Punkt. is a fairly small, dynamic and independent business, and we want to maintain close connections with our customers and with people and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we regularly run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include style obstacles that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox difficulties where self-confessed smart device addicts are welcomed to revisit their relationship with innovation.
10 years back, smartphones were still really unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the smart device is uncommon. 10 years ago, most individuals had cellphones, but they would typically just attract our attention if another human being had decided to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are so much more automated: the new typical is to scurry around within a nonstop onslaught of status updates, push notices and a great deal more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running considering that 2016. The unfavorable elements of smart devices weren't extensively discussed at that point, however there has because been a surge of interest in the topic. Participant reports are a key aspect of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and releasing these reports we intend to keep the conversation of individuals's relationship with technology popular and on-going - both in regards to tech dependency and the value of top quality style in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The huge difference this time round was that the term 'smart device dependency' had actually plainly gotten in typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 individuals were beginning to sound really worried. You can read 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 traditional phone, it resembled returning 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 along with practical?"
" I'm doing my own variation now, however I needed to opt for a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital products I've often questioned some of the success criteria utilized in my market, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Up until that changes, sadly it's very difficult to combat against 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you into their items. [] There is a certain paradox about this as I create for these items however desire to get away from them. I believe it's an opportunity for me as a designer to value how important our attention is, and attempt to take that lesson back into my market, ideally to affect a change in approach to innovation.".
" I have actually started getting rid of all my social networks profiles and have instantly seen the favorable result it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I 'd like to keep it that way, by also removing my smartphone for good.".
Life is too short to keep our heads down.
Innovation has significantly altered 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 time period. This Challenge changes that in its entirety, pushing us into understanding what is going on. I've always loved using the newest things, however given 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 recognize how much you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day: you do not need them.
In such a way, you do become type of separated socially from your pals-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however you begin to realize that it's for the better, and the Punkt. MP01 achieves just that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you don't require everything on your phone. Just the basics.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like a lot of individuals I have met, it could be a good time to give this phone a try. Much of my own family members experience this sensation and I seem like passing this challenge on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has ended up being so essential in 2018 because-- as I said-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and so on are here to keep us hooked in for the longest time. Don't think me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will understand that you don't even take notice of what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be a great time to more info get that checked out, and an excellent method to set about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we spend looking at screens, the lesser daylight ends up being-- and often, yes, more of a barrier. Whether you're checking your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your smartphone with your friends (who are each delighting in theirs), or seeing a film, daytime is a trouble.
We began heading in this manner due to the fact that we wished to. Nowadays-- to a large degree-- we merely do it due to the fact that we do it. And due to the fact that others want us to do it.
Is this really how you want to spend your time in the world?
* * *.
In 2016, Google staff member Tristan Harris left his job to found a brand-new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to broaden the debate on what innovation is doing to us and led to the production of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the topic has actually blown up into the mainstream and it has actually become clear that it is not doing great things to our general sense of wellness.
The web page of the Center's website includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smart device is integrated with a photograph of a female. She is not presented as being on the screen. She is 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 happy, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Perhaps it makes good sense to utilize these brighter evenings for something besides taking a look at pixels? When bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything turned off, leaving simply a land-line with a number known only to household and close good friends, and a dedicated alarm clock.
Joining those who have dumped their smartphones completely, combining a standard phone with a laptop or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas might sound practically radical, but as far as biology is concerned, they're what your brain wants. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Due to the fact that of the obvious reduction in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is said to increase life span of a nation's residents. Ditto banning phone use while driving, naturally (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are hazardous in other ways, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one threat too numerous, etc. But over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another way also-- incrementally and inevitably. It gives us a narrower presence where we are less focussed, less rested and thus 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 always end up in the exact same location: in front of your smartphone? Using it, or letting it use you, to remain 'linked'? Connected with what people depend on back home. Connected with the current news reports. Connected with work. Linked with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Connected with pictures from the last holiday you took, and the one prior to that. What type of 'connection' is that, actually? This scenario is something that's approached on us, and possibly it's time to begin making some choices ...
A holiday is an opportunity to turn off, to experience brand-new things. If we don't likewise switch off our devices, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensing units 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 vacation tax. Part of the experience is deducted-- and not to assist the local economy, but to assist line the pockets of investors of social networks companies.
Picture a traditional travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much. 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 gotten however something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it could occur. And perhaps you'll wind up somewhere that turns out to be the highlight of your journey. Perhaps you'll find some intriguing restaurant that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You may end up speaking with some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, nothing got. This ties in with 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 existing.
If we do decide to have a vacation that does not revolve around processing huge data, there are a couple of alternatives. We can go to the other severe, and leave home with no kind of phone or tablet. (That never utilized to be a severe, however we reside in extreme times.) And we have options like changing our gadget's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe during the day, and so on
. Or we can take a different phone. One that just does calls and texts. And then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some experiences, or just 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 beginning to get in popularity: whether a cheap, old-tech design or something more trendy and updated, choosing to often use a simple phone is something that everybody can relate to nowadays. They might refrain from doing it themselves, but they certainly know why some people do.
There are practical benefits, too. Only needing to charge your phone sometimes is popular with everyone however if you're going somewhere without mains electrical energy, your greedy smartphone will be no use at all. Also, with a basic phone you don't have to keep inspecting that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some method of adding monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still happen. It's the 'actually being there' that actually counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will mean a couple of mix-ups, a decreased capability to strategy, to know beforehand what's going to happen. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on simple phones are often much harder than the big areas of glass found on their more complex cousins. Replacing a damaged smartphone screen is a trouble at the very best of times; increase that by 10 if you're abroad.
But it's the 'really existing' that actually counts. Sure, travelling without a smartphone will mean a few mix-ups, a decreased capability to strategy, to know ahead of time what's going to happen. Travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.