The friendly folks at VSP Vision Care sent along this quick video explaining how our increased use of computers and smartphones have affected our vision. Remember when you were growing up and you were told not to sit too close to the TV? How many of you now spend nearly every waking hour inches away from a computer monitor, or glued to your iPhone? Mm.
As one of the many Americans who spend more than 12 hours in front of a computer—only because I have to; I’d much rather be selling quenepas in Bayamón, believe me—you’d think that I’d constantly be complaining of eye strain. Eh, not really. While my eyesight has been complete garbage since the age of 8 (if humans were still hunter-gatherers, I’d have been eaten by a lion years ago), I haven’t noticed any particular problems related to overuse of the computer.
Moral of the story is: make sure to get your eyes regularly checked out, particularly if you’re hunched over a computer or phone all day long.