In this deep, funny, and at times shocking conversation, Jess Butcher MBE — co-founder of Blippar and the creator of Scroll Aware — breaks down how the attention economy became an addiction economy, how AR missed its moment, why our kids are becoming NPCs, and what the analogue renaissance could look like.

We explore:

Timestamps:

00:00 — AR’s rise & missed moment

03:00 — Why AR never hit education

06:46 — Attention → addiction economy

11:30 — Algorithmic media & truth decay

15:50 — Overwhelm, ADHD & digital habits

18:49 — Kids, screens & NPC culture

22:03 — Phones out of schools

27:07 — The “safe phone” movement

30:32 — Big Tech vs Big Tobacco

46:37 — The analogue renaissance begins

Find Jess Butcher online at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessbutcher/

Twitter: https://x.com/jessbutcher

scrollaware: https://www.scrollaware.com/

This episode is sponsored by EmergeOne, fractional CFOs for venture backed tech startups from Seed to Series B.

Get in touch at https://emergeone.co.uk/contact-us/ or join the CFO team at https://emergeone.co.uk/join-the-cfo-team/

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