Punkt. is a fairly little, vibrant and independent business, and we want to keep close connections with our consumers and with people and organisations within the style world. As part of this, we routinely run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include design challenges that form part of postgraduate style courses, and digital detox obstacles where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are invited to revisit their relationship with technology.
10 years earlier, mobile phones were still extremely uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the smartphone is uncommon. Ten years earlier, many people had cellphones, but they would normally just attract our attention if another person had actually chosen to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are so much more automated: the new typical is to scoot around within a ceaseless attack of status updates, push notifications and a great deal more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running considering that 2016. The negative elements of smartphones weren't widely discussed at that point, but there has actually since been a surge of interest in the subject. Participant reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and releasing these reports we intend to keep the discussion of individuals's relationship with technology prominent and on-going - both in regards to tech addiction and the importance of top quality design in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big distinction this time round was that the term 'mobile phone addiction' had actually clearly gone into typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 individuals were beginning to sound really fretted. You can read the reports listed below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we received:
" The continuous scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old classic 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 along with practical?"
" I'm doing my own version now, but I had to choose a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital products I've frequently questioned some of the success criteria utilized in my industry, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Up until that modifications, sadly it's extremely difficult to eliminate against 100s of designers who are attempting to hook you into their items. [] There is a certain irony about this as I design for these products but want to avoid them. I think it's an opportunity for me as a designer to appreciate how important our attention is, and attempt to take that lesson back into my market, ideally to affect a change in technique to innovation.".
" I have actually begun getting rid of all my social networks profiles and have right away observed the positive result it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I 'd like to keep it that way, by likewise removing my mobile phone for great.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Innovation has considerably changed over the last century, from being an useful 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, pushing us into understanding exactly what is going on. I've always liked using the latest things, but given that Punkt. has been around, I wanted to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what took place. When you go from a constantly ringing mobile phone to a phone like this, you recognize how much you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day: you do not need them.
In a manner, you do end up being type of apart socially from your buddies-- let's say if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however 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 basics.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like the majority of people I have actually satisfied, it might be a great time to give this phone a try. A number of my own family members experience this feeling and I feel like passing this challenge on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has actually become so essential in 2018 because-- as I stated-- 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 exactly what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it may be a great time to obtain that checked out, and an excellent way to go about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we spend 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 seeing a film, daylight is an inconvenience.
We began heading this way since we desired to. Nowadays-- to a big level-- we simply do it because we do it. And since others desire us to do it.
Is this really how you wish to spend your time in the world?
* * *.
In 2016, Google staff member Tristan Harris left his task to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to expand the debate on what technology is doing to us and resulted in the development of the Center for Humane Technology. Given that then, the subject has actually taken off into the mainstream and it has actually become clear that it is refraining from doing advantages to our general sense of well-being.
The home page of the Center's site includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a mobile phone is combined with a photo of a woman. She is not provided as being on the screen. She is in truth 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 happy, delighting in the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Possibly it makes sense to use these brighter evenings for something aside from taking a look at pixels? And when bedtime approaches, matching sundown with a digital sundown: whatever changed off, leaving simply a land-line with a number known only to household and buddies, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have ditched their smart devices totally, integrating 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. For this reason the medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Due to the fact that of the obvious decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a country's people. 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, etc. But over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another method also-- incrementally and inevitably. It gives 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 constantly wind up in the same place: in front of your smart device? Using it, or letting it utilize you, to stay 'linked'? Linked with exactly what people depend on back house. Connected with the most recent news reports. Connected with work. Gotten in touch with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with images from the last vacation you took, and the one before that. What type of 'connection' is that, actually? This circumstance is something that's approached on us, and possibly it's time to begin making some decisions why not find out more ...
A vacation is an opportunity to turn off, to experience new things. However if we don't also change off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our awareness to image sensors and memory cards, if we're still connected to exactly 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 type of vacation tax. Part of the experience is deducted-- and not to assist the local economy, but to assist line the pockets of shareholders of social networks business.
Imagine a classic travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much left. As well as if we're trying to find something a bit less intense 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 gotten however something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a smartphone it could happen. And maybe you'll end up somewhere that turns out to be the highlight of your journey. Maybe you'll find some appealing dining establishment that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You may end up talking with some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, absolutely nothing acquired. This ties in with 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 decide to have a holiday that does not focus on processing huge data, there are a few options. We can go to the other severe, and leave home without any kind of phone or tablet. (That never ever used to be a severe, however we live in extreme times.) And we have options 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 only does calls and texts. Then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some adventures, or merely delight in a 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 get in appeal: whether a cheap, old-tech design or something more trendy and up-to-date, picking to in some cases use a basic phone is something that everyone can connect to nowadays. They might not do it themselves, however they certainly understand why some people do.
There are useful benefits, too. Just having 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 need 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. But it's the 'actually existing' that actually counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will suggest a couple of mix-ups, a minimized capability to strategy, to understand in advance what's going to take place. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on simple phones are frequently much harder than the big areas of glass found on their more complicated cousins. Changing a damaged smart device screen is a hassle at the very best of times; increase that by ten if you're abroad.
It's the 'actually being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will indicate a couple of mix-ups, a reduced ability to plan, to know in advance what's going to happen. But travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.