Punkt. is a reasonably little, vibrant and independent company, and we prefer to keep close connections with our clients and with people and organisations within the style world. As part of this, we regularly run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These consist of design challenges that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox obstacles where self-confessed smart device addicts are welcomed to revisit their relationship with innovation.
Ten years back, smart devices were still very unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the mobile phone is uncommon. 10 years ago, many people had smart phones, but they would usually just attract our attention if another human had actually chosen to call us or send us a text. Now that the majority of individuals's lives are so much more automated: the brand-new normal is to scoot around within a nonstop onslaught of status updates, push notices and a great deal more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running since 2016. The unfavorable elements of smartphones weren't widely discussed at that point, but there has actually considering that been a surge of interest in the topic. Participant reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and releasing these reports we aim to keep the conversation of individuals's relationship with technology prominent and on-going - both in regards to tech addiction and the importance of premium design in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The huge distinction this time round was that the term 'mobile phone addiction' had plainly gone into typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 people were beginning to sound truly stressed. You can read the reports listed below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we received:
" The constant scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old traditional phone, it resembled 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 stunning as well as functional?"
" I'm doing my own version now, but I needed to go for a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital products I've frequently questioned a few of the success criteria utilized in my market, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that changes, unfortunately it's extremely tough to fight against 100s of designers who are attempting to hook you in to their products. [] There is a certain irony about this as I design for these products however want to escape 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 technique to innovation.".
" I have actually started getting rid of all my social media profiles and have actually right away observed the positive effect it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I wish to keep it that way, by likewise eliminating my smart device for great.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Technology has drastically changed over the last century, from being a helpful tool in our lives to keeping us as hooked in as much as it can and for the longest amount of time. This Challenge modifications that in its totality, pressing us into understanding what is going on. I've constantly enjoyed utilizing the newest 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 continuously buzzing smart device to a phone like this, you recognize what does it cost? 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 sort of separated socially from your friends-- let's say 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 simplicity and teaches you that you do not need everything on your phone. Simply the essentials.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have actually met, it might be a great time to offer this phone a try. Many 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 actually become 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 understand that you do not even take note of exactly what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it may be an excellent 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 less essential daytime becomes-- and sometimes, yes, more of a limitation. Whether you're inspecting your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your smart device with your friends (who are each taking pleasure in theirs), or viewing a film, daytime is an inconvenience.
We started heading by doing this due to the fact that we wished to. Nowadays-- to a big level-- we simply do it because we do it. And because others want us to do it.
Is this truly how you want to spend your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google worker Tristan Harris left his job to discovered a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to expand the debate on exactly what technology 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 become clear that it is not doing good ideas to our basic sense of well-being.
The house page of the Center's website includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smartphone is integrated with a picture of a lady. 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 appears pleased, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Perhaps it makes sense to use these brighter nights for something besides looking at pixels? When bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything turned off, leaving just a land-line with a number known only to household and close buddies, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have actually dropped their smart devices completely, combining a basic phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts may sound almost radical, however as far as biology is concerned, they're exactly what your brain wants. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the apparent reduction in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a country's people. Ditto prohibiting phone usage while driving, of course (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are dangerous in other methods, too: scrollers walking into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one danger too lots of, and so on. However over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another method also-- incrementally and undoubtedly. It offers us a narrower existence where we are less focussed, less rested and hence less awake. Over-use eats our lives, and it's becoming the norm.
Time for a rethink?
Do you find that anywhere you go, you always end up in the same location: in front of your smart get more info device? Using it, or letting it use you, to remain 'linked'? Gotten in touch with exactly what people depend on back home. Gotten in touch with the newest report. Gotten in touch with work. Connected with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Connected with photos from the last vacation you took, and the one before that. What type of 'connection' is that, truly? This circumstance is something that's crept up on us, and perhaps it's time to start making some choices ...
A holiday is a possibility to change off, to experience new things. If we don't also change off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensors and memory cards, if we're still connected to what we were doing prior to 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 local economy, but to help line the pockets of investors of social media business.
Picture a classic travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much left. And even if we're looking for something a bit less extreme 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 but something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it might take place. And possibly you'll end up somewhere that turns out to be the emphasize of your trip. Maybe you'll discover some intriguing dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You may end up speaking to some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, nothing acquired. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the recovering of overland travel as a mainstream and reasonable alternative 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 big data, there are a couple of options. We can go to the other severe, and leave home with no sort of phone or tablet. (That never utilized to be a severe, however we live in extreme times.) And we have options like altering our gadget's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe during the day, and so on
. Or we can take a various phone. One that just does calls and texts. Then immerse ourselves in a various culture, have some experiences, or just take pleasure in a little solitude.
The physical act of switching phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's starting to get in popularity: whether a cheap, old-tech design or something more elegant and updated, choosing to in some cases utilize a simple phone is something that everybody can relate to nowadays. They may refrain from doing it themselves, but they certainly know why some people do.
There are useful advantages, too. Only needing to charge your phone periodically is popular with everyone but if you're going somewhere without mains electricity, your greedy smart device will be no usage at all. With a basic phone you do not require to keep checking that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly discovered some way of running up monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still take place. However it's the 'in fact being there' that truly counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smartphone will mean a couple of mix-ups, a reduced ability to plan, to know ahead of time exactly what's going to take place. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on simple phones are often much tougher than the large areas of glass found on their more complicated cousins. Replacing a broken mobile phone screen is an inconvenience at the very best of times; multiply that by ten if you're abroad.
But it's the 'really being there' that really counts. Sure, taking a trip without a mobile phone will indicate a couple of mix-ups, a minimized capability to plan, to know in advance what's going to happen. However taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.