When Your Phone Understands You Better Than Your TV Ever Could

Last weekend I tried to have a “no phone” evening and just chill with my TV for a change. I thought it’d be relaxing, but wow, it felt like going back in time. The TV had no idea what I wanted to watch, and every show it suggested was totally random. I ended up scrolling through menus for half an hour before giving up. Then I opened my phone, and the first thing that popped up on my feed was a short video about the exact hobby I’d been thinking about earlier that day. My phone nailed it instantly. It’s kind of wild how it feels like it actually knows me — my routines, moods, even my sense of humor. The TV, on the other hand, feels like it’s stuck in 2010, guessing blindly.

I can relate so much to that. My phone feels like a personal assistant that actually pays attention, while my TV is just… static noise most of the time. I’ve noticed that my phone doesn’t just show me stuff I like, it somehow picks up on why I like it. If I watch something emotional, it recommends calming playlists. If I laugh at memes, it gives me more of that energy later in the day. I read this article — https://bdjosh.com/why-your-phone-gets-you-better-than-your-tv-ever-will/ — and it explained how phones build these personal feedback loops by learning from every tap, swipe, and pause. TVs just don’t have that kind of interaction. They can’t sense your habits or adjust in real time. I’ve actually started using my phone to decide what I’ll watch on TV. I check the suggestions, see what’s trending for me, and then find it on a bigger screen if I really want to relax. Feels like cheating, but it works. The only weird part is when my phone recommends something before I even realize I’m into it — like cooking videos before I get hungry. Makes me wonder if it’s reading me or shaping me. Either way, it’s kind of addictive how accurate it is.

Sometimes I think it’s funny how much of what we do now depends on little signals we don’t even notice. You can be half-asleep and still letting some algorithm figure out who you are just by what you hover over or skip. It’s convenient, yeah, but it also blurs the line between what we actually want and what we’re nudged toward.