When Gloria Mark started tracking computer screens in 2004, people lingered about 2.5 minutes before switching, but two decades later, the average had collapsed to roughly 47 seconds

When Gloria Mark started tracking computer screens in 2004, people lingered about 2.5 minutes before switching, but two decades later, the average had collapsed to roughly 47 seconds

Two and a half minutes. That is how long, on average, a person used to stay on a single screen before flicking to something else, back when researchers first started measuring it. Two decades later, that figure has fallen to about 47 seconds. Same task, same kind of worker, but a fraction of the staying power. The temptation, the moment you read that, is to reach for the obvious villain. I did. But the woman who actually collected the numbers th…