I’ve been mulling over getting an iPhone, basically weighing two considerations.
On the one hand, it’s another distraction. As Paul Graham wrote, the ability to carry the internet around is not necessarily a move someone aspiring to get more done should make.
On the other, it seems like it must have awesome potential as an intelligence amplification tool! I feel like I’m missing a step towards human-machine integration by not getting one.
Anyone have any thoughts on how to optimize the tool for intelligence amplification?
Being the possessor of a Motorola Backflip, I find that I do not use it for time-wasting Internet browsing. It has four major advantages over my previous dumbphone:
I can look up words / facts in mid-conversation or while listening to a talk
I can browse Twitter/Facebook any moment I’m not doing something useful, so I don’t feel compelled to check them when I could be doing productive work in front of a computer
My contacts are all imported automatically from Facebook, and when I call someone I immediately see their last facebook/twitter update and picture (and all other possible combinations of this functionality)
If I want to find something locally, I can just start Google Maps. It knows where I am and I can call the place with one touch. Also, I can call numbers on websites with one touch.
Honestly, having the ability to access any piece of knowledge as long as I know how to find it has revolutionized my life. I would for years get hung up in my own mind when I was missing a key fact in a discussion or debate, now I find I can more eloquently present myself while essentially throwing links at the other person (rarely in real time and if in real time usually just as an exercise in my own mind). As someone with a short attention span my ability to pull hard data from my active memory has always been difficult. But now, what was a hindrance, is now an incredibly powerful asset. My conversation now lives at the edge of my consciousness almost continuously, my responses are natural and precise. I study the “zone” as an adrenaline and video game junkie, just knowing that I have the internet’s knowledge comfortably in my pocket has freed my mind to exist in this state more often than ever before.
I don’t have an iphone, I have a blackberry. I use it for talking and email, web browsing when needed. I also have an extensive social network and at any given time can converse through bbm/gchat/fbchat/msn with around 100 people. Where before I was forced to be stuck at home on my desktop or to lug around my laptop to connect with my peers I can now go anywhere and do anything and still be able to make those connections when I have to. I’ve found myself becoming a much more social creature, shedding chains while at the same time gaining real time information updates that allow me to know where to go on any given night.
I’ve just started keeping my phone on silent, no vibration, no nothing. I haven’t had a ringtone since 2002, but even the vibrations started to get to be too much. I check my phone often, but its always on my terms. When I’m at home I have my phone facing me on my desk and the alert light fits nicely into what is essentially my HUD of monitors and input devices. Though sometimes “phone calls only” which is essentially the same as silent with the obvious difference, when I “need” to be reached.
I could never go back. Going back at this point would be like deciding just to sit in a basement and smoke weed all day, sure it might be nice, relaxing, whatever, but what good is it doing? If I got rid of my smartphone I’d be jumping off of the society train into the dinosaur graveyard.
I could go on, but I’ve been awake for longer than I remember and my active memory is failing me, I hope what I’ve written here makes enough sense and I’d be more than happy to elaborate and would even like to get into more detail as to specific benefits (politic power and sex, to name a couple more).
I’ve also benefited from Sleep Cycle, Meebo (IM aggregator), and Epic Win (a to-do list/incentive system that hijacks the shininess of RPG progress). I also fill otherwise useless moments with a number of very entertaining games, but whether I’m losing important introspection during these moments is another question.
Yes. Occasionally it will wait until the last moment of the 30min window to go off, which just means that I was unfortunate enough to be in deep sleep for that entire period. Unfortunately it is not very customizable, but it is definitely worth the app’s cost if you already have an iPhone.
On the one hand, it’s another distraction. As Paul Graham wrote, the ability to carry the internet around is not necessarily a move someone aspiring to get more done should make.
Maybe a valuable smartphone app would be one which blocks your web browsing access unless you explicitly request a five-minute unblock—and gives out larger intervals only after making you click through an irritatingly long series of “Are you sure you’re sure?” dialogs that jump around the screen so you can’t just tap on “OK” repeatedly. Not enough to cripple your phone, but enough to make you think twice about idly rechecking your email for the 18th time today.
If IA is your goal from a smartphone, you probably want reasonably fast text input. A Motorola Droid is significantly better in that regard, since it has a physical keyboard. It’s still not nearly as fast as a full-size keyboard, though. For that, I suggest getting a folding keyboard.
One bit of software I really want, and have considered writing myself, is a text editor that can be used blind with the screen locked. In some contexts, like the subway, it’s easy to take out and use a folding keyboard, but only if the phone is left in a pocket. It would need some clever use of text-to-speech for navigation and typo detection, but the Android OS already provides the hard part of that.
I’ve been using Swype for a while, and was very impressed with it. It did make a big improvement when I got the hang of it.
SwiftKey is also very good when you’re writing a lot of text on your phone. I currently switch between the two of them, depending on what I’m going to be writing.
Anyone have any thoughts on how to optimize the tool for intelligence amplification?
An iPhone? Use it to call people and maintain ongoing and stable relationships with intelligent peers. The identity grounding and mental health benefits of such interactions far outweigh anything you can get from apps.
I’ve been mulling over getting an iPhone, basically weighing two considerations.
On the one hand, it’s another distraction. As Paul Graham wrote, the ability to carry the internet around is not necessarily a move someone aspiring to get more done should make.
On the other, it seems like it must have awesome potential as an intelligence amplification tool! I feel like I’m missing a step towards human-machine integration by not getting one.
Anyone have any thoughts on how to optimize the tool for intelligence amplification?
A few apps that seem to have potential:
SuperMemo/SRS
EverNote
QuickReader (or some sort of flash-read app)
Being the possessor of a Motorola Backflip, I find that I do not use it for time-wasting Internet browsing. It has four major advantages over my previous dumbphone:
I can look up words / facts in mid-conversation or while listening to a talk
I can browse Twitter/Facebook any moment I’m not doing something useful, so I don’t feel compelled to check them when I could be doing productive work in front of a computer
My contacts are all imported automatically from Facebook, and when I call someone I immediately see their last facebook/twitter update and picture (and all other possible combinations of this functionality)
If I want to find something locally, I can just start Google Maps. It knows where I am and I can call the place with one touch. Also, I can call numbers on websites with one touch.
Honestly, having the ability to access any piece of knowledge as long as I know how to find it has revolutionized my life. I would for years get hung up in my own mind when I was missing a key fact in a discussion or debate, now I find I can more eloquently present myself while essentially throwing links at the other person (rarely in real time and if in real time usually just as an exercise in my own mind). As someone with a short attention span my ability to pull hard data from my active memory has always been difficult. But now, what was a hindrance, is now an incredibly powerful asset. My conversation now lives at the edge of my consciousness almost continuously, my responses are natural and precise. I study the “zone” as an adrenaline and video game junkie, just knowing that I have the internet’s knowledge comfortably in my pocket has freed my mind to exist in this state more often than ever before.
I don’t have an iphone, I have a blackberry. I use it for talking and email, web browsing when needed. I also have an extensive social network and at any given time can converse through bbm/gchat/fbchat/msn with around 100 people. Where before I was forced to be stuck at home on my desktop or to lug around my laptop to connect with my peers I can now go anywhere and do anything and still be able to make those connections when I have to. I’ve found myself becoming a much more social creature, shedding chains while at the same time gaining real time information updates that allow me to know where to go on any given night.
I’ve just started keeping my phone on silent, no vibration, no nothing. I haven’t had a ringtone since 2002, but even the vibrations started to get to be too much. I check my phone often, but its always on my terms. When I’m at home I have my phone facing me on my desk and the alert light fits nicely into what is essentially my HUD of monitors and input devices. Though sometimes “phone calls only” which is essentially the same as silent with the obvious difference, when I “need” to be reached.
I could never go back. Going back at this point would be like deciding just to sit in a basement and smoke weed all day, sure it might be nice, relaxing, whatever, but what good is it doing? If I got rid of my smartphone I’d be jumping off of the society train into the dinosaur graveyard.
I could go on, but I’ve been awake for longer than I remember and my active memory is failing me, I hope what I’ve written here makes enough sense and I’d be more than happy to elaborate and would even like to get into more detail as to specific benefits (politic power and sex, to name a couple more).
I’ve also benefited from Sleep Cycle, Meebo (IM aggregator), and Epic Win (a to-do list/incentive system that hijacks the shininess of RPG progress). I also fill otherwise useless moments with a number of very entertaining games, but whether I’m losing important introspection during these moments is another question.
This one Sleep Cycle? http://mdlabs.se/sleepcycle/
Yes. Occasionally it will wait until the last moment of the 30min window to go off, which just means that I was unfortunate enough to be in deep sleep for that entire period. Unfortunately it is not very customizable, but it is definitely worth the app’s cost if you already have an iPhone.
Maybe a valuable smartphone app would be one which blocks your web browsing access unless you explicitly request a five-minute unblock—and gives out larger intervals only after making you click through an irritatingly long series of “Are you sure you’re sure?” dialogs that jump around the screen so you can’t just tap on “OK” repeatedly. Not enough to cripple your phone, but enough to make you think twice about idly rechecking your email for the 18th time today.
When I want to get work done, I put my network cable into some corner of my electronics wastedump (and my eeepc into some other edge of the room).
If IA is your goal from a smartphone, you probably want reasonably fast text input. A Motorola Droid is significantly better in that regard, since it has a physical keyboard. It’s still not nearly as fast as a full-size keyboard, though. For that, I suggest getting a folding keyboard.
One bit of software I really want, and have considered writing myself, is a text editor that can be used blind with the screen locked. In some contexts, like the subway, it’s easy to take out and use a folding keyboard, but only if the phone is left in a pocket. It would need some clever use of text-to-speech for navigation and typo detection, but the Android OS already provides the hard part of that.
Have you tried Swype? I’ve got a physical keyboard on mine, but I find that that method of input is actually even faster.
I haven’t, mainly because the authors refuse to take my money for it. But if it’s that good, then I suppose I ought to seek out a pirated copy.
That would be advisable. It’s been a big hit with at least one other #lesswrong person, so I can now generalize from a set of two.
I’ve been using Swype for a while, and was very impressed with it. It did make a big improvement when I got the hang of it.
SwiftKey is also very good when you’re writing a lot of text on your phone. I currently switch between the two of them, depending on what I’m going to be writing.
An iPhone? Use it to call people and maintain ongoing and stable relationships with intelligent peers. The identity grounding and mental health benefits of such interactions far outweigh anything you can get from apps.
I’m not a recluse and I already have a phone, so this isn’t really an answer to my question.
Certainly true though, were I interested in comparing apps to relationships.
That was never suggested.
The communication device is merely a lead in to the two points I made that are critical to the subject of the post and have not yet been mentioned.