Our survey results found that we are using our phones increasingly when carrying out a variety of everyday tasks, from playing a game on our phones to enjoying an electronic news article. However, the term capable comes under scrutiny when we consider the increasing amount of minor accidents people are having when on their mobile.
Our investigation into how people use their phones found that 91% of us use our mobiles whilst we’re watching TV. A more surprising 22% of us even use our devices whilst we’re eating, implying that smart phone users are open to being entertained in a variety of ways at once.
However, if people are using their smart phones in even more situations, phone users are also more likely to cause more minor accidents. According to recent statistics, accidental damage consists of 55% of mobile insurers’ claims. Most of this damage is caused by people dropping their phone down the toilet or in the sink, with spillages coming at a close second.
There’s no denying that people are in fact aware of these dangers – we have all done it, or if not been close. So why do we continue to enjoy our smart phones in precarious situations?
The short answer seems to be that we enjoy using them, even if we’re in the bathroom or eating out with friends. The increasing mobile gaming market and advancing technologies means it’s more exciting than ever to experience entertainment from the locality of your fingertips.
Experts even claim there’s nothing wrong with using our phones whilst we’re on the go, and that playing games to break up the day could increase our brain’s activity. Games that involve concentration and mathematical skill such as Blackjack are apparently good at keeping our minds alert and awake.
We indeed relentlessly multi-task on our phones, and perhaps the quality of our general efficiency could come into question. However, is the aim of smart phones to increase our productivity, or keep us entertained? In this way, as smart phone users we have not failed, but succeeded in bringing a bit of excitement into our everyday lives – even if we do sometimes fail at keeping our phones outside the pint glass…
One thought on “Smart Phones – multi-task or multi-fail?”