Punkt. is a reasonably small, vibrant and independent company, and we prefer to preserve close connections with our clients and with individuals and organisations within the style world. As part of this, we frequently run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include design obstacles that form part of postgraduate style courses, and digital detox obstacles where self-confessed smart device addicts are invited to revisit their relationship with innovation.
Ten years ago, smart devices were still extremely unusual. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the smart device is unusual. 10 years earlier, many people had cellphones, however they would typically only attract our attention if another human had chosen to call us or send us a text. Now that a lot of people's lives are a lot more automated: the new regular is to scurry around within a continuous onslaught of status updates, push alerts and a great deal more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running because 2016. The unfavorable aspects of mobile phones weren't widely talked about at that point, however there has given that been a surge of interest in the topic. Participant reports are an essential component of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and publishing these reports we intend to keep the discussion of people's relationship with innovation popular and on-going - both in terms of tech addiction and the significance of premium 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 gotten in typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 people were beginning to sound really stressed. You can check out the reports below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we got:
" The constant scrolling."
" I tried it with an old timeless phone, it was like 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 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 a few of the success criteria used in my market, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Until that modifications, unfortunately it's very 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 products but want 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 affect a modification in technique to innovation.".
" I have started getting rid of all my social media profiles and have actually instantly observed the favorable result it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I 'd like to keep it that way, by also eliminating my smart device for excellent.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Innovation has significantly changed over the last century, from being a valuable 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 always loved utilizing the latest things, but since Punkt. has been around, I desired to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's precisely what occurred. When you go from a continuously buzzing smartphone to a phone like this, you understand just how much you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you do not need them.
In a method, you do become sort of separated socially from your friends-- let's say if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you begin to recognize that it's for the much better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes simply that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you don't need everything on your phone. Just the essentials.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like the majority of people I have met, it might be a great time to provide this phone a shot. Much of my own household members experience this feeling and I feel like passing this obstacle 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 think me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will realize that you don't even pay attention to 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 an excellent way to set about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we invest looking at screens, the less essential daytime ends up being-- and often, yes, more of a limitation. Whether you're examining your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your smartphone with your buddies (who are each delighting in theirs), or watching a movie, daylight is a trouble.
We began heading by doing this since we wished to. Nowadays-- to a big extent-- we just do it because 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 worker Tristan Harris left his task to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to expand the argument on what technology is doing to us and caused the creation of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the topic has actually taken off into the mainstream and it has actually ended up being clear that it is refraining from doing great things to our basic sense of wellness.
The web page of the Center's site features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smart device is integrated with a photo of a lady. She is not presented as being on the screen. She is 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 appears pleased, delighting in the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Possibly it makes good sense to use these brighter evenings for something aside from taking a look at pixels? And when bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything changed off, leaving just a land-line with a number understood just to family and close buddies, and a dedicated alarm clock.
Joining those who have ditched their smart devices completely, combining a standard phone with a laptop or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas might sound practically radical, however as far as biology is worried, they're what your brain desires. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Because of the evident decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a country's residents. Ditto banning phone use while driving, naturally (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, and so on. However over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another method also-- incrementally and undoubtedly. It gives us a narrower existence where 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 anywhere you go, you constantly end up in the same location: in front of your mobile phone? Utilizing it, or letting it utilize you, to remain 'connected'? Gotten in touch with exactly what individuals are up to back home. Linked with the current news reports. Linked with work. Gotten in touch with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Connected with photos from the last holiday you took, and the one prior to that. What sort of 'connection' is that, actually? This situation is something that's sneaked up on us, and maybe it's time to start making some decisions ...
A holiday is an opportunity to turn off, to experience brand-new things. However if we don't likewise change off our devices, 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 exactly what we'll be doing when we return, it's as if we're paying a type 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 companies.
Think of a traditional travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There would not be much. As well as if we're searching 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 topic of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it might take place. And perhaps you'll end up somewhere that turns out to be find this the highlight of your journey. Maybe you'll find some interesting restaurant that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You may wind up speaking to some residents. Nothing ventured, nothing got. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the reclaiming of overland travel as a mainstream and practical option to flying, demonstrated by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's all about existing.
If we do choose to have a vacation that doesn't focus on processing big data, there are a couple of options. We can go to the other extreme, and leave house with no kind of phone or tablet. (That never utilized to be an extreme, however we live 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 various culture, have some experiences, or merely delight in a bit of solitude.
The physical act of swapping phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's beginning to gain in appeal: whether an inexpensive, old-tech design or something more stylish and current, choosing to in some cases utilize an easy phone is something that everybody can associate with nowadays. They might refrain from doing 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 somewhere without mains electrical energy, your greedy mobile phone will be no use at all. With a basic phone you don't require to keep checking that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly discovered some way of running up monster-sized information roaming charges-- it can still happen. However it's the 'in fact being there' that truly counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will indicate a couple of mix-ups, a reduced capability to plan, to understand beforehand exactly what's going to happen. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on simple phones are typically much tougher than the big locations of glass found on their more complex cousins. Replacing a broken mobile phone screen is an inconvenience at the very best of times; multiply that by ten if you're abroad.
However it's the 'in fact being there' that truly counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smart device will mean a few mix-ups, a minimized capability to plan, to understand 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.