Do We Really Love Our Smartphones?

People get bored tapping around on their mobile phones, one study suggests. But another shows people are drawn to public transport with internet connection. So which one is it?
Are you bored when using your mobile? Soon your phone may be able to tell whether you’re doing something you enjoy, or whether you’re thumbing through apps and feeds in dire need of entertainment. This insight comes courtesy of Telefonica Research, which has developed a machine learning model that can spot boredom amongst the phone-using public.
Whether you’re bored, the study suggests, boils down to how long it’s been since you last had a text, call or other interaction, plus the time of day and how intensely you’re using the device. The researchers were able to accurately tell whether someone was bored or engaged 83% of the time. The study also found that if people were sent a link to an article to read, the bored person was more likely to click than the engaged person. The idea behind the Telefonica research is that this insight could be used to push promoted content, or if you’re more altruistic, direct the bored masses towards wholesome activities like using a language learning app.
But are we really all that bored when we’re using our phones?
Another recent study may suggest otherwise. Having internet connectivity on public transport actually means people are more likely to use the train or bus, according to a study from the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University. The researchers found that 56% of Chicago rail rides used technology while travelling, a three-fold rise from 2010. Last year the trains began installing WiFi, leading to a 1.3% rise in passenger numbers, even though fares went up by 25%.
The researchers suggested that public transport networks could consider adding WiFi, or just mobile signals, as a way of becoming more competitive. Adding more plug sockets in waiting areas is another plus that people who use laptops on the go will appreciate. “Heavy users of mobile technology are finding train travel to be particularly amenable to their digitally oriented lives. Many relish the idea of using their devices from origin to destination, giving this historic mode of travel a new competitive edge,” Joseph Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute, told ‘Mobility Lab’.  
Being able to relax on a train with WiFi (and enough seats!) may well be preferable to being stuck in traffic, whether you’re working or just reading the newspaper. Which brings us to the ultimate point: isn’t there something a bit shaming about this idea that spending time on your phone is a waste of time? Because if you go back to pre-mobile times it’s not like everyone was chatting to each other on trains; lots of people were reading then too. The main difference? They were reading not on screens, but on paper.
“It’s not as if in-person exchanges were always fascinating until smartphones came along and hooked us on constant hyper-stimulation. Smartphones just offer an out from those dull moments that were always there,” writes Rhys Southan in ‘BusinessInsider’, in a call for an end to “smartphone shaming”. We need to relax and accept that sometimes people just want to be on their phones and ignore the people next to them, concludes Southan: “We need to acknowledge that being near us doesn’t mean that their attention is automatically deserved, earned, and granted.”