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Re:The dawn of the post-literate society – and the end of ci... by Djonckheere on Saturday September 20, 2025 @11:27AM (#45314161)
What a sobering indictment of our screen-obsessed world. It seems all roads lead back to the introduction of the smartphone —the mid-2010s, a critical turning point:

> "Never before has there been a technology like the smartphone. Where previous entertainment technologies like cinema or television were intended to capture their audience’s attention for a period, the smartphone demands your entire life. Phones are designed to be hyper-addictive, hooking users on a diet of pointless notifications, inane short-form videos and social media rage bait."

> "The average person now spends seven hours a day staring at a screen. For Gen Z the figure is nine hours. A recent article in The Times found that on average modern students are destined to spend 25 years of their waking lives scrolling on screens."

Re:The dawn of the post-literate society – and the end of ci... by HPsquared on Saturday September 20, 2025 @11:34AM (#45314237)
Seven hours is the average person. I'm closer to 12 hours a day. The rest is sleeping / driving / walking / cooking. And during those times, I'm usually listening to something.
Re:The dawn of the post-literate society – and the end of ci... by saulpw on Saturday September 20, 2025 @01:46PM (#45315508)
It's hard to know how seriously to take this article when it doesn't even get this basic fact right. The iPhone was introduced in 2007, which is notably not the mid-2010s.
Re:The dawn of the post-literate society – and the end of ci... by tim333 on Sunday September 21, 2025 @10:30AM (#45323055)
Prior to the smartphone people used to stare seven hours a day at the TV which wasn't much better. At least the internet is two way - you can write as well as take in info.