Punkt. is a relatively small, dynamic and independent company, and we like to keep close connections with our customers and with people and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we routinely run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include design challenges that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox difficulties where self-confessed smartphone addicts are welcomed to revisit their relationship with innovation.
Ten years ago, smartphones were still really unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the mobile phone is uncommon. Ten years back, most people had smart phones, but they would normally just attract our attention if another person had actually chosen to call us or send us a text. Now that most individuals's lives are so much more automated: the brand-new typical is to scurry around within a ceaseless assault of status updates, push notifications and a whole lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running because 2016. The negative elements of mobile phones weren't widely talked about at that point, however there has since been a rise of interest in the topic. Participant reports are an essential element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and publishing these reports we intend to keep the discussion of people's relationship with technology prominent and on-going - both in regards to tech addiction and the significance of premium style in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big difference this time round was that the term 'mobile phone addiction' had actually clearly gone into common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 individuals were starting to sound genuinely fretted. You can read the reports below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we got:
" The consistent scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old classic phone, it resembled 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 in addition to functional?"
" 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 typically questioned a few of the success criteria utilized in my market, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Until that changes, unfortunately it's very tough to fight versus 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you in to their items. [] There is a certain irony about this as I develop for these products but wish to get away from them. However I think it's a chance for me as a designer to appreciate how valuable our attention is, and try to take that lesson back into my industry, hopefully to influence a modification in technique to technology.".
" I have started getting rid of all my social networks profiles and have actually immediately seen the positive result it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I wish to keep it that way, by likewise removing my smartphone for great.".
Life is too short to keep our heads down.
Technology has 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 period of time. This Challenge changes that in its totality, pressing us into realizing exactly what is going on. I've always liked using the newest things, however considering that Punkt. has been around, I wished to alter that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what happened. When you go from a constantly buzzing mobile phone to a phone like this, you understand just how much you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you do not require them.
In a manner, you do become type of separated socially from your good friends-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however you begin to realize that it's for the much 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 fundamentals.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like the majority of people I have met, it might be an excellent time to give this phone a try. Many of my own member of the family experience this feeling and I seem like passing this challenge on to others so they can get the hang of it. This Challenge has ended up being so important in 2018 because-- as I said-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. are here to keep us hooked in for the longest time. Don't think me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will realize that you do not even focus on what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it may be a good time to get that took a look at, and digital detox an excellent way to tackle it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we invest taking a look at screens, the less important daylight becomes-- and in some cases, yes, more of a barrier. Whether you're checking your messages while walking to work, enjoying your smartphone with your buddies (who are each enjoying theirs), or viewing a movie, daylight is a hassle.
We began heading in this manner because we desired to. Nowadays-- to a large level-- we just do it because we do it. And due to the fact that 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 job to discovered a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to expand the debate on exactly what technology is doing to us and resulted in the creation of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the subject has actually blown up into the mainstream and it has actually become clear that it is not doing excellent things to our general sense of well-being.
The house page of the Center's site features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smart device is combined with a photograph of a female. She is not presented 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 appears delighted, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Maybe it makes sense to use these brighter evenings for something other than looking at pixels? And when bedtime methods, matching sundown with a digital sundown: whatever changed off, leaving simply a land-line with a number understood only to family and buddies, and a devoted alarm clock.
Signing up with those who have actually dropped their smartphones entirely, combining a basic phone with a laptop or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts might sound nearly extreme, however as far as biology is concerned, they're what your brain desires. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Because of the obvious reduction in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life expectancy of a country's citizens. Ditto prohibiting phone usage while driving, obviously (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are hazardous in other ways, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one risk too lots of, and so on. Over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another method as well-- incrementally and inevitably. It offers us a narrower presence in which we are less focussed, less rested and hence less awake. Over-use eats our lives, and it's ending up being the norm.
Time for a rethink?
Do you discover that any place you go, you constantly end up in the exact same location: in front of your smart device? Using it, or letting it use you, to stay 'connected'? Gotten in touch with what people depend on back house. Gotten in touch with the most recent news reports. Connected with work. Connected with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with photos from the last vacation you took, and the one prior to that. What sort of 'connection' is that, actually? This situation is something that's approached on us, and maybe it's time to begin making some choices ...
A vacation is an opportunity 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 sensing units and memory cards, if we're still connected to exactly 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 local economy, however to assist line the pockets of investors of social networks business.
Picture a timeless travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There would not be much. And even if we're looking for something a bit less intense 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 smartphone it could happen. And perhaps you'll wind up someplace that turns out to be the highlight of your journey. Maybe you'll find some interesting restaurant that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up talking to some locals. Nothing ventured, absolutely nothing acquired. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the recovering of overland travel as a mainstream and reasonable option 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 vacation that doesn't revolve around processing huge information, 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 utilized to be a severe, however we reside in severe times.) And we have alternatives like altering our gadget'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. And after that immerse ourselves in a various culture, have some adventures, or merely enjoy a bit of peace and quiet.
The physical act of swapping phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's beginning to get in popularity: whether an inexpensive, old-tech design or something more elegant and up-to-date, selecting to in some cases utilize an easy phone is something that everybody can connect to nowadays. They might refrain from doing it themselves, however they definitely understand why some people do.
There are practical benefits, too. Only having to charge your phone occasionally is popular with everyone however if you're going someplace without mains electrical energy, your greedy smart device will be no use at all. With an easy phone you don't require to keep inspecting that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly discovered some method of running up monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still happen. It's the 'really being there' that really counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smartphone will suggest a few mix-ups, a decreased capability to plan, to know beforehand what's going to take place. But taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on simple phones are typically much tougher than the big locations of glass found on their more complex cousins. Changing a broken smart device screen is an inconvenience at the very best of times; multiply that by 10 if you're abroad.
But it's the 'really existing' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will imply a couple of mix-ups, a reduced ability to strategy, to understand ahead of time exactly what's going to happen. But taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.