Consuming vs. Creating

I read this article (Steve Jobs Was a Low-Tech Parent) in the New York Times a few days ago and have been mulling over some of the highlights for a few days. Interestingly, it wasn’t necessarily the broader points about boundaries (while allowing for the reality that we live in a technological world) or the final note that Steve Jobs home encouraged educational discussions over dinner and family time that were the most memorable (although I was thrilled to read all of it, and thought it a fairly balanced article). Rather, it was this point on a type of limit to consider creating in the home, in addition to time, that resonated and struck a chord:

“Ali Partovi, a founder of iLike and adviser to Facebook, Dropbox and Zappos, said there should be a strong distinction between time spent “consuming,” like watching YouTube or playing video games, and time spent “creating” on screens.”

As I’ve noted before, I feel the effects (and notice them among others), of  spending too much time with technology. But I know that (for me) any sense of need to ‘reign it in’, is purely because of the way I’m using it. When I spend time in ‘consuming’ mode, it’s easier to loose track of time and indeed waste it for no good purpose, usually purely on myself. And, frankly, consuming mode rarely uses my brain in any sort of real way (but maybe others are reading something like the Summa online? This does not apply to you if so!).

When I use it as a tool, however, it is much easier to manage time spent with it, there is something produced to speak of after the fact, and whatever is produced is often not purely for myself. I’m not in any way saying that consuming is always bad, but this distinction has already helped me consciously use our various technological tools better in the midst of already busy family life.