Punkt. is a relatively small, dynamic and independent company, and we like to keep 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 difficulties that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox challenges where self-confessed smart device addicts are welcomed to revisit their relationship with innovation.
10 years back, mobile phones were still extremely unusual. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the mobile phone is uncommon. 10 years ago, many people had smart phones, however they would normally only attract our attention if another human had chosen to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are so much more automated: the brand-new typical is to scurry around within a continuous onslaught of status updates, push alerts and a lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running since 2016. The unfavorable elements of mobile phones weren't widely talked about at that point, but there has since been a rise of interest in the subject. Individual reports are a crucial component of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and releasing these reports we intend to keep the conversation of individuals's relationship with innovation popular and on-going - both in regards to tech addiction and the value of high-quality design in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big distinction this time round was that the term 'smartphone dependency' had actually clearly entered common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 individuals were beginning to sound genuinely worried. You can check out the reports listed below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we got:
" The consistent scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old traditional phone, it was like going back to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We use our phones a lot - why should not they be lovely along with practical?"
" I'm doing my own variation now, but I had 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 criteria used in my industry, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Until that modifications, sadly it's extremely challenging to fight versus 100s of designers who are attempting to hook you in to their items. [] There is a specific paradox about this as I create for these items but desire to get away from them. However I think it's an opportunity for me as a designer to value how valuable our attention is, and aim to take that lesson back into my market, hopefully to affect a modification in approach to innovation.".
" I have begun getting rid of all my social networks profiles and have actually immediately seen the positive result it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I want to keep it that way, by likewise eliminating my smart device for good.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Technology has actually significantly altered 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 whole, pushing us into understanding what is going on. I've always enjoyed using the latest things, but considering that Punkt. has been around, I wished to alter that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's precisely what happened. When you go from a constantly buzzing smart device to a phone like this, you realize just how much you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you don't require them.
In a method, you do end up being type of apart socially from your good friends-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however you begin to understand that it's for the much better, and the Punkt. MP01 achieves simply that. It teaches you simplicity and teaches you that you do not require whatever on your phone. Simply the basics.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like the majority of people I have satisfied, it could be a great time to provide this phone a shot. Numerous of my own relative experience this sensation and I feel like passing this challenge on to others so they can get the hang of 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 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 go about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we invest looking at screens, the lesser daytime ends up being-- and in some cases, yes, more of a limitation. Whether you're inspecting your messages while walking to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your friends (who are each enjoying theirs), or enjoying a film, daytime is an inconvenience.
We began heading this method since we wanted to. Nowadays-- to a big degree-- we just do it because we do it. And due to the fact that others desire us to do it.
Is this really how you desire to spend your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google staff member Tristan Harris left his job to found a brand-new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to expand the debate on exactly what technology is doing to us and led to the production of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the subject has blown up into the mainstream and it has actually become clear that it is not doing great things to our basic sense of wellness.
The web page of the Center's site includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smartphone is integrated with a photo 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 seems delighted, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Perhaps it makes good sense to use these brighter nights for something aside from looking at pixels? When bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything turned off, leaving just a land-line with a number understood only to family and friends, and a dedicated alarm clock.
Joining those who have actually ditched their smart devices completely, combining a fundamental phone with a laptop or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas might sound almost 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 apparent decrease in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is said to increase life span of a nation's people. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, obviously (with a much clearer causal link). Phones threaten in other methods, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one risk a lot of, etc. However over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another method too-- incrementally and inevitably. It gives us a narrower presence in which we are less focussed, less rested and hence less awake. Over-use eats our lives, and it's ending up being the standard.
Time for a rethink?
Do you find that wherever you go, you always wind up in the same location: in front of your smartphone? Using it, or letting it utilize you, to stay 'linked'? Linked with exactly what people depend on back house. Gotten in touch with the current report. Linked with work. Gotten in touch with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with photos from the last vacation you took, and the one prior to that. What sort of 'connection' is that, really? This situation is something that's sneaked up on us, and maybe it's time to start making some decisions ...
A holiday is a chance to turn off, to experience new things. If we do not likewise switch off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our consciousness 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 kind of holiday tax. Part of the experience is subtracted-- and not to help the regional economy, however to help line the pockets of shareholders of social networks companies.
Picture a traditional travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much left. And even if we're trying to find 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 however something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it could occur. And perhaps you'll end up someplace that ends up being the emphasize of your journey. Possibly you'll find some intriguing dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up speaking with some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, absolutely nothing gained. This ties in with the growing slow travelmovement, and the reclaiming of overland travel as a mainstream and sensible alternative to flying, demonstrated by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's all about existing.
If we do decide to have a holiday that does not focus on processing big data, there are a couple of options. We can go to the other severe, and leave home without any sort of phone or tablet. (That never ever used to be a severe, but we reside in severe times.) And we have choices like altering 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 just does calls and texts. And after that immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some experiences, or simply take pleasure in 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 acquire in popularity: whether a cheap, old-tech model or something more stylish and updated, opting to in some cases utilize a basic phone is something that everybody can associate with nowadays. They might not do it themselves, however they certainly know why some people do.
There are practical benefits, too. Only having to charge your phone periodically is popular with everyone but if you're going someplace without mains electrical power, this response your greedy smartphone will be no use at all. With an easy 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 happen. It's the 'in fact being there' that actually counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will imply a few mix-ups, a reduced ability to plan, to know beforehand what's going to happen. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on basic phones are frequently much tougher than the large areas of glass found on their more complicated cousins. Changing a broken mobile phone screen is a hassle at the finest of times; multiply that by ten if you're abroad.
It's the 'actually being there' that actually counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smart device will imply a couple of mix-ups, a decreased capability to plan, to know ahead of time exactly what's going to happen. But travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.