How much screen do you consume ?
We all have become screensumers consuming different mediums on screen - mobile, handhelds, TV, computer monitorss and all. This is the first generation of human beings which is spending more than 10-12 hours in a day, in front of their screens. How it impacts the person consuming the screen and the society as a whole. Will so much of screen consumption mutate our eyes, physical vision, perception of reality, online life Vs real life, face to face interactions. What has been your observation and experience on this, is there any study on this ?
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Julia S
Manager, Enterprise Solutions Architecture at UNOS
Best Answers in: Computers and Software (1)
In my opinion it already is having an impacton many people. Certainly in my own experience it is not uncommon for my spouse and I to be physically located in the same place but to be in two completely different virtual "places" for an entire evening using multiple screens.
I also think that we are rapidly reaching the point where a "screen" is just not a rich enough medium for the variety of media and tremendous number of sources of information. At work I have 6 displays in view, in my living room, 4, and in my car 3. I don't think it is going to be long before there is going to be a demand for a single viewing medium that collects information from from all of those souces and displays it in a cohesive fashion letting you switch between sources without changing displays. In many applications (in-car for example) the ability to do this and maintain a view of the outside world will be critical. We have already followed the HOTS trend in military aviation by by adding radio, cruise control and navigation buttons to the steering wheel, how long before we also have the option of a heads-up display which shows my dasjboard, my phone interface, my entertainment UI and navigation info without me having to take my eyes off the road. Not long I would guess...
Just my $.02
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FRANK F
●Ex-Banker / Futurist ●30-yr Track Record ●Keynote Speaker ●Interim-contract CEO ●120-day Refocus / Re-invent/
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I do not imagine it will be any different than being consumed by television, magazines, newspapers, radio, books, or other "eye-ball" media. The Internet is a mobile multimedium, a tool for life, and it will mainly enhance life. A huge benefit is that it takes people away from the anti-social and passive "opiate" of television, and allows them the ability to communicate with people with whom they would otherwise never meet.
Frank Feather (Futurist)
(FFeather.com)
I dont think it will influence our evolution.
Evolution favors mutations that enhance the survivability. But it will change our society, as more people get interactive with their screens, it will transform our relations, with online relations becoming more useful. The differences between nations will dominish, as we have friends all over the world, and will influence each other directly.
So yes more screentime will change us mentally, but not so much physically.
My observation and experiences is that the screens are becoming invisible.
Since the invention and popularization of the television, the interface has been refined with larger screens, better image quality, color, larger screens, thiner screens, and better image quality.
When you look out a window, what do you see? Do you see the window or what is outside? In the case of the different screens we view on a daily basis I believe we are moving from seeing the screens to actually immersing ourselves into the interface and the information that is being delivered into our brains through our vision.
We have all seen those visual puzzles where you have to blur your eyes to see the hidden picture in the pixels. I believe that the screens we use are now slowly blurring out of consciousness and the information or content being delivered is being transformed into a virtualized representation of the delivered information. The larger the screen, the higher the quality, the more pronounced the effect.
When was the last time you noticed the frame around your screen? Try bring it into focus now and did you almost sense a change in perspective, as if you moved back ever so slightly?
If there is a change that occurs, I contend that it will be in how we perceive the information and perhaps even how we store information in our "personal wetware data-warehouses."
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Illona C
Information Technology and Services Professional, Technical Writer, Business Analyst
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Spending so much time in front of one's computer speeds up the need to get reading glasses sooner. I believe that there has been a study done on that aspect.
Larry H
Senior Systems Engineer at Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society
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I tend to filter out / ignore / be unaware of my peripheral vision much more than I once did, probably because I do spend so much time in front of a screen. Or maybe I'm just getting old, lol.
I don't think it will have any effect evolutionarily. That does remind me of the evolution parody of the big-wheel bicycle riders from the 19th century -- hunched over, huge leg bones atrophied arms.
The only thing I know for sure is that human’s eyes should have a little more time to rest.
These days we spend enormous amount of time starring various types of screens, monitors, displays, etc. Our eyes get hurt and irritated. Very often closer to the end of the day we feel discomfort under our eyelids. But, usually, the next morning, after our eyes were closed for a quite some time, we feel no pain or discomfort. This simple fact shows us that we have to try to avoid unnecessary contacts of our eyes with “screens” and let them rest as much as possible.
Robert F
Independent Business Owner(IBO) with Amway/Quixtar
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My day is almost all screen ... this is why I became a teacher ... getting in front of people and working face to face!
When you combine my work computer, my home computer, my LCD TV, my Apple iPhone, my Sony PSP, my DS Lite, I get an incredibly disturbing figure for the amount of time that I stare at screens. Before I was at my current position, I used to repair computers for a living so when I really think about the number of hours I used to spend staring at a screen throughout the day, I'm truly disturbed.
I'm not aware of any studies on this, but I know that real-life interactions are far more important and valid to me than online ones. I've been using computers to make connections with people since 1989. Many of the friends I made in high school were made through BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems) which predate the World Wide Web (and makes me scary-old in computer terms). I feel that a lot of people put far too much validity in their virtual life; personally, I don't feel that connections made on the Internet are really quality... trust is hard to come by and should still be made face-to-face, in my opinion.
Back to screens, if scientists determine that CRT monitors' electron guns cause cancer, you can bet that I will be at the forefront of that class action lawsuit.
What a brilliant question! You really made me think.
I've thought about the extended use of these screens and the possible effects on my eyes, mostly from a negative angle. But I am in no position to evaluate the effects, but one observation that I've noticed is that depending on how you use these screens, but it might actually strengthen the muscles around the eye, which decreases the need (or prolonging it) for corrective lenses. Of course this is an assumption, but a different angle.
Panah R
Social Media Strategist, SEO Expert, Technology Blogger, Wordpress Evangelist, and Internet Entrepreneur
After reading some of the comments and based on my own experience, I can tell you that spending 10-12 (in my case close to 15 hours) in front of a screen, your eyes start to give in. But in my opinion, if you spend your time wisely (maybe learning, keep up with the news, or run a business,..) getting glasses is a small price to pay. Your eyes are going to go bad eventually, so why not use them for a good purpose while you can.
I do believe that digital life needs a dose of real life as people who spend a lot of time in front of screens lose some perspective about their social lives. To be honest, I don't think the virtual life that we have today is anything close to what we will have in the near future (10, 20 years from now). Research show that people are spending more time online and it's an increasing trend, so there will be some growth in the foreseeable future as far as time spent in front of a monitor.
Before I was a voracious reader of books, magazines, newspapers and anything else I could get my hands on.
Over the last few years, my offline reading is nearing zero. I've become a voracious Internet Reader.
I think this medium is much easier to access and the resources are mindblowing.
Mutation? I doubt anything will happen now, that might take thousands of years. But in the short run it will mess up with our health and we have to rectify that.
Perception of reality? It has already changed big time. We are more independent, content and would reather live in a Virtual Castle than a real one.
Clarification added April 1, 2008:
read "reather" as "rather" in the last line, it's a typo.
Chuck H
Information Technology and Services Professional
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This is serious. Look around and you see people interacting with their handheld devices, rocking-out as they walk down the street unaware they are visible to the rest of us. Sit down in a public place and you'll probably have a TV screen somewher in sight. The new dangerous drug for kids are video game machines, cell phones, MP3 players, and the like.
While this technology has the ability to shrink the world, instead it seems to be generating billions of small worlds, each one populated by a single person.
Recently at lunch I sat in a booth with a friend, in the next booth a woman was eating lunch quietly, across from her was a man who, throughout the entire meal, had a seemingly pointless conversation on a cell phone with someone else.
It used to be that when you saw someone walking down the street talking to themselves in an animated way, you knew they were crazy. Today, oddly enough, such behavior is typical. How many times have you answered someone's question not realizing they were talking on a bluetooth device? (Usually they look at you like YOU'RE the crazy one.)
For everything real, there is an artificial; it is my hope that we rediscover what is real, and people no longer lunch with someone who would rather talk to someone else on the phone.
kcuhC
Nearly 24 hours. When you are directly involved with technology, it is difficult not to be in front of the screen. Today, the computer is my tool of work, study and fun.
As with any new technology addition, how it gets used dictates whether it benefits or harms. Mutations in an evolutionary sense are unlikely in such a short time span. On the other hand, physical harm through misuse is a more likely effect with more people complaining of backaches, eye problems, etc. Some may even tie their self esteem to the possession of these.
Will it have on individuals and society? Definitely! In both positive and negative ways.
It can lead to a higher level of intellectual collaboration not possible before. On the other hand it can lead to a higher level of individual isolation.
Cheers
