[trescenzi]

One of the things I don’t get about the panic over phones is that we’re panicking over phones and not what’s done on them. Why buy a kindle, when you can use any of the many ereader apps out there? If the concern is discipline while on you phone there’s also ways to lock yourself out of apps and websites after X amount of time on them.

Even if many of us old school computer users don’t quite like it phones are the general purpose computing devices for many people. There’s no reason to worry about the generic time spent using them.

[elorant]

It's not just discipline. Kindles are more convenient too for reading. No refresh rate so you can spend hours reading without eye strain.

[trescenzi]

Yea that’s totally fair. I’d actually second the kindle/ereader recommendation if the goal is to read more. One awesome feature of the kindle is that it auto syncs progress so you can use your kindle for most of your reading but if you’re away without it the kindle app on your phone will know what page you’re on.

[frereubu]

> there’s also ways to lock yourself out of apps and websites after X amount of time on them

I've tried this, but it feels like a big administrative burden, having to think about how long each app should be, when it should be available etc, similar to the feelings I had on Facebook about bureaucratising friendships (who's an "acquiantance", who's a "close friend").

It feels like you have to make so many explicit decisions for digital stuff that was much more fluid before - don't want X to come to a party? Don't phone them.