Stop scrolling: Tim Cook, Apple CEO, asks to leave smartphones and go out into nature more

“I don’t want people to look at their phone more than at the eyes of others, because if they do nothing more than scroll endlessly through the screen, that’s not the way you want to spend the day,” he said, while encouraging users to go out and “enjoy nature.”

This concern about how people use technology and devices in their daily lives is due to the prolonged use of smartphones today. For example, in the case of Spain, 78 percent of users spend more than four hours in front of a screen and, of them, 80 percent prefer the smartphone, according to a 2024 study.

Furthermore, the use of the mobile device is not restricted to a specific time of day, but has become an indispensable complement that is always at hand. So much so that 80 percent of Spaniards take it to the bathroom and 5 percent more to bed.

This use is accentuated among minors, who spend an average of four hours a day connected to screens outside the classroom, in their leisure time, according to a study by Qustodio. In part, this is due to social networks and their operation designed to create addiction, as has been proven in the recent trial held in the United States, which has forced Google and Meta to compensate a young woman for crises derived from her addiction to networks.

Following this same line, several countries are moving forward to legislate and prohibit access to social networks for those under 16 years of age, including France, the United Kingdom, Spain and the European Union.

Taking all this into account, given that the continued use of mobile devices and related applications can have harmful consequences for health, Apple’s CEO is committed to putting the device away and going out, despite Apple’s global leadership.

Innovation and AI

Beyond the use of the smartphone, Cook has also put the innovation of its products on the table from “reinventing the smartphone” to “incorporating creative arts” or “saving lives” with its smart watches.

Likewise, he has highlighted the relevance of artificial intelligence (AI) for technology, with the potential to be “transformative”. “I think that artificial intelligence is something very profound and can have a very positive impact, but, you know, technology is not intended to be good or bad. It depends on the user and the inventor,” he concluded.