The Apple company lives by people using the iPhone as much as possible, which is why the latest statements from Tim Cookwhere he basically said that Let’s use our cell phones less and go out into the countryside more.. It’s wise advice, although I’m not sure that those who work in the Apple ecosystem will find it very funny…
The CEO of Apple has given an interview to the program Good Morning Americawhere he has asked people to use their cell phones less and do more productive things.
In reference to iPhones, he said: «I don’t want people to use them too much. I don’t want people to look at their phones more than at other people’s eyes. That’s not how you want to spend your day. Go out and enjoy it in nature.»
The mobile phone, a physical and mental health problem
The statements are surprising because they come from the CEO of a company that lives off people using mobile phones and screens. Maybe Tim knows that good advice is one thing, and what users then do is another…
Numerous studies have proven that young people and adolescents spend an average of 8 hours a day looking at screensadding the mobile phone, the television, the computer and the consoles or tablets. And adults are not far from that number.
Mobile phone abuse is, first of all, harmful to physical health: eyesight, problems derived from a sedentary lifestyle, etc. But it can be even more serious with mental health.
A study published a few days ago found that Using social networks like Instagram or TikTok makes people unhappier. Posture, pretending, lies, and one’s own comparison with people who boast of their body, income, and good life, almost always an artificial construction, produce dissatisfaction and even depression in people.
Even more so when unhealthy content is promoted by the platforms themselves. Meta and Google have been condemned this week for “negligent” when it came to protect minors from bullying and addiction.
TikTok and others are investigated by the European Union for using tactics that lead to addiction, such as infinite scrolling of videos.
The AI Slopthe garbage created with AI, is lowering the quality bar of social networks even further.
Perhaps the strange thing is that we are surprised by these statements by Tim Cookbecause they are common sense: “use your cell phone less, and go out into nature.” It sounds strange to us because We have never heard this from any other CEO of a technology company.. The business comes first, the mental health of its clients and the protection of minors takes a backseat, as has been demonstrated with Meta or ByteDance.