--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Your email inbox is a bit like a Las…" description: "\"Your email inbox is a bit like a Las Vegas roulette machine. You know, you just check it and check it, and every once in a while there's some juicy lit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/douglas-rushkoff-2188_bandits_your-email-inbox-is-a-bit-like-a-las-veg_2155521.png" --- # Your email inbox is a bit like a Las Vegas roulette… ![“Your email inbox is a bit like a Las Vegas roulette machine. You know, you just check it and check it, and every once in a while there's some juicy little tidbit of reward, like the three quarters that pop down on a one-armed bandit. And that keeps you coming back for more.” quote by Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/douglas-rushkoff-2188_bandits_your-email-inbox-is-a-bit-like-a-las-veg_2155521.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/douglas-rushkoff-2188_bandits_your-email-inbox-is-a-bit-like-a-las-veg_2155521.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c60/douglas-rushkoff-2188_bandits_your-email-inbox-is-a-bit-like-a-las-veg_2155521.png) > “Your email inbox is a bit like a Las Vegas roulette machine. You know, you just check it and check it, and every once in a while there's some juicy little tidbit of reward, like the three quarters that pop down on a one-armed bandit. And that keeps you coming back for more.” [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Constant notifications act like a gambling machine, rewarding intermittent checks and reinforcing compulsive checking behavior. **In simple terms:** Email checks are like a slot machine, giving occasional rewards that keep you hooked. Key Takeaway Limit checking time and turn off non‑essential notifications. Themes addiction technology attention reward habit Mood anxious reflective Type observational analytical When to use this quote - work email - social media - newsletters - personal messaging - productivity tools Key Concepts behavioral economics intermittent reinforcement digital distraction Questions to Reflect On - How does this comparison change your email habits? - What alternative rewards could replace checking? A Different Perspective The analogy may oversimplify complex emotional needs behind communication. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Inbox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inbox/) [Las vegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/las-vegas/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Reward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reward/) [Rewards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rewards/) [Roulette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roulette/) [Vegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegas/) ## Related quotes > [When you put your heart into a job, you find that the selfsatisfaction, is the reward that you have, someone like your job or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/when-you-put-your-heart-into-a-job-you-find-that-the-selfsatisfaction/) Mak\_786 > [Trust but check. Check on those we trust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rob-smith/trust-but-check-check-on-those-we-trust/) [Tom Rob Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rob-smith/) > [“Living check to check meant a man didn’t have to live bullet to bullet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-antoinette/living-check-to-check-meant-a-man-didn-t-have-to-live-bullet-to-bullet/) [Ashley Antoinette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-antoinette/) > [I am methodical about my email inbox, and I always have a physical to-do list. Without those two things, I think I'd lose my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-jenkins-reid/i-am-methodical-about-my-email-inbox-and-i-always-have-a-physical-to/) [Taylor Jenkins Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-jenkins-reid/) > [“Never leave a read email in your inbox.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-leave-a-read-email-in-your-inbox/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Before you tell people to check you out with hopes that they will write a check to you for your services… Check yourself. Check…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-weisman/before-you-tell-people-to-check-you-out-with-hopes-that-they-will/) [Loren Weisman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-weisman/) > [Joining LinkedIn is like throwing sand into your email inbox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/joining-linkedin-is-like-throwing-sand-into-your-email-inbox/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > ['Digiphrenia' is really the experience of trying to exist in more than one incarnation of yourself at the same time. There's your Twitter profile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digiphrenia-is-really-the-experience-of-trying-to-exist-in-more-than/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [The dark comedies tend to be in a non-releasable area. There can be romantic comedies. There can be dramas. But there's no 'dark comedy'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/the-dark-comedies-tend-to-be-in-a-non-releasable-area-there-can-be/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [Pass it on:)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel/pass-it-on/) [Rachel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel/) > [When people see their Inbox, they think I'm addicted to messaging. But they are wrong bcoz they don't know that Iââìââm addicted to holding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norden/when-people-see-their-inbox-they-think-i-m-addicted-to-messaging-but/) [Norden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norden/) > [What is the emotion of an empty inbox? An unliked Post? An ignored dating app message? I think there's a great loneliness that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-weinstein/what-is-the-emotion-of-an-empty-inbox-an-unliked-post-an-ignored/) [Alexander Weinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-weinstein/) > [Please repost this and COMMENT on what you think I am?????](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gold/please-repost-this-and-comment-on-what-you-think-i-am/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gold/) > [I don't like a girl on social media, when you have an open inbox, answering questions from dudes left and right, every day. What's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meek-mill/i-don-t-like-a-girl-on-social-media-when-you-have-an-open-inbox/) [Meek Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meek-mill/) > [I have an office full of product from brands trying to be in videos and an inbox full of songs from artists, but at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-kluger/i-have-an-office-full-of-product-from-brands-trying-to-be-in-videos/) [Adam Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-kluger/) ## More by Douglas Rushkoff > [The first step toward maintaining autonomy in any programmed environment is to be aware that there's programming going on. It's as simple as understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/the-first-step-toward-maintaining-autonomy-in-any-programmed/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Digital media are biased toward replication and storage. Our digital photos practically upload and post themselves on Facebook, and our most deleted e-mails tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digital-media-are-biased-toward-replication-and-storage-our-digital/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [“And spend they did. Money circulated faster and spread wider through its communities of use than at any other time in economic history.8 Workers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/and-spend-they-did-money-circulated-faster-and-spread-wider-through/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Occupy Wall Street is meant more as a way of life that spreads through contagion, creates as many questions as it answers, aims to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/occupy-wall-street-is-meant-more-as-a-way-of-life-that-spreads/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Time has always been used against us on a certain level. The invention of the clock made us accountable to the employer, gave us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/time-has-always-been-used-against-us-on-a-certain-level-the-invention/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [What makes a great standalone piece of hardware is not the same thing as what makes a great networking device. One can work as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/what-makes-a-great-standalone-piece-of-hardware-is-not-the-same-thing/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Digiphrenia - how technology lets us be in more than one place - and self - at the same time. Drone pilots suffer more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digiphrenia-how-technology-lets-us-be-in-more-than-one-place-and-self/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [A currency designed for long-term storage and investment doesn't do so well at encouraging transactions and exchange in the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/a-currency-designed-for-long-term-storage-and-investment-doesn-t-do/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Since the 1960s, mainstream media has searched out and co-opted the most authentic things it could find in youth culture, whether that was psychedelic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/since-the-1960s-mainstream-media-has-searched-out-and-co-opted-the/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Children are being adultified because our economy is depending on them to make purchasing decisions. So they're essentially the victims of a marketing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/children-are-being-adultified-because-our-economy-is-depending-on/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [In spite of my own reservations about Bing's ability to convert Google users, I have to admit that the search engine does offer a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/in-spite-of-my-own-reservations-about-bing-s-ability-to-convert/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [“Limbic consonance is the little-known process through which the mood of a room changes when a happy or nervous person walks in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/limbic-consonance-is-the-little-known-process-through-which-the-mood/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Think 'Game of Thrones.' In the old days, this sort of show might be considered bad writing. It doesn't really seem to be moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/think-game-of-thrones-in-the-old-days-this-sort-of-show-might-be/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [We have the alternative. "Do I want to be on the subway looking at these people, or do I want to be in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-have-the-alternative-do-i-want-to-be-on-the-subway-looking-at/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Digiphrenia”—the way our media and technologies encourage us to be in more than one place at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digiphrenia-the-way-our-media-and-technologies-encourage-us-to-be-in/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) [Explore all 180 Douglas Rushkoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) ## More Bandits quotes > [The most effective method of propaganda directed at the enemy forces is to release captured soldiers and give the wounded medical treatment... Whenever soldiers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/the-most-effective-method-of-propaganda-directed-at-the-enemy-forces/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [Time is a vindictive bandit to steal the beauty of our former selves. 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It wasn't until after the war that I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-deibler-rose/we-heard-bandits-return-several-nights-after-that-but-they-never/) Darlene Deibler Rose > [Taxes are a barbaric remnant of ancient times in which early farmers, tied to the land, no longer able to roam freely, unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/taxes-are-a-barbaric-remnant-of-ancient-times-in-which-early-farmers/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [“In medieval times, contrary to popular belief, most knights were bandits, mercenaries, lawless brigands, skinners, highwaymen, and thieves. The supposed chivalry of Charlemagne and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-wodicka/in-medieval-times-contrary-to-popular-belief-most-knights-were/) [Tod Wodicka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-wodicka/) > [In childhood, death stirred me not; in middle age, it pursued me like a prowling bandit on the road; now, grown an old man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/in-childhood-death-stirred-me-not-in-middle-age-it-pursued-me-like-a/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [The more prohibitions there are, the poorer the people will be. The more laws are promulgated, the more thieves and bandits there will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-more-prohibitions-there-are-the-poorer-the-people-will-be-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I would like to stress here that a lasting peace in the Chechen republic and so-called peace talks with the bandits are not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-yeltsin/i-would-like-to-stress-here-that-a-lasting-peace-in-the-chechen/) [Boris Yeltsin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-yeltsin/) > [“No wonder there are bandits in the Campo when there are none but thieves, swindlers, and sanguinary macaques to rule us...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/no-wonder-there-are-bandits-in-the-campo-when-there-are-none-but/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Take away the Holocaust and what do you have left? Without their precious Holocaust, what are the Jews? 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I hadnt yet really fully understood what being a dad was and, man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-way/two-weeks-after-having-bandit-i-was-in-a-recording-studio-i-hadnt-yet/) [Gerard Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-way/) Browse all 91 Bandits quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Your email inbox is a bit like a Las Vegas roulette machine. You know, you just check it and check it, and every once in a while there's some juicy little tidbit of reward, like the three quarters that pop down on a one-armed bandit. 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