Punkt. is a reasonably small, vibrant and independent business, 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 design difficulties that form part of postgraduate style courses, and digital detox difficulties where self-confessed smart device addicts are invited to revisit their relationship with innovation.
10 years ago, smart devices were still very unusual. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the smart device is uncommon. 10 years ago, many people had cellphones, but they would usually only attract our attention if another person had actually chosen to call us or send us a text. Now that the majority of people's lives are a lot more automated: the brand-new regular is to scoot 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 negative aspects of smartphones weren't commonly discussed at that point, however there has because been a surge of interest in the topic. Individual reports are an essential component of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and publishing these reports we aim to keep the conversation of individuals's relationship with technology prominent and on-going - both in terms of tech addiction and the value of top quality design in the genuine (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big difference this time round was that the term 'smart device dependency' had actually clearly entered common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 individuals were starting 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 continuous scrolling."
" I tried it with an old timeless phone, it resembled going back to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We utilize our phones a lot - why shouldn't they be lovely in addition to functional?"
" I'm doing my own variation now, but I had to choose a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital products I've often questioned a few of the success requirements used in my industry, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that changes, sadly it's very difficult to combat versus 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you into their products. [] There is a specific irony about this as I create for these products but desire to avoid them. But 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, hopefully to affect a change in technique to innovation.".
" I have actually begun eliminating all my social networks profiles and have actually right away noticed the favorable result it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I want to keep it that method, by likewise removing my smart device for excellent.".
Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Innovation has considerably altered over the last century, from being a valuable 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 entirety, pressing us into recognizing what is going on. I've constantly liked utilizing the latest things, but since Punkt. has actually been around, I desired to alter that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what took place. When you go from a constantly ringing smart device to a phone like this, you understand just how much you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day: you don't require them.
In a method, you do end up being type of apart socially from your buddies-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you begin to recognize that it's for the much better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes just that. It teaches you simplicity 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 many people I have met, it could be a great time to give this phone a shot. Much of my own household members experience this feeling and I feel like passing this challenge on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has actually become 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 understand that you do not even focus on what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it may be a great time to get that had a look at, and a great way to go about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we invest looking at screens, the lesser daytime ends up being-- and sometimes, yes, more of an obstacle. Whether you're inspecting your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your smart device with your friends (who are each delighting in theirs), or enjoying a movie, daylight is an inconvenience.
We started heading in this manner since we wished to. Nowadays-- to a large degree-- we just do it since we do it. And due to the fact that others desire us to do it.
Is this actually how you desire to spend your time in the world?
* * *.
In 2016, Google worker Tristan Harris left his task to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to broaden the debate on what technology is doing to us and caused the production of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the topic has blown up into the mainstream and it has actually ended up being clear that it is not doing good ideas to our general sense of wellness.
The web page of the Center's site features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smartphone is combined with a photograph of a female. However 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 seems pleased, taking pleasure in the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Possibly it makes good sense to utilize these brighter evenings for something other than looking at pixels? And when bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sunset: everything switched off, leaving just a land-line with a number understood just to household and close pals, and a devoted alarm clock.
Signing up with those who have dumped their mobile phones totally, integrating a standard phone with a laptop or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts might sound nearly extreme, however as far as biology is concerned, they're what your brain wants. Thus the medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the obvious reduction in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is said to increase life expectancy of a nation's people. Ditto prohibiting phone usage while driving, obviously (with a much clearer causal link). Phones threaten in other methods, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one risk a lot of, etc. Over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another method as well-- incrementally and undoubtedly. It gives us a narrower presence where we are less focussed, less rested and hence less awake. Over-use consumes our lives, and it's becoming the standard.
Time for a rethink?
Do you find that anywhere you go, you always wind up in the exact same location: in front of your mobile phone? Using it, or letting it use you, to stay 'linked'? Connected with what individuals depend on back home. Connected with the current report. Connected with work. Connected with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with images from the last holiday you took, and the one before that. What type of 'connection' is that, truly? This circumstance is something that's sneaked up on us, and maybe it's time to begin making some choices ...
A vacation is a chance to turn off, to experience brand-new things. If we do not likewise change off our devices, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensors and memory cards, if we're still connected 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 vacation tax. Part of the experience is subtracted-- and not to help the regional economy, but to assist line the pockets of investors of social media business.
Think of a classic travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much left. 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 gotten but something's lost. And on the topic of getting lost, yes, without a smartphone it could take place. And possibly you'll wind up someplace that ends up being the emphasize of your trip. Perhaps you'll find some interesting dining establishment that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You may end up talking to some residents. 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 decide to have a holiday that does not revolve around processing huge data, there are a couple of options. We can go to the other severe, and leave home with no kind of phone or tablet. (That never used to be an extreme, but we live in severe times.) And we have options like changing our device's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe during the day, etc
. Or we can take a different phone. One that only does calls and texts. Then immerse ourselves in a various culture, have some experiences, or simply enjoy a bit of peace and peaceful.
The more info physical act of swapping phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's beginning to gain in appeal: whether a cheap, old-tech design or something more stylish and current, selecting to often use an easy phone is something that everybody can associate with nowadays. They might not do it themselves, but they definitely know why some people do.
There are useful advantages, too. Only having to charge your phone periodically is popular with everyone but if you're going someplace without mains electricity, your greedy mobile phone will be no usage at all. Also, with an easy phone you do not have to keep checking that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some method of adding monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still happen. It's the 'really being there' that actually counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smartphone will suggest a few mix-ups, a reduced ability to plan, to know ahead of time exactly what's going to occur. However taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on basic phones are typically much harder than the big areas of glass discovered on their more complex cousins. Changing a damaged smart device screen is a trouble at the very best of times; increase that by 10 if you're abroad.
It's the 'really being there' that truly counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will imply a few mix-ups, a decreased ability to strategy, to understand ahead of time exactly what's going to occur. Travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.