
Boundless Mind Wants to Fix America's Smartphone Addiction - jedwhite
http://time.com/5237434/youre-addicted-to-your-smartphone-this-company-thinks-it-can-change-that/?xid=time_socialflow_twitter&utm_campaign=time&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social
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haraball
From their web page:

> Boundless Mind makes it easy to hook your users.

That's not that this post's title made me think it was, which was something
that make people put away their phones[0].

[0]: [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/27/mobile-
ph...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/27/mobile-phone-
addiction-apps-break-the-habit-take-back-control)

~~~
jmcphers
Indeed, it's almost the opposite!

> > Boundless Mind’s business model is to develop new versions of the same
> persuasive tools, combined with machine learning, that big tech firms
> already use–and then to sell them to nonprofits and companies promoting
> education, health or social welfare.

~~~
RangerScience
But not quite!

It's rare to have a running addiction, but common to have a running habit. Is
the line the strength of the compulsion, or the effect on the human...?

~~~
mercer
Both. We all compulsively sleep, eat, and hydrate, but those are not a
addictions because they're good for us.

With running I suppose the effort to do it, even if it's a habit, prevents
most people from getting addicted to it. And then those that have some
psychological 'dependence' on running would not generally be considered
'addicted' because running is mostly healthy.

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toasterlovin
I think the Amish have a lot to teach us about integrating technology into our
lives. Sure, they probably go further than I, personally, would prefer. But at
least they have asked themselves the question, "How can we reap the benefits
of this new technology while avoiding it's pitfalls?" The larger culture, on
the other hand, isn't even aware this is a question worth asking.

~~~
lordCarbonFiber
I think it's a non answer if to "reap the benefits" you just rely on the fact
the majority of society will both eat any potential pitfalls and cater to your
lifestyle to extend the benefits to you.

~~~
JackCh
Your comment lacks specificity so it's difficult to ascertain what elements of
technology you understand the Amish to exploit for themselves, and which you
believe they parasite off the rest of us.

Speaking generally then, I think it's interesting to note that contrary to
popular perception the Amish will often (albeit not always) use modern
technology when they decide it suits them for industrial purposes. This
includes the (not universal) use of diesel generators, telephones, computers,
solar panels, wind turbines, tractors, refrigerators, milking machines,
batteries, compressed air, among others. They will (often) use this technology
in one aspect of their lives while abstaining in other contexts. They may have
a computer in their workplace for workplace related tasks, but they almost
certainly won't have a computer at home with which to play CS:Go in the
evenings.

I believe this is what toasterlovin was referring to when he attributed to the
Amish the question _" How can we reap the benefits of this new technology
while avoiding it's pitfalls?"_

~~~
lordCarbonFiber
That's my exact point. They can consume technology if they so choose, but that
choice is provided _to_ them by the rest of society. The attitudes the parent
suggests we should learn from would, if adopted by the majority, means there's
no one left to provide that tech.

~~~
toasterlovin
Wait, what?

All I'm saying is that we would be better off if we asked ourselves how to use
each new technology in a way that allows up to reap the benefits while
avoiding the pitfalls. In no way am I suggesting that we not create or use new
technologies at all.

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hownottowrite
Solving technology-induced addiction with more technology is like a doctor
prescribing drugs to treat the side effects of other drugs.

~~~
spuz
No, that's a poor analogy. For example, I purchased a timer plug socket that
turns off my router between the hours of midnight and 7am. That's using
technology to solve the problem of technology addiction. If you apply
technology in the right way, it can help you to use it less.

~~~
dragonwriter
Putting a time lock on your liquor cabinet so it doesn't open between midnight
and seven a.m. isn't solving the problem of alcoholism.

If an approach of the sort you describe does anything to solve the problem of
the behavior pattern it is directed at, you probably shouldn't use “addiction”
to describe the behavior pattern in the first place.

~~~
spuz
This is also a poor analogy. To an alcoholic, alcohol serves no (or very
little) useful purpose. However, to a technology addict, technology serves
both useful and useless purposes. My suggestion is to build technology in a
way that maximises the usefulness to a user and minimises the uselessness.
There are two dimensions to work with and you can make changes to your
technology that moves you along them independently.

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spuz
I have tried desperately to use technology to help me use technology less. I
love my smartphone and Facebook and YouTube, I just don't want to spend all
day on them. I have implemented some crude solutions already and they
certainly help. For example, my PC shuts down automatically at midnight thanks
to a cronjob. I also have a plug socket that turns off my router every night
at midnight. I have a number of chrome plugins installed to help me use social
media less. However, because none of these solutions are in-built they are not
ideal - I can bypass them or they stop me doing work when I need to do it.

I want my phone to nudge me if it thinks I'm spending too long on certain
apps. I want reddit to stop loading if I've spent more than an hour on it that
day. I want to be able to bypass these limitations if I strictly need to (for
example, "You've spent 1 hour on reddit already today, click here to pay $0.10
for another 15 minutes). Just in the way that technology can be fine-tuned to
grab your attention, I know that it can be designed to help you get the most
out of your time. I really would pay $10 / month for a version of YouTube or
Chrome that had these features. If anyone knows of solutions like this please
let me know.

~~~
tdaltonc
Have you tried our app Space? You're right about the engineering limits of it
being an app. It's very frustrating. Space was initially rejected from the
Apple app store. It only got through after it was featured on 60 Minutes.

If you use Android, email me. We're working on something extra strength there.

[https://youjustneedspace.com](https://youjustneedspace.com)

~~~
spuz
Yes, I have tried Space, it honestly seemed pretty dumb. It did not seem to
work for me. I would definitely love to see what you have planned for Android.
What is your email address?

~~~
tdaltonc
team {at] boundless.ai

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alewi481
There's an app on the Google Play Store called "Stay Focused" that allows you
to set time limits for individual apps and block the app for the remainder of
the day once the time limit is reached.

While I could go through the effort of subverting it, I've found that it has
been effective in limiting my usage of distracting apps like Facebook or
Reddit. A lot of times, I will instinctively click the app icon when I get on
my phone, and the "Access Denied" splash screen it displays after the time
limit is up helps me stay aware of my aimless browsing habits and encourages
me to do something more productive.

If you can maintain discipline and not disable the app after a time limit has
been reached, it can help to deter compulsive news feed consumption and other
distracting activities.

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tjr225
Sitting on I5 Northbound on the way to my tech job in Seattle I was rerouted
to a smaller highway. As traffic flooded into the communities of the Kent
Valley it dawned about on me that if it weren't for all the tech- and therefor
tech jobs- I'm not sure I would need a smartphone whatsoever.

I probably wouldn't live here either- but it was just a thought.

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univalent
I've been using a timer app on iOS 'Timeglass'. I have multiple timers for
social apps, news, email checking at home etc. I've managed to cut down quite
a lot by hitting simple targets like 'only check news once every 6 hours' and
so on. Free, cheap solution I'd recommend to everyone.

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linkmotif
I skimmed the piece and couldn’t find what their product is. Is there a
product here?

~~~
tdaltonc
We make two tings:

The Boundless AI helps companies build habits that help people (fitness,
health, financial responsibly, etc).
[https://Boundless.AI](https://Boundless.AI)

Space helps people quit habit forming apps.
[https://youjustneedspace.com](https://youjustneedspace.com)

~~~
_mhr_
You have a B2B service for helping companies form habits, and a consumer-
facing app for breaking a specific kind of habit (phone/social media
addiction), but I think a hybrid would be killer: A consumer-facing app for
both forming and breaking any sort of habit for an individual person, whether
that's sleep, exercise, diet, conscientiousness, etc.

~~~
tdaltonc
We've looked at making a consumer habit app. The problem is when a consumer
wants to change them self, they think, "I need to get a financial heath app,"
or "I need to get a fitness app," or "I need to get a diet app," never "I need
to get a habit app." So discoverability and user education become
insurmountable. Furthermore, building a UX for habit formation requires a lot
of domain expertise. A food behavior app and a education behavior app have
almost nothing in common. Generalist habit apps always get crushed by a sea of
more focused apps (even if they don't work as well!). The app store is awash
in well executed generalist habit apps that no one uses. We pivoted in to
being an AI-API for exactly that reason.

~~~
_mhr_
Makes sense. Thank you for your thoughtful response.

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thisrod
This article made me think of _Beyond Freedom and Dignity_ by B. F. Skinner. I
haven't read it, yet. Has anyone?

~~~
tdaltonc
I have (CEO of the company the article is about). We keep a couple of copies
in the office.

