Punkt. is a fairly little, vibrant and independent company, and we prefer to keep close connections with our clients and with individuals and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we regularly run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These consist of style obstacles that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox obstacles where self-confessed smartphone addicts are invited to review their relationship with technology.
10 years back, smart devices were still really uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the smart device is unusual. 10 years back, most individuals had mobile phones, but they would generally just attract our attention if another human had actually decided to call us or send us a text. Now that the majority of individuals's lives are so much more automated: the brand-new typical is to scoot around within a nonstop onslaught of status updates, push notices and a lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running because 2016. The unfavorable aspects of smart devices weren't widely gone over at that point, but there has since been a rise of interest in the subject. Individual reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and releasing these reports we aim to keep the conversation of people's relationship with technology popular 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 difference this time round was that the term 'mobile phone addiction' had actually plainly entered common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 people were starting to sound really stressed. You can check out the reports listed below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we got:
" The constant scrolling."
" I tried it with an old classic phone, it was like 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 lovely along with practical?"
" I'm doing my own variation now, however I had to settle for 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 used in my industry, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that modifications, regrettably it's really difficult to eliminate against 100s of designers who are trying to hook you into their items. [] There is a particular irony about this as I design for these products however desire to avoid them. But I believe it's an opportunity for me as a designer to appreciate how valuable our attention is, and try to take that lesson back into my industry, hopefully to affect a modification in technique to technology.".
" I have begun eliminating all my social networks profiles and have actually immediately seen the positive result it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I 'd like to keep it that method, by likewise removing my smart device for excellent.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Technology has drastically altered over the last century, from being a handy tool in our lives to keeping us as connected in as much as it can and for the longest amount of time. This Challenge changes that in its totality, pushing us into realizing exactly what is going on. I've always enjoyed using the latest things, however because Punkt. has actually been around, I wished to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's precisely what occurred. When you go from a continuously ringing smart device to a phone like this, you understand how much you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you don't need them.
In a method, you do become sort of separated socially from your good friends-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however you start to understand that it's for the better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes just that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you don't need whatever on your phone. Simply the essentials.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have actually met, it might be a great time to provide this phone a shot. Much of my own relative experience this feeling and I feel like passing this difficulty on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has actually become so important in 2018 because-- as I stated-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and so on 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 do not even take notice of exactly what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be a great time to obtain that checked out, and an excellent way to tackle it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we spend taking a look at screens, the less essential daytime ends up being-- and often, yes, more of an obstacle. Whether you're examining your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your smartphone with your pals (who are each enjoying theirs), or seeing a film, daytime is a hassle.
We started heading in this manner because we wished to. Nowadays-- to a big level-- we just do it because we do it. And due to the fact that 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 brand-new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to expand the debate on exactly what innovation is doing to us and caused the development of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the subject has taken off into the mainstream and it has become clear that it is refraining from doing good ideas to our general sense of well-being.
The home page of the Center's website includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smart device is combined with a photo of a female. She is not presented as being on the screen. She is in reality looking website out from the phone, leaning with her arms folded on the bottom edge of the screen as though it were a windowsill. She appears happy, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Perhaps it makes good sense to utilize these brighter evenings for something other than taking a look at pixels? When bedtime approaches, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything turned off, leaving simply a land-line with a number known only to family and buddies, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have dropped their smartphones totally, combining a basic phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas might sound practically extreme, however as far as biology is worried, they're exactly what your brain wants. For this reason the medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Because of the obvious decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a nation's people. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, naturally (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are unsafe in other ways, too: scrollers walking into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one threat too lots of, etc. However over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another way also-- incrementally and inevitably. It gives us a narrower presence where 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 find that anywhere you go, you constantly wind up in the exact same location: in front of your smartphone? Utilizing it, or letting it use you, to remain 'connected'? Linked with what individuals are up to back house. Gotten in touch with the most recent report. Connected with work. Gotten in touch with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Connected with pictures from the last vacation you took, and the one prior to that. What sort of 'connection' is that, actually? This scenario is something that's crept up on us, and possibly it's time to start making some decisions ...
A vacation is an opportunity to turn off, to experience brand-new things. If we don't also switch off our devices, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensors 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 deducted-- and not to assist the regional economy, however to assist line the pockets of investors of social networks companies.
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 looking for something a bit less extreme for our fortnight away, the principle still uses. 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 topic of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it might occur. And perhaps you'll wind up somewhere that turns out to be the emphasize of your journey. Maybe you'll find some appealing dining establishment that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You may end up speaking to some locals. Nothing ventured, absolutely nothing got. This ties in with the growing sluggish travelmovement, and the recovering 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 existing.
If we do choose to have a holiday that does not focus on processing huge data, there are a couple of options. We can go to the other extreme, and leave house without any kind of phone or tablet. (That never ever used to be an extreme, however we live in severe times.) And we have alternatives like changing 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. Then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some experiences, or simply take pleasure in a little bit of solitude.
The physical act of switching phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's starting to acquire in popularity: whether a cheap, old-tech model or something more trendy and updated, choosing to often utilize a simple phone is something that everyone can connect to nowadays. They may not do it themselves, but they certainly understand why some individuals do.
There are practical benefits, too. Just having to charge your phone periodically is popular with everybody but if you're going somewhere without mains electrical energy, your greedy mobile phone will be no usage at all. Also, with an easy phone you do not have to keep inspecting that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some method of adding 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 indicate a couple of mix-ups, a reduced ability to plan, to know ahead of time exactly what's going to take place. Travelling 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. Changing a damaged smart device screen is a hassle at the best of times; multiply that by ten if you're abroad.
It's the 'in fact being there' that actually counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smart device will indicate a few mix-ups, a reduced ability to plan, to know beforehand what's going to occur. But taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.