Punkt. is a relatively little, dynamic and independent company, and we like to maintain close connections with our customers and with individuals and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we regularly run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These consist of style difficulties that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox obstacles where self-confessed smart device addicts are invited to revisit their relationship with technology.
Ten years earlier, smart devices were still very unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the mobile phone is unusual. 10 years back, many people had mobile phones, but they would typically only attract our attention if another human had decided to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are a lot more automated: the new normal is to scoot around within a ceaseless onslaught of status updates, push notices and a great deal more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running because 2016. The unfavorable aspects of smart devices weren't extensively talked about at that point, but there has given that been a rise of interest in the subject. Participant reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and releasing these reports we intend to keep the discussion of people's relationship with innovation popular and on-going - both in terms of tech dependency and the importance of top quality design in the genuine (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big distinction this time round was that the term 'mobile phone addiction' had actually plainly gotten in common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 individuals were beginning to sound genuinely stressed. You can check out the reports below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we got:
" The consistent scrolling."
" I tried it with an old timeless phone, it resembled going back to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We utilize our phones a lot - why shouldn't they be stunning as well as functional?"
" I'm doing my own version now, however I needed to choose a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital items I've typically questioned some of the success criteria used in my industry, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Until that modifications, sadly it's extremely difficult to eliminate against 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you into their products. [] There is a certain irony about this as I design for these products however wish to avoid them. I think it's an opportunity for me as a designer to value how valuable our attention is, and attempt to take that lesson back into my market, hopefully to affect a change in method to innovation.".
" I have started eliminating all my social media profiles and have right away noticed the positive impact it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I 'd like to keep it that way, by likewise removing my smartphone for great.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Technology has actually dramatically changed over the last century, from being an useful tool in our lives to keeping us as hooked in as much as it can and for the longest period of time. This Challenge modifications that in its totality, pressing us into understanding exactly what is going on. I've constantly enjoyed utilizing the latest things, however since Punkt. has been around, I wished to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what happened. When you go from a constantly ringing smart device to a phone like this, you understand what does it cost? you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day: you do not require them.
In a way, you do become kind of separated socially from your good friends-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you begin to realize that it's for the much better, and the Punkt. MP01 achieves just that. It teaches you simplicity and teaches you that you do not need everything on your phone. Simply the fundamentals.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have fulfilled, it could be a good time to give this phone a try. Much of my own member of the family experience this sensation and I feel like passing this obstacle on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has actually ended up being so important in 2018 because-- as I stated-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. are here to keep us hooked in for the longest time. Do not believe me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will understand that you don't even pay attention to exactly what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it may be a great time to obtain that inspected out, and an excellent way to set about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we spend taking a look at screens, the less important daytime becomes-- and in some cases, yes, more of an obstacle. Whether you're examining your messages while walking to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your friends (who are each taking pleasure in theirs), or watching a film, daytime is a trouble.
We started heading in this manner due to the fact that we wanted to. Nowadays-- to a large degree-- we merely do it because we do it. And since others desire us to do it.
Is this actually how you wish to spend your time in the world?
* * *.
In 2016, Google staff member Tristan Harris left his task to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to broaden the dispute on exactly what innovation is doing to us and led to the creation of the Center for Humane Technology. Considering that then, the subject has actually taken off into the mainstream and it has actually ended up being clear that it is refraining from doing good ideas to our basic sense of wellness.
The house page of the Center's site includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smartphone is combined with a photograph of a woman. She is not provided as being on the screen. She is in truth looking out from the phone, leaning with her arms folded on the bottom edge of the screen as though it were a windowsill. She seems pleased, taking pleasure in the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Maybe it makes good sense to utilize these brighter evenings for something aside from taking a look at pixels? And when bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything switched off, leaving just a land-line with a number understood only to family and friends, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have dumped their smartphones entirely, combining a standard phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts might sound practically extreme, however as far as biology is concerned, they're exactly what your brain desires. Hence the medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the obvious reduction in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is said to increase life span of a country's residents. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, obviously (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are dangerous in other methods, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one threat too many, etc. Over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another method as well-- incrementally and undoubtedly. It gives us a narrower presence in which we are less focussed, less rested and therefore less awake. Over-use eats our lives, and it's ending up being the norm.
Time for a rethink?
Do you find that wherever you go, you constantly wind up in the exact same location: in front of your smartphone? Using it, or letting it utilize you, to remain 'connected'? Connected with exactly what individuals are up to back home. Linked with the latest news reports. Linked with work. Gotten in touch with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Connected with pictures from the last vacation you took, and the one prior to that. What sort of 'connection' is that, really? This circumstance is something that's sneaked up on us, and possibly it's time to start making some choices ...
A vacation is an opportunity to turn off, to experience brand-new things. If we don't also switch off our devices, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensing units and memory cards, if we're still connected to exactly what we were doing prior to we left and what we'll be doing when we get back, it's as if we're paying a kind of holiday tax. Part of the experience is deducted-- and not to assist the regional economy, but to assist line the pockets of investors of social media companies.
Picture a classic travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There would not be much. As well as if we're trying to find something a bit less extreme for our fortnight away, the principle still applies. Whether it's a case of pings on the beach, or livestreaming from the Louvre, something's gotten however something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it might happen. And maybe you'll wind up somewhere that turns out to be the emphasize of your trip. Perhaps you'll find some interesting dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You may end up speaking to some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, absolutely nothing gained. This connect the growing sluggish travelmovement, and the reclaiming of overland travel as a mainstream and reasonable alternative to flying, shown by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's everything about being there.
If we do decide to have a holiday that doesn't focus on processing big data, there are a few alternatives. We can go to the other extreme, and leave house without any kind of phone or tablet. (That never used to be an extreme, however we live in extreme times.) And we have choices like changing our gadget's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe throughout the day, and so on
. Or we can take a various phone. One that just does calls and texts. And then immerse ourselves in a various culture, have some adventures, or just enjoy a little bit of solitude.
The physical act of switching phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's starting to acquire in popularity: whether a low-cost, old-tech model or something more elegant and up-to-date, choosing to often use a basic phone is something that everybody can relate to nowadays. They may not do it themselves, but they definitely know why some people do.
There are practical benefits, too. Just having to charge your phone sometimes is popular with everybody however if you're going somewhere without mains electricity, your greedy smartphone will be no use at all. With a simple phone you do not require to keep examining that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some method of running up monster-sized information roaming charges-- it can still happen. But it's the 'in fact being there' that digital detox article truly counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smartphone will indicate a couple of mix-ups, a decreased capability to plan, to know beforehand what's going to occur. But travelling sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on easy phones are frequently much tougher than the large locations of glass discovered on their more complicated cousins. Replacing a broken smartphone screen is a trouble at the very best of times; multiply that by ten if you're abroad.
It's the 'in fact being there' that truly counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will indicate a few mix-ups, a decreased capability to plan, to understand in advance exactly what's going to happen. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.