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ADHD Startups Are Exploding, and Now There's Even a Dedicated Browser (techcrunch.com) 98

Mike Butcher writes via TechCrunch: SidekickWas it the pandemic? Did everyone follow too many ADHD TikTokers? Have smartphones fried our brains? Whatever the case, there is a boom in ADHD tech solutions, from online drug deliveries to web sites and apps. [...] Now there is a Sidekick, who's pitch is that it's a "productivity browser." Today it's launching a host of features geared to ADHD sufferers and the attention distracted more generally. The company claims users with ADHD noticed a "significant improvement" after using the browser. The Chromium-based browser was founded by Dmitry Pushkarev (a Stanford PhD in Molecular Biology, ex-Amazon exec and ADHDer).

So how does it work? To nullify distractions, the browser incorporates AdBlock 2.0; a Focus Mode Timer disables all sounds, badges and notifications for a selected time or indefinitely; a Task Manager organizes your day; and there's a built-in Pomodoro timer; it also claims to run 3x faster than Chrome, which, apparently, is important for ADHD sufferers. Suffice it to say, it has a number of other distraction-killing features; however, I'm not going to list them all here.

CEO and founder Dmitry Pushkarev said, in a statement, "Modern browsers are not designed for work, but for consuming web pages. This gap really hurts hundreds of millions of users. We are convinced that lowering web distraction reduces anxiety and increases the quality of people's work and the quality of their lives." He says the startup plans to make money via corporate subscribers, who will pay to get their ADHD-afflicted workers into a more productive mode.

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ADHD Startups Are Exploding, and Now There's Even a Dedicated Browser

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  • by Fly Swatter ( 30498 ) on Tuesday March 07, 2023 @10:13PM (#63352057) Homepage
    With a new laptop came windows 11, which has some sort of mode to disable distractions/notifications for a time.

    And why are they blaming the browser for distractions? It's those silly websites we are all addicted to that are serving us almost everything but what we are actually there for.

    Web browsers were never designed for work; that is a silly statement. Want workers to not be distracted? then intranet them.
    • by Kokuyo ( 549451 )

      What I'm mainly getting distracted by is horrible information flow. Every task I want to complete I gotta research internally until I know what to do, when to do it and if I'm even allowed to do it.

      Alao I get spammed by our monitoring. I get like 10k emails a month I gotta ignore.

      In the last company, the confluence "intranet" was so packed I wished for a confluence to the confluence so I could actually find anything...

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

      And why are they blaming the browser for distractions?

      They are not. They are blaming a browser for enabling distractions, which is a feature required of a browser to do things other than work.

      Web browsers were never designed for work

      I'm glad you got stuck on the dictionary definition of a word that was used when the world was a very different place. Fortunately no one cares what it means to "browse". Web browsers are absolutely designed to interact with a large amount of content, and for many that very much includes work.

      Want workers to not be distracted? then intranet them.

      How is it in 2023 people can still assume that "work" by definition is siloing s

    • by pjt33 ( 739471 )

      Of course web browsers were designed for work, back in the days when the sole purpose of the web was work. If your work isn't scientific research then browsing preprints of papers is probably slacking off, but for the physicists at CERN it was absolutely something you'd budget part of your working day for.

    • And why are they blaming the browser for distractions? It's those silly websites we are all addicted to that are serving us almost everything but what we are actually there for.

      exactly this!!!

      Modern websites:
      Welcome to Acme Fly Swatters, where we have OVERLAY WINDOW ASKING FOR EMAIL ADDRESS FOR NEWSLETTER some of the best fly swatters in the world. Founded in 1977, our mission CLICK THIS DANCING BUNNY TO ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS ON YOUR BROWSER is to rid the world of flies, one swatter at a time. Our patented VIDEO WITH HIGH CONTRAST CUTS THAT BLOCKS THE PARAGRAPH BEING READ carbon fiber design makes our swatters lightweight and durable ANOTHER VIDEO THAT FOLLOWS DOWN THE SCREEN overla

      • by Merk42 ( 1906718 )

        . Websites get money for the clicks, I don't have to see them, analytics and behavioral patterns get messed up...it's the kind of ad blocker that Google doesn't let in the Chrome Store because it *actually* makes a mess of their product.

        Wouldn't analytics see "people click on this" therefore increasing the likely-hood of a site using those kinds of popup?

        • Which is a good thing. If the ad blocker is clicking on it, it is detecting it and therefore suppressing it. You're encouraging ads that your ad blocker can block, as opposed to ads that get around it.

          • by Merk42 ( 1906718 )
            Gotcha, it's OK to make things worse for other people, so long as I am not affected.
            • How exactly are you making things worse for other people? It's unlikely that they will be getting more ads, just different ones. And if they're using the same (or similar) ad blocker as you, and that's always readily available to them, you've just made things better for them too.

    • > With a new laptop came windows 11, which has some sort of mode to disable distractions/notifications for a time.

      I don't know about that, but as a general rule, if you want lots of alerts from your operating system, then Windows is the one for you. Linux and MacOS seem to get by without bugging the user nearly as often.

      As for browsers, I'd agree that they're not the cause of distractions per-se. However, to surf the modern web, you've got to use an ad blocker, and frankly, something that can get rid of

  • by apoc.famine ( 621563 ) <apoc.famine@NOSPAM.gmail.com> on Tuesday March 07, 2023 @10:20PM (#63352067) Journal

    IDK who wrote this summary, but it's spastic and incoherent.

    SidekickWas it the pandemic? Did everyone follow too many ADHD TikTokers?

    Yeah, if you're eating your own dogfood, it's not working.

  • LMAO (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JMJimmy ( 2036122 ) on Tuesday March 07, 2023 @11:07PM (#63352139)

    Tech startups who fundamentally misunderstand a disorder.

    Distraction is the result of executive dysfunction. If there's no source of distraction, our brains will create them as a coping mechanism to avoid overtaxing the executive. That can be as simple as spinning in a chair.

    • Tech startups who fundamentally misunderstand a disorder.

      The only thing worse than this is Slashdotters not having a clue. Not all distractions are created equally. This is one of the reasons things such as fidget spinners were actually functional things used by ADHD suffers to help them concentrate.

      Distraction is the result of executive dysfunction. If there's no source of distraction, our brains will create them as a coping mechanism

      Exactly, and that coping mechanism is often doing work. It seems to be that *YOU* do not understand the disease. ADHD suffers are far more effective at doing tasks when distractions are not presented to them. Their brains are easily distracted but they don't actively

      • I have the disease. I understand it very well.

        If I am focused on a task, I can have every distraction in the world around me and I'll hyperfocus my way through it.

        If I can't focus on a task, it can be the only thing in the room and I'll do anything and everything else.

        Don't take my word for it - here's exactly the type of thing that happens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • I agree it's not a cure, but helpful is helpful. And if your tools trigger fewer natural issues then I'd call that a win.

      No I haven't used this, and yes I've been diagnosed (PI). Wish I'd known while growing up, but I guess late is better than never (sometimes).

    • Dr. Russell Barkley has a decent video [youtube.com] about this very topic; ADHD is an Intention Deficient disorder.

  • Is it me, or is this outfit's EULA more expansively ... feudalistic ... in its terms?

    As I was reading through it I kept half expecting to see terms like "heriot" or "merchet" or "amercement" or "enfangenethef".

  • More people are being treated and diagnosed with the illness. In the past you just say the kid was no good. Or you call him lazy or unfocused. There's relatively more access to healthcare in America because of the affordable Care act and doctors are more aware as our educators.
    • by Kokuyo ( 549451 )

      There's unfortunately also a lot of misdiagnosis because its trendy.

      However, I'd rather have us look at kids as being different rather than faulty any day. If we could just stop giving Ritalin to people who don't need it...

      • It's not because it's trendy, it's because it's rare.

        About 5% of the population have ADHD. If we tested them all, using psychiatrists that were 99% accurate, we'd have the following breakdown:

        True positive: 4.95%
        False negative: 0.05%
        True negative: 94.05%
        False positive: 0.95%

        Even with a 99% accuracy rate, 16% of the people with a positive diagnosis wouldn't have ADHD. The sheer size of the "doesn't have ADHD" group means that even rare errors are a significant number of people compared to the "does

    • There are also algorithms and techniques made to turn everything into an addiction-inducing brain smelter. Your kid never had a chance to learn how to focus if he was given a mobile phone for a baby sitter.

  • Will this make the morning commute easier?

    I find the traffic very distracting when I'm trying to catch up on all that I missed overnight. Especially when people are honking their horns at me and flashing their headlights. How am I supposed to keep up with the latest when I'm surrounded by these lame drivers? People at the office depend on me to provide the latest news and gossip and I must arrive prepared.

  • Born in 1970 here. We called them slow, and they had a special class they went to so as not to slow everybody else down. I was also spanked. I'm pleased to see some advances in society, but... I understand where they were coming from.

    • '67 here. I wasn't ever called slow, and my grades were actually pretty good. That doesn't mean that school wasn't like pulling teeth for me, and I wish I had a dime for every time I've heard, "he's easily distracted and isn't working up to his potential".

      For people that deal with ADHD in their lives, you have my sympathy because I've been there and continue to experience it on a daily basis. For those that choose to say, "I don't believe it exists", well, I don't give two shits what you believe.

    • ADHD doesn't make for slow kids, it makes for distracted kids. Even the most ignorant teacher can tell the difference between glazed over eyes and eyes that constantly dart all over the place.

      In the 70s, they were called 'troublemakers' or 'undisciplined'.

      Put an ADHD kid in a smaller, quieter classroom and sometimes they turn out to be the brightest ones. Without distraction the milder cases can suddenly focus and excel. Not to say ADHD makes you smart, you can still be stupid with it... but it doesn't ma

  • ADHD candidate here. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Qbertino ( 265505 ) <moiraNO@SPAMmodparlor.com> on Wednesday March 08, 2023 @12:10AM (#63352233)

    It may seem like a fad, but be assured, it absolutely isn't(!!). And finally having an official diagnosis in the late 40ies is a godsend.

    However, I do not believe that ADHD is a "disorder" in the usual sense. I'm pretty much 100% in the Hartmann research camp that assumes that ADHD basically is a low-percentage cognitive predisposition that was passed down from humans who settled very late in human history. This is palpable day in and day out for someone like me. For us a minimalist / untouched nature / low-sensory-load-environment lifestyle, Paleo diet, sugar avoidance and daily cardio maxing isn't just beneficial, it's an absolute must to maintain baseline sanity.

    ADHD sure is no picknick and can be living hell and push you to the brink of suicide, especially if you don't know what's "wrong" with you, but it also has notable benefits: Hyperfocus, strong survival skills, a strong sense for energy preservation and a quasi-magical sense for low-hanging fruit and easy prey. All these are ultra-high-performer traits in hunter-gatherer societies and also have you functioning super-chill in high-stress and dangerous situations.

    I'm a 50ies software guy living in a single-room apartment and quite happy and content, after 10+ years of circling in on my condition and consuming cutting-edge research on the topic, but I'm also pretty sure that I'd be a notable tribe-leader were this the early bronze age we're living in right now. My daughter is in her mid-twenties, went through a hellride of German physical medical studies and exams by basically learning 13 hours a day, 7 days a week for 2 years and now has once again taken off to go and live in the jungle halfway around the world, sleep in a tent and cook over a fire. She is happier that way and I can totally relate and give her my fullest support, because seeing her grow up in her teens and sensing the kognitive dissonance she was feeling just as I felt when I was moving into my mid-teens was one of the last instances of clues that I needed to see. Yeah, this sure as hell runs in our family and came from both my grandmothers side (mother) and from my father and it also sure as hell isn't just some epigenetic trans-generational WW2 trauma that's being passed on by a bona-fide functional disposition.

    If you are in this camp you will most definitely *not* live a "usual" life and if you have no other perspective than judging yourself by not being able to, that's a surefire ticket to chronic anxiety, depression and suicide/early death. So yah to anyone who has a honest interest in getting a grip on this ADHD thing and not just making a profit selling medication. Which I do use btw. but I don't need when I'm out in a low-sensory-load natural environment.

    BTW, the scientific community by now pretty much 100% agrees that the term "ADHD" is a total misnowner and the underlying condition is a much more complex executive inhibition triggered/elevated by settler environments/societies and their "unnatural" kognitive and social demands. They also agree that the incomplete and misleading symptom shorthand "ADHD" is by now so entrenched that it wouldn't make sense or be of any benefit if the naming where changed now.

    • Thank you for your write up. As an outsider, I'll need to digest it and reread it. Though I'm not personally affected, I know some who are. And there's parallels to things that I am affected by. Very interesting and instructive.
    • by zaren ( 204877 )

      Speed reading through the comments, and "daily cardio maxing" jumped out at me. Half a dozen tabs opened now on it, and about to dive in. Thanks for giving a fellow diagnosed-ADHD-as-an-adulter something to look at that isn't work that might help me out with life :)

  • All notifications are disabled already. As someone who has ADHD, I already have my techniques. All this seems unnecessary
    • All notifications are disabled already. As someone who has ADHD, I already have my techniques. All this seems unnecessary

      There you go, selfishly thinking it's all about you again. Won't you spend even a few seconds reflecting on the plight of those poor startup CEOs and the VCs backing them? Without your money, they can't buy another jet or a vacation house in the Seychelles.

  • by cstacy ( 534252 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2023 @02:01AM (#63352357)

    Tried to RTFA but.... you know. Could not focus that long.

  • I'm going to try them all out at the same time!
  • Back in the 1990's the killer app for ADHD was Methylphenidate(Ritalin) and it turned out to be a rather profitable enterprise for Ciba/Novartis.

  • One of the joys of using Linux in the 90s/00s was that there wasn't a junk like ActiveX on web pages. Flash came along, so the browser extension to disable it was a must. Applications don't normally get to interfere with the desktop, though, that seems to be a slipping trend, killing notification tray plugins solved the desktop distractions.

    Within firefox, ublock and muting tabs seems to solve a lot of problems. There are some things that would be better, such as preventing the page from changing the tab ti

  • .... it's a fantstic browser for anyone. But tripling the speed of Chrome? Come on. Some browser aimed at a niche market have gone three times better than what (hundreds of?) Google's engineers have been working on? Even if they've made the V8 engine twice as fast, that would be amazing. But honestly? I'll try it out .... because I hate how Mozilla are using Firefox as a pushy sales vehicle for Pocket. But I'm not even going to demand to see their benchmarks. Their marketing team can just fuck the f
  • incorporates AdBlock 2.0; a Focus Mode Timer disables all sounds, badges and notifications for a selected time or indefinitely;

    Isn't this what everyone wants in their browser all the time regardless of what they are doing with it?

  • Says it won't work on Win7 and I should focus on upgrading... Talk about distractions!

  • "Modern browsers are not designed for work, but for consuming web pages."

    If only there was a way to run a business application on a personal computer without using a web browser... Maybe Microsoft can patent that...

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