Punkt. is a relatively little, vibrant and independent business, and we want to keep close connections with our clients 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 design courses, and digital detox challenges where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are welcomed to revisit their relationship with innovation.
10 years back, smartphones were still extremely uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the smartphone is uncommon. 10 years back, most people had mobile phones, but they would usually just attract our attention if another human had actually decided to call us or send us a text. Now that the majority of individuals's lives are so much more automated: the new regular is to scamper around within a nonstop onslaught of status updates, push notifications and an entire lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running given that 2016. The negative elements of smartphones weren't commonly discussed 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 intend to keep the conversation of individuals's relationship with technology prominent and on-going - both in regards to tech dependency and the value of top quality design in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The huge distinction this time round was that the term 'smart device dependency' had actually plainly gone into common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 people were beginning to sound truly stressed. You can read the reports listed below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we got:
" The continuous scrolling."
" I tried it with an old traditional phone, it was like returning to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We use our phones a lot - why should not they be gorgeous as well as practical?"
" I'm doing my own variation 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 some of the success criteria used in my market, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that modifications, unfortunately it's extremely hard 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 design for these items but desire to avoid them. I think it's an opportunity for me as a designer to appreciate how valuable our attention is, and attempt to take that lesson back into my market, hopefully to influence a modification in approach to technology.".
" I have actually started eliminating all my social networks profiles and have instantly observed the positive effect it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I 'd like to keep it that method, by also eliminating my mobile phone for excellent.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Innovation has dramatically changed over the last century, from being an useful 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 entirety, pushing us into realizing exactly what is going on. I've constantly loved utilizing the latest things, however because Punkt. has been around, I desired to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's precisely what happened. When you go from a constantly ringing smartphone to a phone like this, you recognize just how much you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you do not require them.
In a manner, you do end up being type of separated socially from your buddies-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you begin to understand that it's for the better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes simply that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you do not need whatever on your phone. Simply the essentials.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like the majority of people I have met, it could be a great time to provide this phone a shot. Much of my own household members experience this sensation and I feel like passing this difficulty on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has ended up being so essential in 2018 because-- as I stated-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and so on are here to keep us hooked in for the longest time. Don't believe me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will realize that you don't even take note of exactly what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be an excellent time to obtain that checked out, and a great way to go about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we invest taking a look at screens, the lesser daytime becomes-- and in some cases, yes, more of a limitation. Whether you're inspecting your messages while walking to work, enjoying your smartphone with your pals (who are each taking pleasure in theirs), or enjoying a film, daytime is a hassle.
We started heading by doing this because we wished to. Nowadays-- to a large extent-- we merely do it since we do it. And because others want us to do it.
Is this actually how you want to invest your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google staff member Tristan Harris left his job to discovered a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to expand the dispute on what innovation is doing to us and led to the development of the Center for Humane Technology. Because then, the topic has exploded into the mainstream and it has ended up being clear that it is refraining from doing good ideas to our basic sense of wellness.
The web page of the Center's website includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smartphone is integrated with a photograph of a woman. She is not provided as being on the screen. She remains in reality 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 sunlight.
Maybe it makes sense to use these brighter nights for something other than taking a look at pixels? When bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sunset: everything switched 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 dumped their smart devices totally, integrating a standard phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas might sound nearly radical, but as far as biology is worried, they're what your brain desires. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the apparent decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is said to increase life span of a nation's people. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, of course (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are harmful in other ways, too: scrollers walking into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one risk a lot of, and so on. But over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another method as well-- incrementally and inevitably. It offers us a narrower presence in which we are less focussed, less rested and thus less awake. Over-use consumes our lives, and it's becoming the standard.
Time for a rethink?
Do you find that wherever you go, you constantly wind up in the exact same location: in front of your mobile phone? Utilizing it, or letting it utilize you, to stay 'linked'? Gotten in touch with exactly what individuals are up to back house. Connected with the current news reports. Linked with work. Gotten in touch with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Linked with photos from the last holiday you took, and the one prior to that. What sort of 'connection' is that, really? This circumstance is something that's approached on us, and maybe it's time to start making some decisions ...
A vacation is an opportunity to turn off, to experience new things. But if we do not likewise turn off our devices, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensors and memory cards, if we're still connected to what we were doing before we left and exactly what we'll be doing when we get back, it's as if we're paying a type of holiday tax. Part of the experience is subtracted-- and not to assist the regional economy, however to assist line the pockets of shareholders of social media companies.
Imagine a classic travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much. And even if we're searching for something a bit less intense for our fortnight away, the concept still uses. Whether it's a case of pings on the beach, or livestreaming from the Louvre, something's acquired however something's lost. And on the topic of getting lost, yes, without a smartphone it might take place. And perhaps you'll end up someplace website that turns out to be the highlight of your journey. Maybe you'll find some intriguing dining establishment that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up talking with some residents. Nothing ventured, absolutely nothing gained. This ties in with the growing sluggish travelmovement, and the reclaiming of overland travel as a mainstream and reasonable option to flying, demonstrated by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's everything about being there.
If we do choose to have a holiday that doesn't focus on processing huge data, there are a few alternatives. We can go to the other extreme, and leave house with no type of phone or tablet. (That never ever used to be a severe, however we live in extreme times.) And we have alternatives like changing our device's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe throughout the day, and so on
. Or we can take a different phone. One that only does calls and texts. And after that immerse ourselves in a various culture, have some adventures, or merely take pleasure in 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 appeal: whether a low-cost, old-tech design or something more stylish and up-to-date, selecting to in some cases use a basic phone is something that everybody can associate with nowadays. They may not do it themselves, but they definitely understand why some people do.
There are practical benefits, too. Just needing to charge your phone periodically is popular with everybody however if you're going somewhere without mains electricity, your greedy smartphone will be no usage at all. With a simple phone you do not need to keep examining that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly discovered some method of running up monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still occur. It's the 'in fact being there' that truly counts. Sure, taking a trip without a mobile phone will suggest a couple of mix-ups, a lowered capability to plan, to understand ahead of time exactly what's going to occur. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on easy phones are typically much tougher than the large areas of glass found on their more complex cousins. Replacing a damaged smart device screen is an inconvenience at the finest of times; increase that by 10 if you're abroad.
However it's the 'actually being there' that really counts. Sure, taking a trip without a mobile phone will suggest a couple of mix-ups, a decreased capability to strategy, to understand in advance what's going to occur. But travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.