Taking into account the times we forgot

Research shows that the average number of hours the British spend on their phones is around three and a half hours a day. This number could be right on weekdays when people are at work and they are expected to have all of their attention on their PCs and laptops. However, many office workers still steal a moment to look at their WhatsApp messages and social media feeds to see who's posted what. Then when lunch time comes around they're frequently seen dividing their attention between eating and watching something on the phones.

In the old days when there were no phones, people divided their attention between their food and a quiet activity like reading a book, listening to music through their headphones on Walkmans or having a quiet chat with a friend or work colleague. But of course things have changed and the chances of spotting someone just eating and taking in their surroundings or reading a book or newspaper is a rare sight; that person is a disappearing breed. If someone like that were spotted in a public place today the chances are that other people might assume that they either didn’t have data or that they couldn’t afford a smartphone at all. Those people, much like myself, once in a while whip out our smartphones to check for messages but we choose not to spend our lives staring at the screen.

When I'm out I never carry my mobile in my hand in full view of everyone. There's a risk that I might inadvertently put it down somewhere, forget about it and walk away. I always keep it in my handbag and only take it out if I need to make a call or if I have to answer it. But to most people, the mobile phone has become an extension of their hand and, unless they're cleaners or other professions like cashiers in supermarkets, most staff often have their phones in their back pockets. In fact, staff in certain jobs are prohibited from carrying their phones with them.

The only slight reprieve people give themselves is when they might decide to turn on the television. But even that is rare. Many don't even own a TV, much like many who don't have a landline. Probably because the smartphone has replaced both. If people want to watch a movie, Netflix is their first bet and thereafter it's either YouTube or one of the many free movie sites. And if they want to catch the news, their first stop is social media. If they want to know which country did what or which politician said what to whom they'll head over to X, Instagram or Facebook. I know an American businessman who admitted to me that he got all his news from social media. How reliable that is, who knows. But, I suppose, the same could be said of the TV news outlets.

I personally find watching and reading things on a small device rather cumbersome. I don't know how people think it's a better experience than watching a movie on the traditional big screen. You don't have to have that small phone stuck to your hand, you don't have to squint to see what you’re reading and you certainly don't have to worry about your phone battery going flat at the crucial moment when you might need to make or take an important call.

These things are sadly being taught to children. No sooner is a baby able to hold something properly, his parents hand him a phone to watch something to distract him while they talk or eat.

The research says about three and a half hours but it doesn’t say what day of the week. At the weekends, the number might be higher and it cannot be country specific

Well this reminds me of a joke that I once spotted on social media some weeks ago. Thousands of years from now, archaeologists have dug up a city ruins and have unearthed human remains. Their narration would be, 'We found a now extinct human species that appeared to have some kind of rectangular object as an appendage on one hand.' This is what we'll be remembered for...