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Man Who invented The Mobile Phone Says People Who Spend So Much Time On It Need To ‘Get A Life’
The inventor of the mobile phone has suggested that people who spend too much time on the device may want to rethink their priorities.
Martin Cooper, a 93-year-old American engineer, was appearing on BBC Breakfast when he suggested people should stop scrolling and ‘get a life’.
Cooper led the team at Motorola responsbile for the development of the first ever mobile phone in the 1970s. In 1973, he became the first person in history to make a handheld cellular phone call in public.
Now widely credited as the ‘father of the cell phone’ he admitted he actually doesn’t use the device all that much.
Mr Cooper explained during the interview that he probably spends less than 5 per cent of his time on his phone.
When asked what he would say to those who spend upwards of five hours on theirs, he was incredulous.
‘You really spend five hours a day?’ he asked. ‘I would say “get a life!”.
How much time do we spend on our phones?
Whether keeping in touch with friends and family, doomscrolling Twitter or staying entertained with endless TikTok videos, phones are definitely an essential.
But with that said, you may still be surprised to learn that over our lifetimes we’ll spend almost a decade on our phones.
A study by WhistleOut surveyed 1,000 American smartphone users to see just how much time we spend on our phones and the results are staggering.
(Credits: Getty Images)
The survey found that millennials (born 1981-1996) spend almost a quarter of their waking lives on their phones, taking up 23.1% of their day.
That figure drops to 16.5% for Generation X (born 1965- 1980) and is even lower for Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), with 9.9% of their waking hours spent scrolling.
In the study, researchers also calculated the average number of hours a day we spend on our phones, which also varied heavily between generations.
The average screentime per day for millennials is at 3.7 hours, Gen X spend an average of 3 hours and Boomers are again the lowest at 2.5 hours.
By totting up the figures, WhistleOut were able to estimate that the average phone user, over the course of their life, will spend 8.74 years on their phones.
But they explain that, particularly for millennials who were among the first people to grow up with this technology, a lot of phone usage is down to tech-focused jobs they’re in.
Still, if you want to follow Mr Cooper’s advice and put the phone down, there are a number of ways you can try to reduce your own screen time.
Source: metro.co.uk
Ghana Tourism Authority is leading Ghana’s participation at ITB Berlin, which opened in Berlin with a vibrant national pavilion highlighting Ghana’s rich cultural heritage, tourism destinations and investment opportunities.
March 5 has been designated as Ghana Day, a special platform to promote Ghana’s languages, cuisine, Kente, festivals and business prospects to the global tourism community. The stand has already drawn strong interest with traditional arts and crafts displays, immersive multimedia presentations and popular Ghanaian snacks.
Seven private-sector players are exhibiting alongside government officials as part of efforts to deepen trade partnerships, expand market access, and attract investment across the hospitality, heritage tourism, ecotourism, and creative arts sectors.
Ahead of the official opening, the Ghana delegation also engaged young Ghanaian investors in Germany in collaboration with V Afrika-Verein and the Ghana Embassy, strengthening diaspora investment linkages and highlighting opportunities within the tourism value chain.
Ghana’s coordinated presence at ITB Berlin 2026 reinforces its strategy to position the country as the Gateway to Africa and a competitive destination for leisure travel and global investment.
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
