Punkt. is a fairly little, dynamic and independent business, and we like to maintain close connections with our consumers and with people and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we frequently run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include style challenges that form part of postgraduate style courses, and digital detox difficulties where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are welcomed to review their relationship with innovation.
10 years back, smartphones were still very unusual. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the smart device is unusual. 10 years earlier, many people had cellphones, however they would generally only attract our attention if another person had decided to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are so much more automated: the new normal is to scurry around within a ceaseless onslaught of status updates, push notices and a whole lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running since 2016. The negative elements of smartphones weren't widely discussed at that point, however there has since been a surge of interest in the topic. Individual reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and releasing these reports we aim to keep the discussion of individuals's relationship with innovation prominent and on-going - both in terms of tech dependency and the value of top quality style in the genuine (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big difference this time round was that the term 'mobile phone addiction' had actually clearly gotten in common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 people were beginning to sound really stressed. You can read the reports listed below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we received:
" The consistent scrolling."
" I tried it with an old traditional phone, it resembled 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 beautiful in addition to practical?"
" I'm doing my own version now, but I needed to settle 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 changes, unfortunately it's very tough to battle against 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you in to their products. [] There is a specific paradox about this as I develop for these items however desire to get away from them. But I believe it's a chance for me as a designer to value how important our attention is, and aim to take that lesson back into my industry, hopefully to influence a change in approach to technology.".
" I have actually started eliminating all my social networks profiles and have actually immediately seen the favorable impact it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I 'd like to keep it that method, by also eliminating my smart device for great.".
Life is too short to keep our heads down.
Innovation has drastically changed over the last century, from being a practical tool in our lives to keeping us as hooked in as much as it can and for the longest time period. This Challenge modifications that in its entirety, pressing us into recognizing what is going on. I've constantly loved utilizing the latest things, but considering that Punkt. has been around, I desired to alter that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what occurred. When you go from a continuously buzzing mobile phone to a phone like this, you recognize how much you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day: you do not need them.
In such a way, you do end up being sort of apart socially from your buddies-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however you start to realize that it's for the better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes just that. It teaches you simplicity and teaches you that you don't need whatever on your phone. Simply the fundamentals.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have satisfied, it might be a great time to provide this phone a shot. Numerous of my own relative experience this feeling and I seem like passing this challenge on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has become so crucial in 2018 because-- as I said-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and so on are here to keep us hooked in for the longest time. Don't think me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will recognize that you don't even pay attention to what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be a great time to get 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 lesser daytime ends up being-- and often, yes, more of a barrier. Whether you're checking your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your smart device with your good friends (who are each delighting in theirs), or watching a movie, daylight is a trouble.
We started heading this method due to the fact that 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 want to spend your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google worker Tristan Harris left his job to found a brand-new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to expand the argument on what technology is doing to us and led to the production of the Center for Humane Technology. Given that then, the subject has actually taken off into the mainstream and it has ended up being clear that it is refraining from doing great things to our general sense of well-being.
The web page of the Center's site features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a mobile phone is combined with a picture of a lady. She is not presented 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 appears happy, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Possibly it makes good sense to utilize these brighter evenings for something other than looking at pixels? When bedtime methods, matching sundown with a digital sunset: whatever turned off, leaving just a land-line with a number known just to family and friends, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have actually dumped their smartphones completely, integrating a basic phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts may sound nearly radical, however as far as biology is worried, they're what your brain desires. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the evident reduction in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a nation's citizens. Ditto prohibiting phone usage while driving, obviously (with a much clearer causal link). Phones threaten in other ways, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one threat a lot of, etc. But over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another method too-- 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 find that wherever you go, you always end up in the exact same place: in front of your mobile phone? Using it, or letting it use you, to stay 'connected'? Connected with exactly what individuals are up to back home. Connected with the most recent news reports. Gotten in touch with work. Connected with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with images from the last vacation you took, and the one before that. What kind of 'connection' is that, truly? This circumstance is something that's approached on us, and maybe it's time to begin making some decisions ...
A holiday is a chance to turn off, to experience new things. However if we do not also turn off our devices, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensing units and sd card, if we're still attached to what we were doing before we left and what we'll be doing when we return, it's as if we're paying a kind of holiday tax. Part of the experience is subtracted-- and not to assist the regional economy, however to assist line the pockets of investors of social networks companies.
Envision 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 extreme 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 gotten but something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it might take place. And maybe you'll wind up somewhere that ends up being the emphasize of your trip. Perhaps you'll find some intriguing dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up speaking with some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, nothing acquired. This connect the growing slow 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 existing.
If we do choose to have a vacation that doesn't revolve around processing big information, there are a few options. We can go to the other severe, and leave house with no kind of phone or tablet. (That never ever utilized to be an extreme, but we reside in severe times.) And we have choices like changing our gadget's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe throughout the day, etc
. Or we can take a different here phone. One that just does calls and texts. Then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some adventures, or simply enjoy a little bit of peace and quiet.
The physical act of switching phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's beginning to gain in popularity: whether an inexpensive, old-tech design or something more stylish and current, opting to in some cases utilize a basic phone is something that everyone can relate to nowadays. They may refrain from doing it themselves, however they definitely understand why some individuals do.
There are practical benefits, too. Only needing to charge your phone occasionally is popular with everybody but if you're going somewhere without mains electrical energy, your greedy mobile phone will be no usage at all. With an easy phone you do not require to keep examining that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some method of running up monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still happen. It's the 'in fact being there' that really counts. Sure, taking a trip without a mobile phone will indicate a few mix-ups, a lowered capability to plan, to understand in advance exactly what's going to take place. However travelling sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on basic phones are frequently much tougher than the large locations of glass found on their more complex cousins. Replacing a broken smart device screen is a hassle at the finest of times; increase that by ten if you're abroad.
It's the 'in fact being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will indicate a couple of mix-ups, a lowered ability to plan, to understand beforehand what's going to happen. But travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.