Punkt. is a reasonably little, vibrant and independent business, and we like to maintain close connections with our clients and with people and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we frequently run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include style obstacles that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox challenges where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are welcomed to review their relationship with technology.
10 years earlier, smartphones were still extremely unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the mobile phone is unusual. 10 years earlier, many people had cellphones, but they would generally just attract our attention if another human being had actually decided to call us or send us a text. Now that the majority of people's lives are a lot more automated: the new regular is to scamper around within a continuous assault 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 extensively talked about at that point, however there has considering that been a rise of interest in the topic. Individual 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 terms of tech dependency and the value of high-quality design in the genuine (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big distinction this time round was that the term 'mobile phone dependency' had clearly gotten in common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 individuals were beginning to sound genuinely fretted. You can check out the reports below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we got:
" The consistent scrolling."
" I attempted 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 use our phones a lot - why shouldn't they be stunning along with practical?"
" I'm doing my own variation now, but I had 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 requirements utilized in my market, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that changes, sadly it's extremely tough to battle against 100s of designers who are trying to hook you in to their products. [] There is a particular irony about this as I develop for these products however desire 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 market, ideally to affect a change in approach to innovation.".
" I have actually begun getting rid of all my social media profiles and have actually right away seen the favorable impact it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I want to keep it that method, by also eliminating my smartphone for excellent.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Technology has actually dramatically 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 time period. This Challenge modifications that in its whole, pushing us into understanding what is going on. I've constantly liked using the latest things, but given that Punkt. has actually been around, I wanted to alter 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 realize just 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 kind of apart socially from your friends-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but 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 do not need whatever on your phone. Simply the essentials.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like the majority of people I have actually met, it could be a great time to give this phone a shot. A lot of my own member of the family experience this sensation and I seem like passing this challenge on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has become so crucial in 2018 because-- as I said-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. 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 pay attention to what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be a great time to get that took a look at, and an excellent way to tackle it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we spend taking a look at screens, the lesser daytime becomes-- and in some cases, yes, more of an obstacle. Whether you're checking your messages while walking to work, enjoying your smart device with your friends (who are each delighting in theirs), or seeing a movie, daylight is an inconvenience.
We started heading this way since we wished to. Nowadays-- to a large level-- we just do it due to the fact that we do it. And because others desire us to do it.
Is this really how you wish to invest your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google staff member Tristan Harris left his job to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to expand the debate on what innovation is doing to us and caused the creation of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the topic has taken off into the mainstream and it has actually ended up being clear that it is not 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 smartphone is integrated with a picture of a woman. She is not provided 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 pleased, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Maybe it makes sense to use these brighter evenings for something aside from looking at pixels? And when bedtime methods, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything turned off, leaving simply a land-line with a number understood just to household and friends, and a dedicated alarm clock.
Joining those who have actually ditched their smartphones entirely, combining a standard phone with a laptop or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts might sound almost extreme, but as far as biology is worried, they're what your brain desires. Hence the medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Due to the fact that of the obvious decrease in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is said to increase life expectancy of a nation's citizens. Ditto banning phone usage while driving, naturally (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are dangerous in other methods, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one risk a lot of, and so on. But over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another method too-- incrementally and undoubtedly. It offers us a narrower existence in which we are less focussed, less rested and thus less awake. Over-use eats our lives, and it's ending up being the norm.
Time for a rethink?
Do you find that any place you go, you always end up in the exact same location: in front of your mobile phone? Utilizing it, or letting it utilize you, to remain 'linked'? Linked with exactly what individuals depend on back house. Gotten in touch with the current news reports. Gotten in touch with work. Linked with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Connected with photos from the last holiday you took, and the one prior to that. What kind of 'connection' is that, really? This scenario is something that's approached on us, and perhaps it's time to start making some decisions ...
A holiday is a possibility to change off, to experience brand-new things. If we don't likewise switch off our gadgets, 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 exactly 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, but to help line the pockets of shareholders of social networks business.
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 looking for something a bit less extreme for our fortnight away, the concept 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 subject of getting lost, yes, without a smartphone it could happen. And maybe you'll wind up somewhere that ends up being the highlight of your journey. Maybe you'll discover some interesting dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up speaking with some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, nothing acquired. This ties in with the growing slow travelmovement, and the recovering of overland travel as a mainstream and sensible alternative to flying, shown by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's all about being there.
If we do choose to have a holiday that does not revolve around processing huge data, here there are a few options. We can go to the other severe, and leave home without any type of phone or tablet. (That never ever used to be a severe, however we reside in severe times.) And we have alternatives 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. Then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some adventures, or merely take pleasure in a little bit of peace and peaceful.
The physical act of switching phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's beginning to acquire in appeal: whether a cheap, old-tech design or something more elegant and updated, deciding to sometimes use an easy phone is something that everybody can relate to nowadays. They might refrain from doing it themselves, but they definitely know why some people do.
There are practical benefits, too. Just having to charge your phone occasionally is popular with everyone however if you're going somewhere without mains electrical energy, your greedy mobile phone will be no usage at all. With a simple phone you don't require to keep inspecting that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some way of running up monster-sized information roaming charges-- it can still happen. It's the 'really being there' that actually counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will imply a couple of mix-ups, a decreased capability to plan, to know beforehand what's going to occur. However travelling sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on easy phones are frequently much tougher than the big areas of glass found on their more complicated cousins. Changing a broken smart device screen is a hassle at the very best of times; increase that by 10 if you're abroad.
It's the 'in fact being there' that actually counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smartphone will suggest a few mix-ups, a decreased capability to plan, to know in advance what's going to take place. But taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.