NY Times: A Practical Guide To Quitting Your Smartphone.

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I’ve written about my switch from flip to smart (phone) long before. I really tussled with the concept of having work ‘chase’ me throughout the day. I delayed and delayed the decision, until I was considered a dinosaur amongst my competition.

I suspect the biggest detriment would be when I go to the grocery store; so many times, sold-out items require extensive discussion and agreement upon reasonable replacements. So say the broccoli is sold out or moldy - brussel sprouts or asparagus? Or something else? Such precision was never expected, pre-smartphone. And it never seemed important enough to require an actual phone call. We allowed creativity in vegetal interpretation without post-shop rancor.

(‘vegetal interpretation’ … God, I’m dying laughing at my brain right now … really rolling on the floor …)

Recode: Tinder and Instagram are ‘crippling’ relationships, sex therapist Esther Perel says.

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"It no longer has to do with being socially isolated,” Perel said. “It has to do with experiencing a loss of trust and a loss of capital while you are next to the person with whom you’re not supposed to be lonely."

Sitting next to someone, face lit blue, doing the jiggery-pokery with their little screens, yeah. You see couples sitting, walking all over Santa Fe - faces glued to their screens. Every so often one of the pair will have a crestfallen look. But the photo here - could she be any happier about it all?

New Scientist: Killer kettles show security an afterthought for connected homes.

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Take, for instance, the connected “killer kettle”. You can turn it on at the click of a smartphone app – even when the kettle is empty, creating a fire risk.

Not even Arthur C. Clarke thought up weaponizing robotic domestic appliances. Then again, could we call HAL 9000 a 'domestic appliance', if we squinted real hard?

Vox: The selfie epidemic is driving people to get nose jobs.

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It's the wide-angle lenses. Anyone getting a nose job to please a smartphone is a complete and total idiot. Get someone else to take the photo for you. Another 12" can make all the difference. Or one of those fiddly selfie-sticks. Anything to get that smartphone out of your face for some real perspective.

Wirecutter: Can an iPad Pro or Surface Pro Tablet Replace Your Laptop?

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Of interest. My iPad Air has likely seen its last iOS update, given noises from Apple. A client had an iPad Pro (the huge one), and wow ... it was fast and sleek. Didn't get to fiddle with the Pen, however.

Anyone know if they've approached handwriting recognition, as the Newton did? I'm still jonesin' for that.

The Coffeelicious: The Age of Notifications and Attention-Deficits.

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All you are left with then is a feeling of dissatisfaction at the end of it which can only be satiated with something more rewarding. That means you could endlessly keep responding to notifications, instant messages and consuming content online but NEVER actually feel good about it.

My wife has taken a reprieve from all social media; Instagram was the hardest for her to leave. She says she's happier than she's been in ages. She had specifically avoided getting social'd and blogg'd as I have been, only to be sucked in by client requirements about three years ago. She's no less informed, really, because news trickles down in so many ways these days. She may not be day-current, but she's certainly week-current ... with the healthy realization that the only control one has over politics is your vote.