“I’ve pondered this as I’ve watched people play with their iPhones. The primary reason to get one is for random Web browsing (which iPhone owners generally do to show off the fact that they can browse the Web on their handset) or time-wasting. The latter seems to be the main use of cell phones these days,” Dvorak writes. “I include phone calls in that category. Honestly, how much time does any one person need to yak on the phone? Nearly every time I overhear a phone conversation, the chit-chat is almost always inane, useless, unnecessary.”
MacDailyNews Take: While we, gulp, agree with the bloated gas bag on the last point, he’s obviously not watching experienced iPhone users work, not “play,” with their iPhones.
Dvorak continues, “And when people are not too busy needlessly chattering on the phone, they’re sending messages to all of their friends for no apparent reason.”
MacDailyNews Take: Agreed (even though us agreeing twice with Dvorak in one article means that the Apocalypse is nigh).
Dvorak continues, “When they’re not on the phone or texting, the person is probably goofing around on the phone. In the old days when people were standing in line or otherwise waiting for something, they’d read a book or knit or meditate. Now they fool around on the phone… They play games, sort messages, look for new apps. In other words, they waste time. Really, the iPhone is only the greatest handset around because it has more ways to waste time than any phone, ever.”
MacDailyNews Take: Here are just three examples, each of which has at least 50 other apps in its category:
• Free Books: 23,469 classics for less than a cup of coffee. (See all App Store apps for “books”)
• Knit Counter: A convenient way to store stitch counts and info for multiple knitting projects. (See all App Store apps for “knit”)
• Meditate – Meditation Timer: Elegant and functional meditation timer. (See all App Store apps for “meditate”)
Dvorak continues, “With the economy in the tank, this is probably as good a use of idle time as anything. But let’s face it, this whole phone thing is about wasting time… Cell phones are ruining the country. The economy has tanked in proportion to the growing popularity of the iPhone. This is no coincidence, as far as I’m concerned.”
Talk about wasting time, the full article – Think Before You Click™ – is here.
Wow. Simply wow.
“Now they’re all anyone talks about anymore,” John C. Dvorak writes for PC Magazine.
So after moaning that everybody is talking about the iPhone, what is Dvorak choosing to talk about ? The iPhone of course.
I guess he doesn’t mind “wasting time” waiting for windows to reboot because it blue screened, or wasting time scanning for viruses and such.
Face it Dvorak is wasting your and my time…
Talk about ” inane, useless, unnecessary.” That’s Dvorak.
The iPhone makes people vastly more productive. That it can also be used effectively for time-wasting is also true of automobiles, television, and reading Dvorak’s column.
He never has anything good to say about any Apple product.
Wow, I just wasted more time reading this stupid article than I’ve ever wasted on my iPhone. Lame.
Or, to sum up the article:
Get off my lawn!
He just wasted my time as well!!!!
Wow, I guess Dvorak must fixate on the shallow and vapid.
I surf the web on my phone for information on any number of things.
I use it for directions. I use it to communicate with others in my field and when I talk on my iPhone it is for business or family matters. There are of course occasions when I have this thing called a “conversation”, to others not involved it might seem inane, but I am sure that Dvorak has deep discussions about Sartre and other things of depth that I could never appreciate.
I guess his comments have come about because he’s gone to use his phone and maybe couldn’t get a connection (or it kept dropping out), but how I choose to use, or waste, my time on my iphone is my business, and I don’t need a gas-bag like this telling me otherwise.
So what! This is how people use cell phones…to socialize and relax…maybe they should ban people talking or playing games on their iPhones since it is clearly wrecking society. Maybe we should start burning certain books as well if they don’t serve any purpose aside from idle enjoyment.
Dvorak = 1984
Actually Dvorak has been talking about moving to mac. I never thought I’d see the day, it’s shocking after years of bashing Apple at every opportunity.
I think this is his attempt at being sarcastic. He can’t possibly be serious about it.
Same old John, still full of shit.
Oh, like he’s never heard of FACEBOOK! Sheeeesh.
Hit whor*.
Obviously, this article is somewhat satirical and borderline ironic.
Sure, I wast time that otherwise would be all ready waisted. Like in the waiting room at the doctors office. Or while waiting to get your driver license. Now what would you wall watching T.V. or telling stories around a camp fire?? Or slipping for that matter.
I try to use my time wisely. I dont’ watch more then maybe a couple of hours of TV a week, if that. I attempt to read or learn with my free time. Or I dedicate it to my kids by playing with them.
Just like Charles Manson said, “Now is the only time that is real”.
So you better get busy.
This from a man who’s bathroom has never seen a book or magazine!
I’m inclined to think John Dvorak sits on the can wearing a thousand-meter stare for ten minutes.
Me? I multitask like nobody’s business when sitting on the can.
PS I apologize for putting that image of Dvorak in your minds. Except you R2, as I’m sure you may have been aroused.
Of course one would really have to read that snippet on one’s iPhone to do the time wasting full irony.
I listen to audiobooks…and ponder ways to take over the world.
Mac-nugget: “Sure, I wast time that otherwise would be all ready waisted.”
You’ve certainly never wasted any time on learning how to spell correctly.
At least, on some level it’s somehow a notch better than the crap Enderle spouts forth on desperate need to get some hits for the holiday marketing for his wife..er fellow analyst.
But both of them are clean as angels compared to people who endlessly twit and blog about a blogger who has a desperate need to leech off/impersonate a famous CEO to feel relevant.
Reminds me of another professional curmudgeon:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/07/60minutes/rooney/main665523.shtml
what an unt with a c on the front.
I like what he says. He hits the nail right on the thumb.
He sounds like an old codger who is angry because the world has left him behind. Strange attitude for a tech writer.
A little off topic but concerning wasted bandwidth
is there not yet a way to turn off safari auto refresh on the iPhone?
I still find this highly irritating and recently wondered how much bandwidth could be saved if the millions of iPhones didn’t all do the same thing.
Just a thought…..
Stuart – “Obviously, this article is somewhat satirical and borderline ironic.”
No. it isn’t. He really means it. You don’t understand. This is John C. Dvorak. The man with such a profound lack of vision he actually said, in 1984:
“The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse.’ There is no evidence that people want to use these things.”
He hates Apple, is jealous to the point of psychosis and will fabricate reality around his infantile wish for Apple to just disappear.
One can pity him only by assuming that over the years he has lost a shit ton of money investing in anything but AAPL.
Actually I think Dvorak is right on this one, my experience is also that the vast majority of phone calls and texting is a complete waste of time. But I think it is revealing: could it be this is just bringing out that Americans really don’t have anything better to do with their time than to call a friend and spend ten minutes telling them they are standing in front of a store watching cars park?
Oh how fun for John, He criticizes Apple and the iPhone as being a failure to be in 2007.
Link : http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-should-pull-the-plug-on-the-iphone
Added to the Hypocrisy of being a tech pundit as he clams to be, he fails again to see the real culture that is iPhone.
John D is a dinosaur, he has filed to adjust with the changing times and in turn keeps putting his head between his legs trying to stimulate some real story.
This is common for John D, Since he was dissed by Apple years ago he has still held a grudge, This is the reason why good old fashioned reporting has fallen into the hands of a select few that have at one time been leaders in the tech reporting field of 15 years ago, now only drying up old bones dimwits “Dvorak” so eager to get a Leading story only to prove that the once insightful reporting years ago has turned into a series of Gum smacking senile nonsense.
Dvorak 1984-2009 HASBEEN and never will be again.
PC Mag is still “PC Mag” no matter how popular Apple becomes!
Well, actually the tech sector would look really damn bleak right now without Apple.
So if anything the iPhone is providing a silver lining for the country — not dooming it.
Geez, I actually took the time to think about this moron’s spew of an article. I feel really gross suddenly.
Didn’t he used to fill in the extra 30 seconds at the end of a weekly broadcast television show around 20 years ago? Sorry, my mistake… maybe someone should sue him over IP rights? No, that presumes there’s something intellectual to protect. Um, impersonating a real celebrity without a license? Maybe he’s ZuneTang in disguise?
However great the iPhone is for real communication, many idiots seem to be talking ALL the time – often while driving. Yak Yak Yak, mindless Yak. In this respect, Dvorak (wanker) is correct.
Does anyone else see the irony of a web journalist decrying what a waste the web is?
Yes, that time they could otherwise spend “wasting” time playing on their laptop or looking at a wall or not talking to anyone around them.
“The economy has tanked in proportion to the growing popularity of the iPhone. This is no coincidence, as far as I’m concerned.”
Yes, you heard it here first folks. All the other stuff you read about what caused the global economic crisis was just a ruse planted by Apple.
Another reason that the world doesn’t need CRAPPLE little phone
I use my iPhone to keep track of my daily schedule, to stay in touch friends and family via email/IM/Facebook/etc., and to take care of business (paying bills, mainly) online. Oh, yeah, and once in a while I call people with it, too.
Sure, there’s also games and other “wasting time” type stuff I can do, but it’s usually more in the “killing time” category – like standing in line at Subway, playing a quick game like Jumbline until it’s my turn to order, or reading a blog or two while waiting for a haircut.
How does Dvorak know so much about what “everyone” is doing on their smartphones, anyway? Is he looking over everyone’s shoulders to judge whether or not they’re doing something productive? Sheesh.
The bigger waste of time is listening to Dvorak’s rants. I wonder if John’s family background has some Amish or Luddite in it. Here’s a guy that was a Windows lacky for so many years, talk about wasting time & energy! John endorsed them as they continued to produce crappy products. The gig is up John. Time t pack up your crap and go home.
Dear John Dvorak,
Eat sh*t.
Love,
An Old Admirer
John is an antagonist who writes great comedy about technology. When viewed as anything else, one overestimates his talent while missing the point.
I used to hate Dvorak. He’s certainly the crankiest tech writer on the planet, but after listening to him week after week on TWiT I’ve grown to like his occasional bon mot and more than occasional reality check on that show for the other full-of-themselves tech “journalists” chasing after the latest shiny thing. I still only agree with him ~40% of the time, but I think you have to listen to him to appreciate him, not read him in print.
Face it – Dvorak is on crack.
He’s a hit-whore looking for a score …
Technically speaking it isn’t time that is being wasted, but rather one’s life and that of course is relative.
Some would argue that spending time web browsing or chatting on an iPhone is a heck of a lot better than say deciding to pick a country at random, insult it, invade it and kill their leader, but those certainly would not be Dvorak compatriots.
So I think he is offering a great challenge when he says “Maybe a killer app will arise and make my complaints moot.”
I can just see it now, some young man calling his mother on the iPhone, getting her to locate him in some foreign on the GPS and watching the red dots around him disappear as he uses his new iXterminator ray now built into the iPhone.
That will sure help the economy.
He is just cranky because he has nearly a year to waste until Windows Mobile 7 comes out.
There are a few things that I agree with him about…
First, there is really no third-party “Killer App” that makes me go, “Damn! I’m going to go buy an iPhone/Android/Palm/RIM so I can use that!” (Although Google Nav comes close). I’m sure John feels the same way.
That said, there may be Apps that, for certain people, they see it and go buy an iPhone/Android/Palm/RIM for it. I have my “Killer App” that I’m working on for iPhone that I know a certain group of people will be tripping over each other to buy. It may not be a huge group, but they’ll want it.
Remember, the only people who were really excited about VisiCalc were accountants.
peecee mag must of desperately needed to fill space to even consider letting this gasbag stench be associate with their name!
Boy, the guy sure knows how to grab attention, even when he isn’t saying anything.
As a Photojournalist, I have to say my iPhone is the most useful and indispensable device I own!
Next to my camera, and the iPhone is still a very close second.
“Nearly every time I overhear a phone conversation, the chit-chat is almost always inane, useless, unnecessary.”
“And when people are not too busy needlessly chattering on the phone, they’re sending messages to all of their friends for no apparent reason”
who is this guy to judge seriously? who died and made him king?
Actually, after a year of iphone ownership and tons of apps. What I do most with it (outside of core tasks like phone, email, music, text and web)…is read. Stanza and Kindle. It’s my main book reader now and I sincerely hope all written media goes the way of itunes.
For the record, if Amazon has ANY sense, they’ll realize that it’s not the Kindle, IT’S THE STORE. If they make that store go everywhere, they’ll be iTunes for books.
But the apple tablet is around the corner…..
“Galloway” is right. JD is better on TWiT but he is still a nitwit.
I find MDN’s treatment of him is quite harsh until I read prattle like this:
“The economy has tanked in proportion to the growing popularity of the iPhone. This is no coincidence, as far as I’m concerned.”
Yes, I’m sure the two are inexorably linked.
People use their cell phones as they see fit. There is no law against it (except, in some countries or jurisdictions, operating a cell phone while driving a car is illegal. There is also some common etiquette issues when using cell phones in general, like not using them for personal reasons during business hours, turning the ringer off during meetings, etc. But I digress). The author’s argument could easily be made about any cell phone, not just the iPhone. Just another lame excuse to poke or take shots at the popular iPhone.
I hope he is being sarcastic. Because if he isn’t, that would be funny. When you are stuck in a line aren’t you just standing around wasting time? Instead, you could be answering emails about a project, ordering your wife’s Christmas present, researching that new car……… No offense, but I think he could be doing a lot of things that wouldn’t be wasting time.
This Dvorak is an idiot…ultimate predominated hit-whore of all time…
There are two kinds of people in this iPhone scenario.
Those that screw around wasting time and resources playing with their phones and those who screw around wasting time and resources writing about people screwing around on their phones.
Both kinds of people are boring as hell.
I don’t waste time chatting on my iPhone; I didn’t even realize it made phone calls until I read this…
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A woman in my neighborhood was talking on her cell phone while she was backing out of her driveway. What’s worse, she shared the driveway with three other houses with small children. What’s even worse than that is that she was driving one of those Mack trucks converted for passengers that people call “cars” these days.
And unbelievably, it gets even worse. She is also among those who wanted speed bumps in the neighborhood for the “safety of the children.”
She’s one of those people who cannot breathe without talking on a cell phone. So Dvorak not only has a keyboard layout, he does have a point. Just one.
Dvorak’s other nom de plume is Ken Rockwell.
That’s right I read this whole on a line
Dvorak…Better than a hack journalist wasting time writing a whiny article. Grow up.
You know Dvorak is right… I wasted my time the other day in a meeting negotiating a contract with a client based upon population demographics of different countries (distribution agreement based on population) by looking up the populations of several countries on my iPhone… Closed the deal… Making heaps of $$… What a waste of time that was!
But, of course, I am not in the USA, where his disparaging remarks were directed. As you can surmise, the fskwad is not aware that the iPhone is in use outside of the USA and is the prime cause of the Global Recession and Global Warming (oops, since we are now experiencing cooling trend, it is being touted as Climate Change) <- which happens four times a year. Hmmm
Sorry for the side comment. Just can’t believe people are wiling to give up their sovereign rights for a bunch of gasbags in Copenhagen Købehavn (Read the agreement)
Cheers!
“With the economy in the tank, this is probably as good a use of idle time as anything. But let’s face it, this whole phone thing is about wasting time… Cell phones are ruining the country. The economy has tanked in proportion to the growing popularity of the iPhone. This is no coincidence, as far as I’m concerned.”
I can’t believe he said this. What a jerk.
I don’t have an iPhone. I waste my time reading all of these damn articles about them on MDN.
Dvorak is a mook. We all need to stop acting like the writing whore is relevant.
Quoting Dvorak: “The economy has tanked in proportion to the growing popularity of the iPhone. This is no coincidence, as far as I’m concerned.”
Well… the economy has grown worse as the gas bag has further gained weight. There might well be a cause-effect relationship there too.
John C. Dvorak: “The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse.’ There is no evidence that people want to use these things.”
Hit whores.
I don’t understand why teens and other youngins text on their cell phones like there is no tomorrow. Voice calls? No way. Video chat? hardly. Email? Are you kidding? They would rather thumb their way through a cryptic green screen equivalent ascii text string. Texting seems old school to me, I don’t know why it is so popular except in situations where you have to remain silent.
The young ones I know would rather text above all else. 10,000 texts per month? Why in God’s name would they do that? What is the attraction? I personally loathe those tiny little keyboards.
Just look at the kids in the mall next time. 90% of the time their heads will be hung instead of looking straight ahead. They are texting someone for no damn good reason for the millionth time that month. Obviously I don’t get it.
“every time I overhear a phone conversation, the chit-chat is almost always inane, useless, unnecessary.”
Just like John’s writing.
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I agree with Dvorak. Sure the iPhone is portable Jesus. Only now everyone from Google and soon Dell are pushing their false gods onto unwashed masses where Jesus can’t get decent AT&T;coverage. Seriously, how much more bloated can the cellular market get?
Dvorak is also correct when he mentions the tech news sector’s obsession with phones. Aside from Apple, it’s gone from what? The Bold, the Storm, Android, the Pre, the Droid, and all the mish-mash of HTC/Nokia/Sony/Motorola devices. There used to be a clear separation of what a standard cell phone and “smart phone”, but it’s all condensing into a grey area. The sheer reporting and tech talk around cell phones is downright dull and uninteresting because they all do mostly the same thing since, well, the iPhone. The only real difference is, Apple has succeeded in obtaining Microsoft-like dominance in the mobile application space just as Windows dominates the PC desktop.
Yes, I can get driving directions on my phone. Yes, my phone can tell me the weather. Yes, my phone knows where I can find a cup of coffee. Yes, it still makes calls too. Yes, it will cure canc… er, well… maybe not. (But perhaps the Jesus phone can!)
I hope Apple is planning something big. Combine what it already has and knows with its hardware, Mac OS X, iTunes and the App Store, location services, wireless devices, multitouch and add to that the typical living room. AppleTV was the first step in that direction, but as MDN reiterates: Apple needs to be more serious about it. Despite their best efforts Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are duking it out in the home console media space, but to be honest, the TV and living room are in desperate need of being touched by Apple’s grace. It’s very much a wild west frontier left largely unchanged in years since the introduction of the DVD disc player. Still with plenty of room for innovation and perhaps even “productivity” as Dvorak puts it. The personal computer maybe yesterday’s hot tech news, but there are still plenty of undiscovered frontiers which could benefit from its influence, not just more cell phones.
I, too, am surprised I agree to a point. About cell phones in general.
Why the hell does somebody sit in the can talking on their phone, in a public restroom? Is there no space in these people’s lives? It’s bad enough I have to listen to the idiot if I’m stuck in the stall next to him- and I don’t mean just talking. But to entertain the person on the other end this way (no pun intended)?…
People are shallow and lack imagination these days because there’s no time to think.
Stop. Posting. About. Dvorak.
Those comments by Dvorak is simply unresearched and misinformed. What about young adults below the age of 21, who simply don’t have much important things to yak about? Those below 18 who obviously use their phones just to get in touch with their friends? Of course Dvorak would consider them as pointless conversation.
He should do more research on what working professionals and those above 21 do with their iPhones. I would believe working professionals who own iPhones and Macs are more productive than those who struggle with other branded “smart”phones, and of course, waste time trying to solve problems on their PC-laptops rather than doing meaningful work on their Macs.
http://no-spamming/
Wasting time is the common activity of mankind since far before ANY sort of phone or whatsowever.
dvorak? what an idiot? not! hit Whore! that’s what that article is about hit whoring! he never means anything he says. he’s just living up to the “cranky twit” moniker put on him by leo laporte.
don’t get riled up by him. it’s all an act!
by the way john, may be you should come to my work and see us use the iphone for serious work. ever seen scientists look up dna structures on the fly or enter codon sequencing for dna molecules on the fly in search engines designed for the iphone?
no, you ignorant git, your only goal is to eavesdrop and make money by being a hit whore! No difference between you and the shady chicks and dudes outside my dorm. you hit whore!
Yep. He’s right. I wasted my time reading Dvorak’s drivel on my iPhone. Better get rid of the damn thing.
This is a back-handed compliment to the iPhone’s market penetration and usability – not quite the Microsoft line he usually peddles.
Really, the iPhone is a game changer. It is the uber-conversion device. At first I wanted my cell phone, mp3 player, and pda to merge. But with iPhone and the app store I get so much more. It is also now my handheld game machine, navigation system, compass, level….the list goes on and on, and we are really still in the infancy of development for the device.
So it’s not ruining the country, it’s the next step in information and handheld tool availability.
Dvorak is attempting to blame the iPhone for an individual’s behavior he disagrees with. Sad. I relish the thought
@daugav369pils
LOL!
Whoops.
I relish the thought that Dvorak keeps himself up at night grinding his teeth in anger and frustration at Apple’s success.
“The economy has tanked in proportion to the growing popularity of the iPhone. This is no coincidence, as far as I’m concerned.”
Seriously? He correlates the economic recession with increased iPhone usage? WTH is he talking about?
I agree that the cell phone is the biggest time waster invented yet. People would still be wasting time without one but the cell phone is a way to spend money to waste your time.
You can waste your time all you want but when you waste my time you have gone too far. The cell phone does that as I wait for you to move out of the way while you are so pre-occupied talking with your snot-nosed kid about what kind of pizza mommy should get.
That is one example out of a million similar.
Dvorak is a old has been, who gives a shit about his opinion anyways? Oh, that’s right…PC Users!
Dvorbag writes: “The economy has tanked in proportion to the growing popularity of the iPhone. This is no coincidence, as far as I’m concerned.”
Either he is joking (poorly), or he is actually one of those all too numerous self-proclaimed pundit/experts that can take completely unrelated issues and arbitrarily link then in a lame attempt to support a completely nonsensical supposition.
This is still Dvorbag. Just because he throws out a bone to Mac users once in a while does not mean he is worth your time. He is just attempting to placate us by appealing to our vanity before throwing out the next Apple click-bait zinger.
It used to be somewhat humorous to read Dvorak’s tripe and point fingers at the idiot. It has become a pathetic waste of time. At this point, MDN, it is just page filler for your website. I recommend that you just pretend that he does not exist anymore.
This is what happens when nobody texts you cause you’re a miserable old git…
Oh no! People are interacting with each other! Run for your lives.
Spending time talking or texting is called social interaction. It would seem Dvorak is a very lonely man. Sad.
This just blows my mind: “The economy has tanked in proportion to the growing popularity of the iPhone. This is no coincidence, as far as I’m concerned.”
Yes, the housing crisis was most certainly a direct effect of the release of the iPhone. There are honest, hard-working people in this country who have lost their homes because of this breakdown. Yet, complete fools like this get paid (probably quite well) to crap through their keyboard.
This topic related to this good topic seems to be best selling! Therefore people not have to accomplish the thesis writing and writing thesis by their own efforts, they would get your support.
Nearly every time I read a Dvorak blog, the chit-chat is almost always inane, useless, unnecessary.
Dvorak generally comes across as a moron. But I suspect he says such things on purpose just to be a trouble maker as that’s one way to make money.