Tim Cook Worried About Apple Devices Used for ‘Endless Scrolling’

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook in an interview conducted with Bustle has expressed deep concerns about the “endless-mindless scrolling” culture that social media has inspired users to practice daily. This is not the first time the Apple Executive would express his opinion about certain things publicly. In Cook’s opinion, millions of people around the world are “using technology too much” and that shouldn’t be. Cook believes that his company’s devices should be used for the purpose of creativity, such as taking breathtaking photographs, connecting with family and friends, or something else rather than engaging in ‘endless-mindless scrolling’ online for most needless content.

His interview touched on Apple’s support of Shine, an application that was designed to help combat social stigmas and negativity surrounding mental health issues. According to Cook, “mental health is a crisis” and the adoption of Shine is “another powerful example of how technology can be used to help improve people’s lives.” Citing himself as an example, Tim Cook admits a lot of pressure comes along daily as a result of being Apple’s CEO, but through medication and “being out in nature and feeling so insignificant in the world he has been able to manage the stress and hectic responsibilities that come along with his position.

The Shine app was created with a “mission to make caring for your mental health easier, more representative, and more inclusive.” The Shine app was crowned Apple’s best app of 2020. Users are encouraged to check it out for the sake of their mental health. It is available to download for free on the App Store.

Moving on to technology addiction, Cook claims that “technology should serve humanity and not the other way around.” Cook is deeply worried that millions of people around the world are using technology too much. He emphasizes that one of Apple’s aims today is to try and help them.  Cook said “I’ve always thought that technology should serve humanity and not the other way around. And I always worried about people using technology too much. And so, we came out with Screen Time to try to give people a true reading of the amount of time they’re really spending on their devices because generally, it’s a lot more than they say.” Screen Time is that type of feature that can help people check and change their usage habits. The type of feature would require discipline and cooperation of the user involved.

Another concern that Cook is deeply worried about is the abuse of social media and its culture of infinity scrolling. In Cook’s view, the “endless- mindless scrolling” for near-limitless content on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok surrounds users with so much “negativity.” Cook says “I’ve often worried about the endless scrolling, the surrounding yourself with negativity and so forth. And so elevating a company like Shine and getting people to go check it out — that’s a great use of our technologies because that does serve humanity. Their whole company is based on this. And it’s how we look at the world. We want people to do things with their devices, like the photography exhibit that we both enjoyed, or connecting with family and friends with FaceTime. Not endless, mindless scrolling.”

In 2019, the creator of the infinite or endless scrolling tool on social media – Aza Raskin said, he regretted creating it and is  “so sorry” for his invention. Aza Raskin added that he regrets what his invention has done to society. Raskin said the goal of his invention was to Cook, give the “most seamless experience possible” to users but regrettably, it has transformed into an addictive mechanism that “keep them online for as long as possible.”