Linda Stone, on human attention: "Our relationships with our SmartPhones, and this wicked habit that many of us have, of walking or driving while texting or talking, holds us in a state of perpetual inattentional blindness."

  • Guest

    I was walking down a street in Manhattan.  There was a woman ahead of me talking on the phone and unable or unwilling to walk straight up the sidewalk.  I tried to pass on the right.  Naturally, she began to walk to the right at a diagonal that would cut me off at a wall.  I stuck my hand out to keep from being pushed into the wall, touching her shoulder.  She stopped talking long enough to dress me down for MY rudeness.  I tried to explain that I was passing and didn’t want to be slammed into the brick wall.  She didn’t think that was the point.

    Not only are folks not paying attention while texting or talking on their devices; they can get real cranky when you call attention to their inattention.

    • EH

       stopped talking long enough to dress me down for MY rudeness.  I tried to explain that I was passing and didn’t want to be slammed into the brick wall.  She didn’t think that was the point.

      Manhattan? Heck, even here in California I’d be like, “Pfft, you’re all over the sidewalk. Are you drunk?”

  • http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

    Sounds like a bull market for pickpockets.

  • Paul Renault

    But, but, but Bruce Sterling would call it ‘Augmented Reality’!

    /No, Bruce.

  • warmlogic

    What does not being able to find a hairdryer-shaped object have to do with smartphone-induced inattention?

  • noah django

    an annoyance to the general public, a road hazard for drivers, an occupational hazard for restaurant employees carrying heavy trays of hot food around all y’all bumblefucks.  SIT THE FUCK DOWN!!!eleven!

  • penguinchris

    To be fair, anytime I go someplace where there are other people, I run into the problem of groups of people (just two is enough, actually) that walk slowly and block the entire sidewalk/hallway/whatever, oblivious that there are people behind them trying to get by.

    Why are they oblivious? It’s not because they’re all using their phones… they’re simply talking to each other (sometimes not even that is necessary).

    In other words, while this is a real problem, it’s not a new problem – it’s an old problem with a new form.

    • http://germanwotd.com Amelia_G

      “sich breit machen,” making yourself wide. It’s amazing how much space on a bike path/sidewalk one doofus can fill.