[bfkwlfkjf]

Partly agree. I agree that what makes old tech good is agency, but I find it strange that you offer as an example "handing a 5yo a phone with a documentary". Phones give you no agency, other than play and stop. They don't work for you, they work for their master (Google or apple).

[picofarad]

I think the point was that the five-year-old will get bored of the documentary, so it's not merely the phone that's addictive, it's the content that the apps have on them.

[utopiah]

Exactly, thanks for clarifying.

[utopiah]

Indeed, the irony of me complaining that the article confuses problem... only for me to do the same!

Indeed a video on a phone provides very limited agency. I was mostly trying to highlight, as someone else pointed out, that demanding content will not have the same effect. Thus blaming the device itself is wrong.

Edit: shit... now when I acknowledge my mistake I sound like a sycophantic chatbot! Ugh. Edited to replace "You're right" by "Indeed". I'll have to remember that.