Smartphones are making us unhealthy, miserable, antisocial, and less free. If we can’t yet nationalize the attention economy, maybe it’s time to abolish its primary tool — before it finishes abolishing us.
Smartphones are making us unhealthy, miserable, antisocial, and less free. If we can’t yet nationalize the attention economy, maybe it’s time to abolish its primary tool — before it finishes abolishing us.
Ban non-free software. Ban always-on tracking devices that the user cannot disable. Don’t ban hardware form-factors.
The form factor is the problem. We carry a propaganda faucet slash ad delivery service with us 24-7-365, we check it obsessively for a quick dopamine fix throughout the day, and we have convinced ourselves this is good for us.
How many ads would be there without non-free software? How much propaganda without the non-free “social” apps? People can turn anything into an addiction, but the fact that the device fits in their pocket is not the problem. No one gets obsessed with or addicted to pocket calculators. If someone wants to respond to emails on the train without carrying their laptop with them, a smaller and low-power device running some form of GNU/Linux or FreeBSD or other free OS makes sense. It doesn’t need to be a phone, and I would personally be 100% okay with all phones of every kind ceasing to exist this second, but if someone is going to have a phone anyway, then it might as well be able to send emails also. (Disclaimer: I do not have a smartphone and never will.)