The quest for attention

It’s popular in the tech world to strive for it as much as you. Get people to use your product for as long as you can and as often as you can. It’s understandable but is it sustainable?

For a user, attention is a finite resource. There’s only so much time in a day. So it’s a choice a user needs to make consciously or not.

I can see how companies want more of it though. Especially since everyone’s so afraid of getting behind that we create this endless circle. More attention, more leverage to monetize, more likely to stay alive to capture more attention.

Less attention means people move onto something else and a company can possibly be at risk. Is it the only way though?

The physical world is a bit more balanced. TV or other forms of media want as much as they can. On the other hand, a valuable book is not (necessarily) trying to prevent you from reading something else. A good dentist actually wants you to see him as little as possible.

What are the implications of traditional tech business models seeking to maximize attention?