John Lanchester Quotes

I don't let the computer into my bedroom. It would get in the way of life, sleep. And I really can't let that happen.

It's the smartphone that has turned adults and children alike into tech-addicted zombies, dumbly swiping and jabbing at their screens, oblivious to the world around them.

Even before smart phones and the Internet, we had many ways to distract our selves. Now that's compounded by a factor of trillions.

Sometimes my husband has to literally pull me away from the computer.

I feel disconnected, like I don't know where I am, if I'm on my phone too much. I'm also just the type to call. I'm not good on text.

I still find it absurdly difficult to concentrate on a novel if there's a phone or computer to hand; I have taken to locking them outside the room like noisy pets.

Computers tend to separate us from each other - Mum's on the laptop, Dad's on the iPad, teenagers are on Facebook, toddlers are on the DS, and so on.

There are plenty of reasons to put our cellphones down now and then, not least the fact that incessantly checking them takes us out of the present moment and disrupts family dinners around the globe.

When you're directed by social media, I think it's very easy to lose a sense of agency. And you can see it when you go to any subway station, you walk down any street in a city, you will see 70-80 percent of people staring into their phones as they walk or stand.

I try not to have the computer in the bedroom. I used to sleep with it, though. I used to wake up spooning my laptop.

Stand in my lobby at 5:30 P.M., and there is no one who gets out of the lift who is not on a gadget. No one is talking to each other. I get in the lift and say, 'Hello,' and everyone's head is down tapping on a screen.

Social media and smart phones have become an inevitable part of our lives. We shouldn't be under their control, which is wrong. It is mere stupidity, and we must be aware of everything around us.

I'm desperately trying to unplug. The last thing I want is a watch that connects to my phone which connects to my iPad that connects to my computer that airplays to my TV.

I could give up my phone any day. I don't need it.

Almost every time I go to the ocean, I think about throwing my phone right into it. Sometimes, you pull that thing out of your pocket, you look at it, and you're like, 'What was I just going to do with this? Was I going to take a note? Was I going to check my email? Was I going to take a picture?'

I'm never on my phone, really.

You should not be a slave to your telephone. The technology is there to serve you, not the other way around.

I don't like the fact people watch things on their phones and tablets, it kind of hurts my heart.

I don't try to attach myself to technology so much. I'm on my phone a lot, though, but in the off season, I try to get away from it as much as I can.

Kids are so accustomed to technology that it's upsetting to watch them without their phones. They don't know what to do. Sometimes I feel like I'm like that, too - if I get my phone taken away because I'm grounded, I don't know what to do. So I just have to sit in my room and stare blankly at the ceiling.

Everyone who uses their phone on a day to day basis just be careful with how much you're consuming because it can get unhealthy quickly.

Beyond just the respect that you want to have, people just miss out on being in the moment when they have a screen in front of their face. I just don't know to tell people. I feel it's like, you know, 'Turn off your phone and go to the theater.'

Like most millennials, I have the bad, anxiety-inducing habit of grabbing my phone in the morning and scrolling through social media for 15, 20 minutes before I'm fully awake.

I have my phone by my bed - I know everyone says you're supposed to turn it off - and it distorts your sleep, and they're probably right.

You see families at a restaurant and the kids are on the phone and the adults are on the phone. It's just a catastrophe.