Smartphones: Tools or Distractions?

Matthew Syed asks what it means to be distracted in a media world vying for our attention.

In this episode, Matthew analyses the medium through which we consume so much our media, the smartphone, and asks how whether it changes the nature of how we read, watch and interpret the world around us.

Matthew looks into the culture of smartphone use around the world and finds out what we can interpret from the growing use of the devices, particularly among younger generations. He looks into the technological advancements in the smartphone that have driven the most change, and considers how information consumption on a phone changes our approach to attention as opposed to the television or a book.

Contributors:

Gloria Mark, Chancellor's Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine and author of Attention Span: Finding Focus for a Fulfilling Life Daniel Miller, Professor of Anthropology, University College London

Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Sam Peach