
The Cellphone Glued to Your Hand - nilium
http://null.authpad.com/the-cellphone-glued-to-your-hand
======
smokinjoe
I was just thinking of this while coming up the elevator after picking up
lunch. Instinctively people reach into their pockets to grab their phones for
their 5, 6 or 12 story trip.

It's like a natural reaction - I always find this humorous because there is
absolutely no service in our elevators. People just end up scrolling up, then
scrolling back down.

People love to be distracted, even if it's just for 23 seconds.

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stephengillie
In college, of everything that's going on, classes are the least important.
Yes, you still need to pass them, but if you're freaking out because someone
is distracting you during a boring lecture, you're doing it wrong.

And the boring lecturer is doing it wrong too - wasting your time and money
and everyone else's! Be an adult and take matters into your own hands.

~~~
nilium
The issue here is that there is no lecture -- it's workshop. Everyone in the
classroom is participating, so to be the student constantly checking a
cellphone alienates you somewhat, and you end up distracting most of the class
from the work at hand, which is usually trying to help improve someone else's
work. Unfortunately, asking the person to stop rarely works. They'll put down
the phone for about five minutes, but the request rarely holds and their hand
is back on the phone rather quickly.

~~~
stephengillie
I'm confused - all of the workshop and small-group work I've ever done in
classrooms (including college) involves an epic amount of shifting, moving,
digging for materials, talking, talking loudly, and sometimes shouting.
Someone checking a smartphone in that environment would actually be reducing
the distractions in the room.

~~~
nilium
That all sounds far less organized than what we work with in my classes. It's
mostly open, but you shouldn't interrupt folks, nobody should need to shout,
and you should give room for others to speak. I've only seen people shift
around when multiple workshops were going on, usually resulting in small
groups working on different pieces, but that's fairly rare and I've seen most
instructors abandon it after the first try due to the amount of noise it
produces and the tendency to drift off into discussing daily life and such.

It all sort of operates on the idea that you're actually a nice person,
capable of behaving reasonably, and discussing things like an adult (or how we
believe adults should discuss things even though this is rarely the case). The
idea is to ensure the other person wants to return to what they made, and it's
enough for one person to treat the work poorly (perhaps in showing they don't
care by focusing on their phone) to bother someone, especially newcomers to
workshops.

~~~
stephengillie
30 humans working independently or in small groups in a 20 foot x 20 foot
classroom create almost as much noise as a jet engine, regardless of age or
maturity or nationality or other factors. That's something I learned in
college.

------
wwweston
I think as we get more interesting and engaging tools like the smart phone,
we're going to have to do a lot more reflection on how our tools shape our
habits.

Like a lot of HN readers, I recognized the potential an always-connected
pocket computer had pretty early on.

Perhaps unlike many HN readers, I didn't actually buy a smart phone until this
year (though I've had dev loaners for a project or two). And part of what
drove this decision was a recognition that over the years, I've been turning
into a infosnacking net addict. Did I really want a device that makes always
convenient in my pocket, even though it would offer a world of convenience?

This February, after reflecting on what habits I might want a pocket computing
device to shape, I finally bought a used iPhone 3GS. I'm cautious about
feeding a gaming habit, so I didn't put games on it. I know that I wish I read
more long-form stuff, so I loaded it up with eBook apps, and then Readability
for digesting longer articles I might note but want to tackle later. I know I
wish I experimented with music apps, so I picked out a few simple ones.

And most important? I haven't added service on it yet. This way, I can't use
it for infosnacking anywhere.

The hope has been that I'll learn to connect the device with activities I
consciously choose as positive uses of my time, and less with responding to
the feeds and firehoses of the nets. So far, the experiment is promising. I'm
definitely reading more.

Though I did eventually install Words With Friends. :|

------
samspot
The thing that I find amusing is that as a kid I would typically pull out my
gameboy whenever possible to pass the time. Now as an adult I seem to have
gotten over that and I rarely reach for my phone unless I am expecting a long
wait such as at the doctor or the mechanic.

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npsimons
Here's a query: suppose you keep notes on your cellphone. Perhaps you use a
piece of software to jot things down so you won't forget them, especially all
those things that pop into your mind and will distract you the entire lecture,
only to be forgotten later. Can you tell the difference between someone
texting and someone jotting something down on their cellphone?

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rokhayakebe
I have been without a phone for about 3 months now. I haven't missed a
million-dollar-deal yet or a life saving text message. There are many things
you think you NEED until you find it's just luxury with a monetary and social
cost. I may get a wifi only phone, but what's for sure is I won't pay $75 for
a service anymore.

~~~
Zikes
There are few that would consider their smart phone a "NEED" (save for those
that use it primarily for business purposes) however it is highly convenient
and affords a significant peace of mind.

In my case, I can hardly imagine traveling in an unfamiliar area without a GPS
enabled smart phone, which ensures I not only do not get lost, but should I
experience car trouble then help is just a few button presses away.

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taylorlapeyre
Off-topic question for the author:

How do you use custom styles on Authpad?

~~~
nilium
You click the 'Edit forked style' link on the 'Display' page and customize the
CSS from there. Does that answer your question?

~~~
smokinjoe
Came into the comments for a fun discussion, left with a great tidbit about my
shiny new toy!

Thanks a ton, given the unobtrusiveness of the font, I'm terrified at how long
I would have gone without noticing that.

------
squarecat
rants.ycombinator.com?

