Punkt. is a relatively little, vibrant and independent business, and we prefer to maintain close connections with our customers 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 style courses, and digital detox challenges where self-confessed smartphone addicts are welcomed to review their relationship with technology.
10 years earlier, smartphones were still very uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the smartphone is unusual. Ten years earlier, the majority of people had smart phones, however they would normally only attract our attention if another person had chosen to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are so much more automated: the brand-new normal is to scoot around within a ceaseless attack of status updates, push notifications and a whole lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have 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 subject. 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 people's relationship with innovation popular and on-going - both in terms of tech addiction and the value of high-quality design in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big distinction this time round was that the term 'mobile phone dependency' had actually plainly entered common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 individuals were beginning to sound really fretted. You can check out the reports listed below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we received:
" The consistent 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 gorgeous as well as practical?"
" I'm doing my own variation now, however I needed to choose 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, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Until that modifications, regrettably it's really tough to eliminate versus 100s of designers who are attempting to hook you into their items. [] There is a particular paradox about this as I develop for these products but want to get away from them. I believe 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, hopefully to affect a modification in method to technology.".
" I have begun eliminating all my social networks profiles and have actually instantly discovered the positive result it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I wish to keep it that way, by likewise eliminating my smartphone for excellent.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Technology has actually dramatically 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 period of time. This Challenge modifications that in its whole, pushing us into understanding what is going on. I've constantly liked using the most recent things, but given that Punkt. has been around, I wished to alter that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's precisely what took place. When you go from a constantly ringing mobile phone to a phone like this, you realize what does it cost? you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day: you don't require them.
In a way, you do become sort of separated socially from your good friends-- 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 require everything on your phone. Simply the essentials.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have actually met, it could be a great time to give this phone a try. A number of my own relative experience this feeling and I seem like passing this obstacle on to others so they can get the hang of it. This Challenge has actually ended up being so important in 2018 because-- as I said-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and so on are here to keep us hooked in for the longest time. Do not believe me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will recognize that you do not even pay attention to exactly what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be an excellent time to get that took a look at, and a great way to go about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we spend looking at screens, the less important daylight ends up being-- and sometimes, yes, more of a hindrance. Whether you're checking your messages while walking to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your good friends (who are each taking pleasure in theirs), or seeing a film, daylight is an inconvenience.
We started heading by doing this since we desired to. Nowadays-- to a big extent-- we just do it due to the fact that we do it. And due to the fact that others desire us to do it.
Is this truly how you wish to spend your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google employee Tristan Harris left his job to discovered a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to expand the debate on what innovation is doing to us and resulted in the development of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the subject has blown up into the mainstream and it has actually ended up being clear that it is not doing good ideas to our basic sense of wellness.
The home page of the Center's site includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smartphone is combined with a photo of a female. She is not presented as being on the screen. She remains 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 delighted, delighting in the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Maybe it makes good sense to use these brighter nights for something other than looking at pixels? When bedtime approaches, matching sundown with a digital sundown: whatever switched off, leaving just a land-line with a number known just to household and friends, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have dumped their smart devices entirely, combining a fundamental phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas might sound almost 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 apparent decrease in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a country's citizens. Ditto banning phone usage while driving, obviously (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are hazardous in other methods, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one danger a lot of, and so on. However over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another method also-- incrementally and inevitably. It provides us a narrower presence in which we are less focussed, less rested and thus less awake. Over-use consumes 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 place: in front of your smart device? Utilizing it, or letting it utilize you, to stay 'linked'? Gotten in touch with exactly what people are up to back home. Linked with the most recent report. Gotten in touch with work. Linked with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Linked with pictures from the last vacation you took, and the one before that. What sort of 'connection' is that, truly? This circumstance is something that's sneaked up on us, and maybe it's time to begin making some decisions ...
A holiday is an opportunity to switch off, more info to experience new things. If we don't likewise change off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our awareness to image sensing units and memory cards, if we're still connected to exactly what we were doing prior to 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 local economy, but to assist line the pockets of investors of social networks companies.
Think of a timeless 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 intense 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 gained but something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a mobile phone it could happen. And maybe you'll wind up someplace that turns out to be the highlight of your trip. Possibly you'll discover some appealing dining establishment that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up talking to some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, nothing acquired. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the recovering of overland travel as a mainstream and realistic option to flying, demonstrated 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 focus on processing big data, there are a couple of alternatives. We can go to the other extreme, and leave house without any type of phone or tablet. (That never ever used to be an extreme, however we reside in severe times.) And we have alternatives like changing our device's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe throughout the day, etc
. Or we can take a various phone. One that just does calls and texts. And after that immerse ourselves in a various culture, have some adventures, or just take pleasure in a 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 gain in popularity: whether a low-cost, old-tech design or something more stylish and up-to-date, opting to sometimes use a simple phone is something that everybody can relate to nowadays. They may not do it themselves, however they definitely understand why some individuals do.
There are useful advantages, too. Just having to charge your phone sometimes is popular with everyone however if you're going somewhere without mains electrical energy, your greedy mobile phone will be no use at all. With an easy phone you don't require to keep examining that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some way of running up monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still happen. It's the 'actually being there' that actually counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smart device will indicate a few mix-ups, a lowered capability to strategy, to know beforehand what's going to happen. However travelling sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on easy phones are often much harder than the large locations of glass found on their more complex cousins. Replacing a broken smartphone screen is a trouble at the finest of times; increase that by ten if you're abroad.
It's the 'in fact being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smartphone will imply a couple of mix-ups, a reduced capability to plan, to know beforehand exactly what's going to take place. But travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.