apple juice

Good article today in the NYT about screen time and kids. No hard research, but the gut feeling of a number of people in tech that we all need to dial it back when it come to screen time.

This idea that Silicon Valley parents are wary about tech is not new. The godfathers of tech expressed these concerns years ago, and concern has been loudest from the top.

A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley

Internet, I love you, but you’re bringing me down.

(with all apologies to LCD Soundsystem)

I can’t get up the motivation to blog about much these days. Summer is here, the socks are off, Emilia keeps growing and growing, and there just isn’t much time for blogging.

I should be a better journal-er, I know it’s in there somewhere… but the priorities go something like this…

1. Spend QT with Family

2. Relax by medium-sized body of water suitable for swimming

3. Cook tasty meals with the ample vegetables received from our CSA: Featherstone Farm.

 

…

…

…

99. Wax Car

100. Blog more

101. Beat Mario Galaxy

That may be a little overstated, I did play Mario Galaxy for 20 minutes a few days ago instead of blogging.

Regardless,

I’m starting to get on the wagon when it comes to the idea that multitasking is bad for your brain. I didn’t hop on this train after I turned 30, either. Most of the research that I have seen lately says that people are cognitively better off to focus on one specific task at a time. The PBS documentary Digital Nation wades right into to this debate. Turn off your IM, your email, your TV. Quit every application that you don’t need running and FOCUS.

It’s funny, but one way I think the iPad is a glimpse into the future of computing is by the way it forces you into a single-tasking environment. It’s almost too bad that one of the major new features of iOS4 is the ability to “multi-task”. I guess it will be good for allowing Pandora to run in the background, but personally, I feel like we don’t need any help doing more things at once. If anything, we need help (serious, lie-down-on-the-couch type help) doing less.

this is why I love my job. I get to promote things like this:

“to compose, and to compose successfully in the 21st century, you have to not only excel at verbal expression and written expression, but you also have to excel in the use and manipulation of images.”

the free market is great, except when it’s not.

here’s a perfect example: municipal internet.

minneapolis is one of a few cities in the country that has rolled out a municipal wifi network. the price is decent, but the I’ve heard nothing good about the reliability. did you know, in stockholm, for example, that 100mbps internet is $11/month?

Yes, $11/month.

I pay ~$60/month for 12mbps down/2 up service from comcast. If I had a better option, I’d switch. The other options are:

Qwest, 1.5 down/.768 up is $40 (for those of us who don’t want their overpriced home phone service)

Or, I could pay $30/month for 6/1 service via the minneapolis wifi if I sign up for a 2-year contract.

So, why didn’t minneapolis focus on building a city-wide fiber optic network that could be resold to private companies?

Because private companies fight it tooth and nail. Americans pay more for their broadband than just about every other developed country. Think comcast, qwest or us internet want to compete with 100mbps service?

Nope.