Issue 25: What Your Battery Status Says About You
Welcome to Backstory, a weekly newsletter turning global technology shifts into a three-minute read. This week, we’re thinking about how smartphones change our perspective. – Mary Ames, Director of Strategy
THE BIG TAKE
What Your Battery Status Says About You
Life is what happens while your phone is recharging. There is more to this classic saying then you might think. Dwindling battery icons actually shape our perspectives on time and space. That’s the conclusion of a new study reviewing how battery power alters our understanding of time. The study found that London commuters have stopped thinking about their journeys in terms of distance travelled but rather how much battery would be lost en route. Sound familiar?
Behind the curtain: The battle over the smartphone’s role in our personal lives might well have been lost. Sure, there are several apps that help us control our screen time but the fact is we’re already addicted to the soft blue light of our devices. Writers, as an example of a group who requires incredible concentration to work, even struggle against the constant allure of the smartphone. Some say you should hide your phone when trying to get work done. Have we lost something primal in this shift to technology addiction? Yes, but tossing our phones isn’t the solution.
Our responsibility: When the battery icon on your phone speaks to something deep in your outlook on life then something has to change. Identifying the problem is the first step towards fixing it. Technology is a valuable tool that should be used deliberately to realise its maximum potential. One of the biggest roadblocks to productivity and general happiness is the smartphone. Let’s get more primal and start viewing smartphones as the powerful tools they are instead of devices that capture our constant attention.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Why is it that the modern idea of productivity is so often a frame for what is actually the destruction of the natural productivity of an ecosystem?"
Jenny Odell, author of How to Do Nothing
OUR VIEWS THIS WEEK
Better together: Careem, the ride-hailing unicorn from Dubai that was recently purchased by Uber, is doing something bold. Instead of resisting regulation, it’s partnering with governments to strengthen its offering. That’s right, Careem announced it will work with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to create an entirely new offering. You can now order a Dubai RTA taxi through the Careem app. We explored how this seemingly simple announcement could make big waves internationally.
Collaboration in tech: Sticking with the collaborative theme this week, we reviewed Singapore’s strategy for AI innovation. Instead of siloing its technology sector, Singapore wants to be an international hive of activity. The same approach is seen in the UAE’s knowledge ecosystem. At a time of global division, this path is a breath of fresh air.
SPOTTED ELSEWHERE
The road to IPO: We’ve been closely following the IPOs of tech unicorns from Slack to Uber but few have been as interesting as WeWork. The co-working space juggernaut has had a bumpy ride that culminated this week with a freeze on its IPO plans. WeWork famously doesn’t own many of its locations. Rather it rents out space and loses a lot of money in the process. If this model is going into a downturn, other giants such as Uber and AirBnB could see their business models shift dramatically. Watch this space carefully.
Data in Ecuador: There’s panic about data privacy. Sometimes it can seem excessive but the challenge of securing our data is one of the pressing issues of our lifetime. Consider this story from Ecuador. Every single person had personal data leaked this month in a massive data breach. You read that right. Every citizen including children lost some form of data. The leak included family trees, financial records, car registration information, and medical records. These types of leaks are becoming the norm rather than the exception.