We are just 2 generations away from this

(Paywall-free popularization like this is what I do for a living. To support me, see the end of this post)

If that report is right, of course.

Forty years ago, people laughed at the mere idea of people walking all the time with screen helmets glued to their skulls:

We are just 2 generations away from this /img/pioneer-stretched.jpg

In the year that just ended, however, time spent in online “social networking” has hit new records.

We are just 2 generations away from this /img/smartphone-addiction.png

Key findings of the just released “State of Mobile 2023” Report include:

  1. “total time spent using social apps rose 17% year-over-year, now surpassing 2 trillion hours on Android phones in 2022." (source)
  2. (as global average) “Time spent on mobile increased to 5 hours per day, up 3% YoY in the top 10 markets." (source)

“Just” 3% in a year? That’s good. Except it isn’t

For more data and information, check out the full report by data.ai.

What I would like to point out here is only the fact that, should that 3% increase Year Over Year continue, it would take only about 50 years, that is just a couple of generations, for those 5 hours per day to become 24.

Or, in other words, that everybody in primary school now would end living the stand-up, walking version of that 1980s joke. That’s the only concrete difference between these two screenshots:

We are just 2 generations away from this /img/pioneer-stretched.jpg
We are just 2 generations away from this /img/matrix-pods.jpg

Ah, well. At least walking is better for one’s health than lying down, right?

Who writes this, why, and how to help

I am Marco Fioretti, tech writer and aspiring polymath doing human-digital research and popularization.
I do it because YOUR civil rights and the quality of YOUR life depend every year more on how software is used AROUND you.

To this end, I have already shared more than a million words on this blog, without any paywall or user tracking, and am sharing the next million through a newsletter, also without any paywall.

The more direct support I get, the more I can continue to inform for free parents, teachers, decision makers, and everybody else who should know more stuff like this. You can support me with paid subscriptions to my newsletter, donations via PayPal (mfioretti@nexaima.net) or LiberaPay, or in any of the other ways listed here.THANKS for your support!