My smart watch has become an invaluable digital prosthetic to help me backfill cognitive challenges that I’ve learned are related to ADHD.

“It dings all the time!” Yes, exactly, having a buzzer attached to my person at all times ensures I don’t miss appointments and that I leave to things on time.

Your thermostat that bothers you? It would be great if we lived in a world where energy was free, and there were no consequences for using as much energy as you want. That’s not the world we live in. And you probably don’t want to live in a world where the power company decides when you can and can’t turn on your AC. This is the compromise. I’m sorry you’re bothered by it — the consequences of other solutions to this problem are likely much worse.

It’s easy to forget that these things exist, and people buy them, to solve real problems. But writing a whole essay and just eliding that fact strikes me as lazy.

This post says, “22% dismiss notifications”. Why do people allow this? I see people with phones that have 3 new notifications per 5 minutes and none of them are human being messages or human being event reminders.

Turn off every notification that isn’t actionable or joyful to you. The news isn’t actionable. Stop letting the news task you. Your social feeds aren’t actionable. Stop letting your feeds task you.

(And, yes, I’ll concede that Duo push is valid, because either I initiated that, or I have a problem to solve. Being employed brings some of us joy, after all!)

Notifications are not meant to fill the silences in your life. Your thoughts are. Not all the random drivel that phones opportunistically shovel into our faces.

I don’t really like this post because it rabble-rouses rather than owning up to the major failure of the author up top. Maybe it’ll help someone regardless, but it could have been a lot more direct with no less effectiveness. Missed opportunity, I suppose.

There's a great essay hiding in that page, but oh my goodness that is a frustrating format and layout.

Ha. Ha. Ha. He expects to still find a battery fit for the Casio watch 7 years from now! Good luck with that buddy!

> This watch costs twelve dollars. It weighs twenty-one grams.

> This watch costs four hundred dollars. It also tells time. > It also tracks my steps, monitors my blood oxygen, measures my sleep quality, logs my workouts, reminds me to breathe, reminds me to stand,

I had quite opposite experince with casio. If I want water proof (like swimming) watches, I would have to buy bulky and super expensive gshock with GPS and tons of useless festures.

$20 chinese smart watch are completely water sealed, tiny and simple to use. I can even remove wrist band, to make them even smaller. Only downside is battery life is only one week.

The article (with its doom-scrolling) suggests some stats phones should have:

    Dismissing a notification ...... 22%
    Intentional use ................ 20%
    Checking something that pinged . 18%
    Replying to a person ........... 15%
    Updating/configuring/fixing .... 12%
    Unlocking, forgetting why ...... 8%
    Managing a subscription ........ 5%

That would be kind of cool.

The real headache is that everything with a network connection needs system administration.

Ironically, casio, the company behind the prime example is now doing these kinds of things: https://www.casio.com/us/moflin/

This is an interesting and more apt way to frame smart features.

One way I've found to avoid objects that come alive is to buy the commercial version.

- TVs aimed at commercial hospitality businesses let you avoid a lot of the bloatware and smart features that come bundled with it

- Commercial washer/dryers let you avoid bluetooth and wifi and other junk not needed to wash your clothes. These are available without the coin operated features

Commercial versions of consumer products are usually simpler, more durable, and don't have advertising and smart features.

I love this. Maybe it's because I've always subconsciously realised this (I do prefer my flip phone and my iPhone stays in a drawer at home) but I've never seen something put words to my thoughts more accurately than this has

Some of these fonts and transitions I like a lot, but sometimes it feels like there are a few too many fonts on screen.

I liked this, reminds me of some other discussion on recycling/global warming etc being pushed as the comsumers fault

Oh my god this site is so cool. I just want to say — how much time did you pour into the typography and animations on the frontend? I absolutely love it.

You picked the right way to show each paragraph — what to expand, what to keep short, what to highlight. I couldn't stop scrolling. UR an artist! maybe AI can help style every line of text, but it can't make something feel this good to read.

Funny story, but I didn't realise I much I didn't want an Apple Watch, until I got one. I exercise daily and most days I just want it to shut up.

I'm getting into woodwork. I just bought a vice made in the 1940s, the same one my grandfather used. It's finished. As are my chisels, and my cast iron cookware. It's definitely refreshing.

Loved this. A lot of what's kept me sane (and what my wife is now trying to learn from me) is how absolutely merciless I am on notifications. Every time an app buzzes me, it damn well better be information I want, and if it isn't, I change the settings or revoke notifications altogether. If I am not shopping, I do not care how good your deals are. If I am not bored, I don't care what the Anxiety Machine has found to show me.

My devices serve me, not the shareholders of their respective firms.

I don't know what's the state in other markets, but where I live, Brazil, you always have the dumb consumer products. I think the only pathological example are TVs in which they require you to signin before being able to download streaming apps, but this is something that if you really must you can work around by buying a TV box.

Also, can't you just not give these products the password to your WiFi? Do they make fridges and wash machines that don't work without internet?

> Screen Time gives you a report card. And if the grade is bad, the design makes one thing clear:

> That's a you problem.

> It measures your usage. Tracks your behavior. Gives you a weekly report card. If the numbers are too high?

> You picked it up too much.

> You spent too long.

> You failed your limit.

> Try again next week.

> Try harder.

> Screen Time is a blame shift dressed in a soft font.

> ... What if the exhaustion everybody feels isn't a moral failure but the completely rational response to being made responsible for an ecosystem of objects that never stop asking?

> Everything you buy is the beginning of a relationship you'll be maintaining until one of you dies or gets discontinued.

For adults: nothing requires you to use a smartphone. Buy that Casio watch if you want. Use those wired headphones and never pair them again (I do).

EDIT: Some things require a smartphone, not nothing.

> Screen Time is a blame shift dressed in a soft font.

The alternative to giving you the responsibility is for the phone to take it, to tell you when you may and may not use it and what for. That's not better.

The watch is interactive! Nice detail