Bedtime doomed by 'bed scrolling'
Going to bed and getting to sleep are very different things in a time of smartphones, 24-hour news cycles, addictive social media feeds and a contentious presidential election.
"Bed scrolling” — a term to describe smartphone users who put off sleep to obsessively check news or social media content, is exacting a toll. A Talker Research survey found that 55% of respondents said they “always or often scroll” through their phones before going to sleep. And 43% bed scroll as soon as they wake up.
Bed scrolling can easily become “doom scrolling,” where you continually see news or social media content you find upsetting. A third of respondents in the survey said their mood was “often negatively affected” by something they see while bed scrolling.
All ears for podcasts
There’s a good reason the presidential candidates made appearing on podcasts a priority: listeners, and lots of them. Edison Research says 47% of the U.S. population listens to a least one podcast a month. While most podcast listeners are ages 12-54, listeners 55 and older are the fastest-growing segment. Half of those who listen to podcasts spend 1-5 hours a week glued to various podcasts.
PC sales inch higher
Sales of personal computers posted their fourth straight quarterly increase — but barely. Research firm Canalys said shipments of PCs rose a scant 1% in the third quarter compared with the same period last year. However, Canalys expects a surge in sales over the next 12 months because Microsoft ends support for Windows 10 in October 2025, forcing many businesses to upgrade to newer PCs.
UK bans single-use vapes
Single-use vapes will be banned in England next year as the country cracks down on increasing waste from the devices and rising use among youths. The growing demand for tobacco alternatives has led to a proliferation of non-rechargeable and non-refillable vapes, which generally end up in a “flood of litter on our streets,” the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
