
Asia's smartphone addiction - SimplyUseless
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33130567
======
hellofunk
In Singapore, at the movies or even formal music concerts, like the symphony
orchestra, the audience is full of people doing who knows what on their mobile
phones throughout the entire event. It is so obnoxious. Best thing that's
improved in my life since leaving Southeast Asia is being around people who
aren't so intimately attached all the time with their silly phones. Even at a
nice restaurant there, the table next to you is often a middle-aged couple
watching a whole movie on their phone together -- speakers fully turned up.

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anonnyj
I know it happens elsewhere, but it's insane here in China: People using their
phone while on the road. Whether it be crossing the street, driving their car,
or trying to keep balance while holding the phone with both hands and driving
their scooter with their elbows.

I even see the police doing that.

~~~
stargazer-3
One of my most memorable memories from Taiwan includes a police car stopping
near us and two officers asking... if they can take a picture with us.

But I would love to see some more in-depth analysis of Asian phone usage. This
article gives a lot of numbers which, although interesting, are losing their
meaning without a comparison to other parts of the world.

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Kenji
I don't even know what people do all day on their smartphones. I only use mine
when I need to quickly check a fact, e.g. when my train departs or where a
building that I've never been to is located. I dislike the touchscreen
interface. Gaming on it is horrible, typing is horrible, navigation is
passable if the buttons are big enough. Overall, the desktop is vastly
superior in every way and when I'm on the road, I prefer looking at my
surroundings and sorting out my thoughts because I couldn't do serious
computer work anyway.

~~~
something123
> I don't even know what people do all day on their smartphones

This is a mindblowing thing to hear. You really don't know that people use
cellphones to keep in touch with friends?

Did you miss the last 10 years or something?

I have friends all around the world who I don't get to see in person and I
want to maintain those friendships through chat and social media bc they are
very meaningful to me. I'm constantly on my phone.

Sure a desktop is more convenient, but I'm not at my computer all day. The
phone lets you have an ongoing conversation. Without them you'd only be able
to talk with people when you're both sitting at a computer.... Or you'd have
to send long messages and wait hours to hear back from them; which is less
dynamic and engaging.

At the same time it does allow you to have pauses in the conversation, so not
only can you take the time to think and for instance write a thoughtful
response, but you can also easily do other things in the mean time. You can
buy groceries and chat and then stop for a minute when you're at the checkout
counter. So it's vastly better than making a phone call

~~~
Kenji
>You really don't know that people use cellphones to keep in touch with
friends?

>Did you miss the last 10 years or something?

I guess I did miss the last 10 years then. I am old-fashioned in that regard.

I prefer friends who don't require me to be available 24/7 (unless it's an
emergency or something like that). I am happier to interact in 'bursts', that
is, exchange thoughts in one intense session, or writing longer messages,
rather than the trickling 1-message-per-hour that seems to be so fashionable
today. I like to be either part of an interaction, or not. And not in a
perpetual conversation that never stops. But hey, to each their own. I know
that other people like me exist.

------
paulojreis
"But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another -
slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley's
Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and
Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome
by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is
required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw
it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that
undo their capacities to think."

"Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman seems appropriate here.

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prodmerc
This makes the lack of consumer HUDs/AR glasses even more perplexing.

The technology is here, so why are companies toying around with smartwatches
(a very limited concept, imo, might as well strap a small smartphone on your
wrist :-)) instead of making these a reality for everyone:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass)

[http://www.lumus-optical.com/](http://www.lumus-optical.com/)

~~~
JustSomeNobody
It's not perplexing. People don't want it. They thought Glass was ... nerdy
and creepy.

~~~
greggman
People didn't want Newtons either and PDAs were considered nerdy. Now you're a
outlier if you don't have one. People will want it when it's presented
correctly with the right UX and it has the right set of features.

~~~
greggman
WTF was this downvoted? What did I say that pissed people off so much they
felt this was worth of a downvote?

First off 7 French natives have told me the minimum is 2 months. 3 work at
Nintendo of France. 1 works at a Nuclear Power Plant. 3 are currently working
in Japan, 2 in Kyoto, 1 in Tokyo. They might have been wrong but that's what
they believe.

Second it doesn't matter if it's 40 days off a year or 25. That's still
INFINITELY MORE THAN THE USA which is ZERO and still entirely makes the point
that lots more vacation than is typical in the USA is at least something to be
considered.

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justin_d
Worth pointing out that every year millions of people worldwide are killed or
injured by drivers using cell phones while driving.

~~~
hauget
I didn't realize how bad it's gotten until I saw a guy texting WHILE DRIVING
HIS SCOOTER!

~~~
aianus
In Vietnam they drive their scooters side by side with their friends and carry
on a full conversation while driving and looking straight sideways XD

Honestly, it works fine. Westerners are way too concerned with safety.

~~~
dawson
I have an office in VN and would disagree it's working fine...

> the majority of those injured and killed in VietNam are vulnerable road
> users

> road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 29
> years.

(PDF)
[http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_traffic/c...](http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_traffic/countrywork/rs10_vietnam_en.pdf)

~~~
aianus
Edit: deleted comment because it was inaccurate. Apparently accidents still
rank higher than suicide in the US, of which most are probably vehicular.

~~~
irishcoffee
Source? Is this what the dead 17 year-olds tell you?

~~~
aianus
The suicide rate in the US is 2.5x higher than in Vietnam. Clearly people are
a lot more fucked up mentally in the US than in Vietnam.

Also, anecdotally, I was much less depressed in Vietnam than in Canada/US. You
don't realize how oppressive day-to-day life is here until you've lived there.
Everything in the west requires 'insurance' and 'licenses' and 'regulation'
and there's always someone telling you what to do and how to do it.

------
peteretep
Amazed in Bangkok at the degree to which I only ever see Samsung or Apple
phones. Many more for sale in the shops, but I feel like Samsung and Apple
absolutely dominate. Lots of very old phones, mind you.

~~~
saint_fiasco
Maybe Samsung and Apple phones are the most durable brands.

------
userbinator
Although I like the saying "smart phones dumb people", I think this is just a
subset of computer addiction; but in this case, the computer is so easily
portable that people become even more preoccupied with it and become unaware
of their physical environment.

~~~
zxcdw
But isn't computer just the medium to access the _real_ addiction-causing
substance, whatever it may be?

I mean, if you give person _a computer_ of any kind without internet access,
they'll likely feel just as anxious as not having the device in the first
place. This, to me, would suggest that what _actually_ causes the addiction is
something these online services provide for people. Be it for example some
form of self-expression in form of Facebook status updates. They'll be fine
for as long as they get to make the update for example (and perhaps see it go
live? As in to check their outside appearance like a person checks the mirror
after fixing their clothing, despite knowing the clothing is fine. Just _need_
that feedback for the sake of feedback itself, not for any particular
practical reason necessarily).

Why do I make the distinction? Because I've had to deal with something related
to the subject matter myself. (Acknowledgement of some form/sort of addiction,
which isn't computers _themselves_ (though the addiction-causing behavior is
mediated through a computer), or "being online", but something more general
because the addiction takes its shape and form for as long as the online
service provides the easy "dopamine rush" (in lack of a better term), perhaps
to relieve some underlying anxiety?)

~~~
tdkl
> But isn't computer just the medium to access the real addiction-causing
> substance, whatever it may be?

Sure, this ain't anything new. The internet, is a source of constant novelty
addiction, which keeps the brain stimulated.

Mobile phone is just another medium, that you can carry around all the time
and extend that addiction and makes it possible anywhere.

~~~
andygates
And all that gossip and kitten-video-sharing, that's just ... human
interaction. It's almost as if we're a social species which uses low-
information chatter as grooming.

