Punkt. is a fairly small, vibrant and independent business, and we prefer 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 design obstacles that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox obstacles where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are invited to revisit their relationship with innovation.
10 years back, smartphones were still really unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the mobile phone is unusual. 10 years earlier, many people had mobile phones, however they would normally only attract our attention if another person had decided to call us or send us a text. Now that the majority of people's lives are a lot more automated: the new regular is to scurry around within a continuous onslaught of status updates, push alerts and a whole lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running given that 2016. The negative elements of smartphones weren't commonly discussed at that point, however there has given that been a rise of interest in the topic. Participant reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and releasing these reports we aim to keep the discussion of people's relationship with innovation popular and on-going - both in terms of tech dependency and the significance of high-quality style in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The huge difference this time round was that the term 'smart device addiction' had plainly gotten in common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 individuals were starting to sound truly fretted. You can check out the reports listed below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we got:
" The continuous scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old classic phone, it resembled going back to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We use our phones a lot - why shouldn't they be gorgeous along with functional?"
" I'm doing my own version now, but I had to opt for a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital items I've typically questioned a few of the success requirements utilized in my market, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Until that modifications, sadly it's really tough to combat versus 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you into their products. [] There is a specific paradox about this as I create for these products but wish to avoid them. However I think it's an opportunity for me as a designer to value how important our attention is, and try to take that lesson back into my industry, ideally to influence a modification in method to innovation.".
" I have started eliminating all my social networks profiles and have immediately noticed the positive effect it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I want to keep it that way, by likewise eliminating my mobile phone for good.".
Life is too short to keep our heads down.
Technology has actually significantly changed over the last century, from being a valuable tool in our lives to keeping us as connected in as much as it can and for the longest period of time. This Challenge changes that in its totality, pressing us into realizing what is going on. I've always enjoyed utilizing the newest things, but since Punkt. has been around, I wished to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what occurred. When you go from a continuously ringing smartphone to a phone like this, you recognize what does it cost? you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day: you don't require them.
In a manner, you do end up being type of apart socially from your good friends-- let's say if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you begin to recognize that it's for the much better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes just that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you do not require whatever on your phone. Just the fundamentals.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like a lot of individuals I have satisfied, it might be a good time to provide this phone a shot. A number of my own household members experience this sensation and I seem like passing this difficulty on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has actually become so crucial in 2018 because-- as I said-- 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 focus on what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be an excellent time to get that had a look at, and a good way to tackle it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we invest looking at screens, the less important daylight becomes-- and in some cases, yes, more of a hindrance. Whether you're checking your messages while walking to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your pals (who are each taking pleasure in theirs), or watching a film, daylight is a hassle.
We started heading by doing this because we wished to. Nowadays-- to a large degree-- we just do it due to the fact that we do it. And due to the fact that others desire us to do it.
Is this actually how you wish to invest your time in the world?
* * *.
In 2016, Google worker Tristan Harris left his task to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to expand the dispute on exactly what innovation is doing to us and resulted in the creation of the Center for Humane Technology. Because then, the topic has exploded into the mainstream and it has actually ended up being clear that it is not doing advantages to our general sense of well-being.
The house page of the Center's site includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smartphone is integrated with a photo of a woman. However she is not presented 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 happy, taking pleasure in the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Maybe it makes good sense to use these brighter evenings for something aside from looking at pixels? And when bedtime approaches, matching sundown with a digital sundown: whatever switched off, leaving simply a land-line with a number known just to family and friends, and a devoted alarm clock.
Signing up with those who have ditched their smartphones totally, integrating a standard phone with a laptop or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas may sound almost extreme, but 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 decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a nation's citizens. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, obviously (with a much clearer causal link). Phones threaten in other ways, too: scrollers walking into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one danger too lots of, and so on. But over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another method also-- incrementally and inevitably. It provides us a narrower existence where we are less focussed, less rested and thus less awake. Over-use eats our lives, and it's ending up being the standard.
Time for a rethink?
Do you discover that any place you go, you always end up in the same location: in front of your smart device? Utilizing it, or letting it use you, to stay 'connected'? Gotten in touch with exactly what individuals depend on back house. Gotten in touch with the most recent report. Linked with work. Linked with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Linked with images from the last holiday you took, and the one before that. What kind of 'connection' is that, truly? This scenario is something that's approached on us, and perhaps it's time to start making some choices ...
A holiday is an opportunity to switch off, to experience new things. But if we don't also turn off our devices, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensing units and sd card, if we're still connected to exactly what we were doing prior to we left and exactly what we'll be doing when we return, it's as if we're paying a sort of vacation tax. Part of the experience is deducted-- and not to help the local economy, but to help line the pockets of investors of social networks companies.
Envision a classic travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much. And even if we're looking for something a bit less intense 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 gained but something's lost. And on the topic of getting lost, yes, without a mobile phone more info it could happen. And possibly you'll wind up somewhere that turns out to be the highlight of your journey. Possibly you'll discover some intriguing dining establishment that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You might end up speaking to some residents. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the recovering of overland travel as a mainstream and sensible alternative to flying, shown by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's all about existing.
If we do decide to have a vacation that does not revolve around processing huge data, there are a couple of options. We can go to the other extreme, and leave house without any kind of phone or tablet. (That never ever utilized to be a severe, but we reside in extreme times.) And we have options like altering our gadget's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe throughout the day, etc
. Or we can take a various phone. One that only does calls and texts. Then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some experiences, or just enjoy a little peace and peaceful.
The physical act of swapping phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's beginning to acquire in popularity: whether a low-cost, old-tech design or something more elegant and up-to-date, deciding to in some cases utilize a basic phone is something that everybody can associate with nowadays. They may refrain from doing it themselves, however they certainly understand why some individuals do.
There are useful benefits, too. Just having to charge your phone occasionally is popular with everyone but if you're going somewhere without mains electricity, your greedy smartphone will be no use at all. Likewise, with an easy phone you don't have to keep inspecting that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some way of adding monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still take place. However it's the 'really existing' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will indicate a couple of mix-ups, a reduced capability to plan, to know beforehand exactly what's going to take place. Travelling sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on easy phones are typically much tougher than the big areas of glass found on their more complicated cousins. Changing a damaged smartphone screen is a hassle at the finest of times; multiply that by ten if you're abroad.
However it's the 'in fact being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will indicate a few mix-ups, a reduced ability to strategy, to understand beforehand what's going to happen. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.