Get a life... US engineer who invented the mobile phone advises people

By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 1, 2022, 7:46 PM IST

Martin Cooper is widely regarded as the "Father of the Cell Phone," but he admits he doesn't use it very much.

An American engineer, Martin Cooper, 93, spoke on BBC Breakfast when he advised viewers to "get a life" and quit scrolling.

Cooper oversaw the Motorola team in charge of creating the first mobile phone in the 1970s. He was the first person in history to use a portable mobile phone publicly in 1973.

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He is widely regarded as the "Father of the Cell Phone," but he admits he doesn't use it very much.

Cooper stated during the interview that he spends less than 5 per cent of his time on his phone.

He was surprised when asked what he would say to those who spend up to five hours on theirs.

'Do you really spend five hours a day?' He asked. 'I'd say, "Get a life!"

Phones are unquestionably indispensable for staying in touch with friends and family, scrolling through Twitter, or being entertained by endless TikTok videos.

Having said that, you may be surprised to learn that we will spend nearly a decade on our phones in our lifetimes.

WhistleOut surveyed 1,000 American smartphone users to determine how much time we spend on our phones, and the results are astounding.

As per the survey, millennials (born 1981-1996) spend nearly a quarter of their waking lives on their phones, accounting for 23.1 per cent of their day.

This figure falls to 16.5 per cent for Generation X (born 1965-1980) and is lower than the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), with 9.9 per cent of their waking hours spent scrolling.

Researchers calculated the average hours we spend on our phones each day in the study, which varied greatly between generations.

Millennials' average screen time per day is 3.7 hours, while Gen X spends 3 hours and Boomers spend 2.5 hours.

WhistleOut calculated that the average phone user would spend 8.74 years on their phone for their lives by adding up the figures.

However, they explain that, for millennials, who were among the first to grow up with this technology, a large portion of their phone usage is due to the tech-focused jobs they hold.

Still, if you want to take Cooper's advice and put the phone down, there are a few things you can do to cut down on your own screen time.

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