Well, why were you on one when you commented here?

Sometimes screens are a great distraction. Sometimes they're not. The latter fact doesn't take away from the former - it's just on the user to make good judgements. There doesn't have to be something so fascinating on the screen to justify usage. Maybe it's news, maybe it's an ebook. Maybe it's HN. It's fine if the phone goes away when the kid's done taking a dump.

Similarly, what's so great about being bored? The knowledge of the history world is on my phone.

Doing nothing is exactly how a lot of that knowledge was discovered. Just look up biographies of famous scientists, they usually have lots and lots of leisure time, walks around the country side doing nothing and other such ''wastes'' of time.

And how often do you use your phone to find actual (real and verified) and useful knowledge?.. I bet less than 1% of the time.