Punkt. is a reasonably small, dynamic and independent company, and we like to maintain close connections with our customers and with people and organisations within the style world. As part of this, we routinely run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include style obstacles that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox challenges where self-confessed smartphone addicts are welcomed to revisit their relationship with innovation.
10 years ago, smartphones were still really unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the smart device is unusual. 10 years earlier, many people had cellphones, but they would generally just attract our attention if another human 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 normal is to scamper around within a ceaseless attack of status updates, push notices and a great deal more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running considering that 2016. The negative elements of smart devices weren't widely talked about at that point, but there has actually since been a surge of interest in the topic. Participant reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and publishing these reports we intend to keep the discussion of individuals's relationship with innovation prominent and on-going - both in terms of tech dependency and the significance 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 beginning to sound really stressed. You can read the reports below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we got:
" The constant 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 utilize our phones a lot - why shouldn't they be gorgeous in addition to practical?"
" 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 criteria used in my industry, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Up until that changes, sadly it's really difficult to combat against 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you in to their products. [] There is a specific irony about this as I design for these items but wish to escape them. I think it's an opportunity for me as a designer to value how important our attention is, and attempt to take that lesson back into my industry, hopefully to influence a modification in technique to innovation.".
" I have actually begun eliminating all my social media profiles and have immediately discovered the positive effect it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I want to keep it that method, by also removing 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 connected in as much as it can and for the longest time period. This Challenge changes that in its entirety, pressing us into recognizing what is going on. I've constantly liked utilizing the most recent things, but since Punkt. has actually been around, I wished to alter that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's precisely what happened. When you go from a continuously buzzing smart device to a phone like this, you understand how much you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you don't need them.
In such a way, you do become type of separated socially from your pals-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however you begin to recognize that it's for the much 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 basics.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have actually fulfilled, it might be a great time to provide this phone a try. Much of my own relative experience this feeling and I seem like passing this difficulty on to others so they can master 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 think me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will realize that you don't even take notice of what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it may be a great time to get that had a look at, and an excellent way to go about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we invest taking a look at screens, the less important daylight ends up being-- and often, yes, more of a barrier. Whether you're checking your messages while walking to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your good friends (who are each enjoying theirs), or viewing a film, daytime is an inconvenience.
We began heading by doing this because we wanted to. Nowadays-- to a large extent-- we just do it due to the fact that we do it. And because others want us to do it.
Is this really how you want to spend your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google employee Tristan Harris left his job to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to broaden the dispute on exactly what technology is doing to us and led to the creation of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the topic has blown up into the mainstream and it has become clear that it is not doing good ideas to our basic sense of wellness.
The web page of the Center's website features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smart device is integrated with a photo of a lady. But she is not presented as being on the screen. She remains in fact 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 delighted, taking pleasure in the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Maybe it makes sense to utilize these brighter evenings for something other than taking a look at pixels? When bedtime approaches, matching sundown with a digital sunset: whatever switched off, leaving simply a land-line with a number understood only to household and buddies, and a dedicated alarm clock.
Joining those who have actually ditched their smartphones totally, combining a standard phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts may sound almost extreme, but as far as biology is worried, they're what your brain wants. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Because of the evident decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is said to increase life span of a nation's residents. Ditto banning phone use while driving, obviously (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. But over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another method also-- incrementally and undoubtedly. It provides us a narrower presence in which we are less focussed, less rested and therefore less awake. Over-use consumes our lives, and it's becoming the norm.
Time for a rethink?
Do you discover that any place you go, you always 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 depend on back home. Gotten in touch with the latest news reports. Gotten in touch with work. Gotten in touch with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with pictures from the last vacation you took, and the one prior to that. What kind of 'connection' is that, really? This circumstance is something that's sneaked up 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 don't likewise turn off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our awareness to image sensing units and memory cards, if we're still attached to what we were doing before we left and what we'll be doing when we get back, it's as if we're paying a type of vacation tax. Part of the experience is subtracted-- and not to help the local economy, however to assist line the pockets of shareholders of social media business.
Envision a timeless 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 concept still applies. Whether it's a case of pings on the beach, or livestreaming from the Louvre, something's acquired 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 someplace that turns out to be the highlight of your trip. Maybe you'll find some interesting restaurant that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You might end up speaking with some locals. Nothing ventured, nothing got. This ties in with the growing sluggish travelmovement, and the reclaiming of overland travel as a mainstream and realistic option to flying, shown by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's all about being there.
If we do choose to have a holiday that doesn't focus on processing huge data, there are a few options. We can go to the other severe, and leave home with no type of phone or tablet. (That never ever utilized to be a severe, however we reside in severe times.) And we have options like changing our device's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in digital detox phone the hotel safe throughout 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 experiences, or simply take pleasure in a little solitude.
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 cheap, old-tech design or something more stylish and current, deciding to in some cases use an easy phone is something that everyone can associate with nowadays. They might 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 everybody but if you're going someplace without mains electrical power, your greedy smart device will be no use at all. With a basic phone you don't need to keep examining that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some way of running up monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still take place. It's the 'actually being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will mean a couple of mix-ups, a reduced ability to plan, to understand beforehand exactly what's going to happen. Travelling sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on easy phones are typically much tougher than the large locations of glass discovered on their more complicated cousins. Changing a broken smartphone screen is a hassle at the very best of times; increase that by 10 if you're abroad.
However it's the 'in fact existing' that actually counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will suggest a few mix-ups, a reduced capability to strategy, to know 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.