Are we living through a crisis of attention, writer Sam Anderson wonders in an article he wrote for New York magazine titled, “In Defense of Distraction.” In it, he fleshes out the pros and cons of our overstimulated, digitally enhanced lifestyle where we Facebook, Twitter, keep track of RSS feeds, download music, text our friends and iron our laundry all at the same time. It is the era of multi-tasking, but some researchers have concluded that our overall productivity is actually decreased because we lose a certain amount of brain power when we keep switching between activities.
On the other hand, the new generation kids are already adapted to this, and while they may not be able to concentratedly focus on one single task, they can competently conduct several conversations across different media, something the elders can’t. As someone of the generation that falls in between the two extremes, I can comfortably tab-browse and always have several windows open in the background across not one but two monitors, but I can still also sit down and quietly read a book.
Sandbox, the new online portal powered by Smart, aims to converge all our favorite individual apps, content and services onto one homepage. Think of it as Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, CNN, Craigslist and gaming all in one site, plus your 3G mobile phone, with the difference being the content and the network is local. “Digital harmony” is how it is being touted; “convergence” is probably the buzzword used in the early 2000s. You don’t need credit cards — since content is delivered straight to your mobile, the cost for any requested music, game and video is automatically charged to your prepaid load or billed above your postpaid plan.
An interesting and possibly the most useful feature of Sandbox is Digisoria, a kind of online shopping directory which categorizes online merchants by products, making it easier for customers to search for what they want, and also providing a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs and retailers to target their particular niche. This is especially helpful since doing a Google search can result in millions of unrelated hits, and shopping on international sites is just not cost-effective. Some featured sellers include totallychic.multiply.com, which sells custom-made jeans and corporate uniforms; maeganstar.multiply.com, Maegan Agular’s handbag site; estrellasacessories.multiply.com for one-of-a-kind, handmade jewelry.
Other shopping categories include Cameras, Videocams and Photography Equipment, Pets, Travel, Music, Sportswear and Sports Gear, Mobile Phones, Movies and Video, Food and Snacks, House and Home, Bikes, Cars and Trucks, Cooking and Baking, Toys and Hobbies, Books and Magazines, Audio-Video Equipment and Computers and Gadgets. Everything under the sun indeed. Now does this mean we can start closing down our various accounts and integrating our online identities into one big sandbox? Possibly — sometimes it doesn’t always work when one media tries to be everything (like when Facebook tried to Twittify itself), other times, it’s the Holy Grail (like the new video i-Phone, which is on my to-die-for list). Go play with it yourself at www.mysandbox.com.