Punkt. is a fairly little, dynamic and independent company, and we prefer to maintain close connections with our consumers and with individuals and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we frequently run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include design challenges that form part of postgraduate style courses, and digital detox difficulties where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are invited to review their relationship with technology.
10 years back, smart devices were still very uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the smart device is unusual. 10 years earlier, the majority of people had smart phones, however they would normally only attract our attention if another person had chosen 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 continuous onslaught of status updates, push alerts and a whole lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running since 2016. The unfavorable elements of mobile phones weren't extensively talked about at that point, however there has given that been a surge of interest in the topic. Individual reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and publishing these reports we aim to keep the conversation of people's relationship with technology popular and on-going - both in terms of tech addiction and the value of high-quality design in the genuine (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The huge difference this time round was that the term 'mobile phone dependency' had actually clearly gone into typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 people were starting to sound truly worried. You can read the reports below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the many applications we received:
" The continuous scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old timeless phone, it was like going back to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We utilize our phones a lot - why should not they be lovely along with functional?"
" I'm doing my own variation now, however I needed to settle for a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital products I've typically questioned some of the success requirements used in my market, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Up until that modifications, unfortunately it's very challenging to eliminate against 100s of designers who are trying to hook you in to their products. [] There is a specific irony about this as I develop for these products but desire to avoid them. I believe it's a chance for me as a designer to appreciate how important our attention is, and attempt to take that lesson back into my industry, ideally to influence a change in method to technology.".
" I have begun getting rid of all my social networks profiles and have right away seen the positive effect it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I 'd like to keep it that method, by also eliminating my smartphone for excellent.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Innovation has significantly altered over the last century, from being a helpful tool in our lives to keeping us as connected in as much as it can and for the longest amount of time. This Challenge modifications that in its totality, pushing us into realizing exactly what is going on. I've constantly loved using the most recent things, however because Punkt. has actually been around, I wished to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what happened. When you go from a continuously ringing mobile phone to a phone like this, you understand just how much you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day: you don't require them.
In a way, you do become type of separated socially from your good friends-- let's say if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you start to realize that it's for the much better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes simply that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you don't require whatever on your phone. Just the basics.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have actually satisfied, it could be a great time to provide this phone a try. Much of my own household members experience this sensation and I feel like passing this difficulty on to others so they can get the hang of it. This Challenge has 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 recognize that you don't even focus on exactly what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be a good time to obtain that had a look at, and a great way to set about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we spend looking at screens, the less essential daytime becomes-- and in some cases, yes, more of an obstacle. Whether you're examining your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your good friends (who are each enjoying theirs), or watching a movie, daytime is an inconvenience.
We started heading by doing this because we wanted to. Nowadays-- to a big level-- we merely do it since we do it. And since others desire us to do it.
Is this really how you want to spend your time in the world?
* * *.
In 2016, Google employee Tristan Harris left his task to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to broaden the argument on what innovation is doing to us and led to the development of the Center for Humane Technology. Since then, the subject has actually exploded into the mainstream and it has actually become clear that it is not doing advantages to our general sense of wellness.
The home page of the Center's website includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smart device is integrated with a photograph of a woman. However she is not presented as being on the screen. She remains 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 appears pleased, delighting in the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Possibly it makes sense to utilize these brighter nights for something aside from looking at pixels? When bedtime approaches, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything changed off, leaving simply a land-line with a number understood only to family and close buddies, and a dedicated alarm clock.
Joining those who have dropped their smart devices entirely, combining a basic phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts may sound nearly extreme, but as far as biology is worried, they're what your brain desires. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the obvious decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life expectancy of a nation's citizens. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, naturally (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are harmful in other methods, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one threat a lot of, and so on. Over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another method as well-- incrementally and inevitably. It gives us a narrower existence in which we are less focussed, less rested and therefore less awake. Over-use eats our lives, and it's becoming the standard.
Time for a rethink?
Do you discover that wherever you go, you constantly end up in the very same place: in front of your smart device? Utilizing it, or letting it use you, to remain 'linked'? Gotten in touch with exactly what individuals are up to back house. Linked with the newest report. Gotten in touch with work. Gotten in touch with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Linked with images from the last holiday you took, and the one before that. What type of 'connection' is that, actually? This scenario is something that's approached on us, and maybe it's time to start making some choices ...
A vacation is a chance to switch off, to experience brand-new things. If we do not likewise change off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our awareness to image sensing units and memory cards, if we're still connected to exactly what we were doing prior to we left and exactly what we'll be doing when we get back, it's as if we're paying a kind of vacation tax. Part of the experience is subtracted-- and not to assist the local economy, however to assist line the pockets of investors of social media companies.
Think of a traditional travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There would not be much left. And even if we're searching for something a bit less intense for our fortnight away, the concept 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 smartphone it might take place. And possibly you'll wind up somewhere that turns out to be the highlight of your trip. Maybe you'll find some interesting restaurant that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You may wind up speaking to some locals. Nothing ventured, absolutely nothing got. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the reclaiming of overland travel as a mainstream and realistic option to flying, demonstrated by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's all about existing.
If we do choose to have what is digital detox a vacation that does not revolve around processing big information, there are a few options. We can go to the other severe, and leave house without any sort of phone or tablet. (That never used to be an extreme, but we live in severe times.) And we have choices like changing our gadget's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe during the day, and so on
. Or we can take a different phone. One that just does calls and texts. And after that immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some adventures, or simply delight in a little solitude.
The physical act of switching phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's beginning to acquire in appeal: whether a cheap, old-tech model or something more stylish and up-to-date, deciding to often use an easy phone is something that everybody can relate to nowadays. They may refrain from doing it themselves, but they certainly know why some individuals do.
There are useful advantages, too. Just having to charge your phone periodically is popular with everyone but if you're going somewhere without mains electricity, your greedy mobile phone will be no usage at all. Also, with a basic phone you don't need to keep checking that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly discovered some method of running up monster-sized information roaming charges-- it can still happen. It's the 'really being there' that truly counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will mean a couple of 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. And the screens on easy phones are typically much harder than the big areas of glass found on their more complicated cousins. Changing a broken smartphone screen is a hassle at the finest of times; multiply that by 10 if you're abroad.
It's the 'really being there' that truly counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will mean a few mix-ups, a reduced capability to strategy, to know in advance what's going to occur. But travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.