Future?
As everything in the home and office becomes a smart device, there’s a real danger we might be surrounded by 30 iPhones at all times. The utopian alternative could be achieved if these new screens remain specialized and limited, that should be both a better experience for customers and device makers.
I expect Voice is the key. Are we comfortable with limited utility from most of the screens around us if we have voice access to a powerful computer?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
