Many of us have been waiting (a long, long time) for Microsoft to finally release a real entry into the “magical” smart phone race, and we’re almost there.  But I have some concerns.  I may be crazy, but follow me on this…

The Windows Phone 7 may be just what our increasingly ADD / ADHD society craves.  Phones like the iPhone and the Android are app-centric.  That is, you enter one app, focus on it for a bit, then exit the app in order to start the next app.  Yeah, we have some form of multi-tasking and all, but it’s basically that – out of one app, and into another.

But the dominating “metro” interface of the WP7 is context-focused, and will tempt us with “live” tiles that are constantly pulling our attention from one thing to another with live updates and animations.  We may be looking at updates from one friend, who may be posting from Facebook and Twitter, uploading new photos on Flickr, and emailing you.  All the while you’re trying to keep up with that, your wife may be IMing you while tweeting.  And all the while, you’re seeing her photo slide out to show her status.  Or you may be keeping track of the live tracklist your favorite band may be playing, while keeping up with new music from other favorite bands, or watching scrolling calendar appointments throughout the day (haven’t seen this implementation yet, but it’s possible), just waiting to send a reminder alert.

And, of course, when you zoom into a tile, there’s text and data just off the screen to the right, just begging for our attention.

And all of this sounds enticing to our increasingly ADD world.

Now if you’re still following me on this (if you haven’t already lost focus), I’m as excited as anyone about the impending release of the Windows Phone 7, but I’m wondering about the impacts of this unique paradigm on the ADD or ADHD sufferer. Will satisfying their (our) MTV-world-style cravings a good thing?  WP7 may not make it big in the long run, but if the top players follow this design in future versions, should they retain an option to revert to their app-centric view, just to give us a breather?