Punkt. is a reasonably small, vibrant and independent business, and we want to keep close connections with our consumers and with individuals and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we regularly run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include design obstacles that form part of postgraduate style courses, and digital detox difficulties where self-confessed smartphone addicts are invited to revisit their relationship with technology.
10 years back, smart devices were still really uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the mobile phone is uncommon. Ten years earlier, the majority of people had cellphones, however they would generally just attract our attention if another person had decided to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are so much more automated: the brand-new typical is to scurry around within a ceaseless attack of status updates, push notifications and a great deal more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running considering that 2016. The negative elements of smartphones weren't extensively discussed at that point, however there has actually considering that been a rise of interest in the subject. Individual reports are a key aspect of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and releasing these reports we intend to keep the discussion of individuals's relationship with innovation prominent and on-going - both in regards to tech dependency and the importance of top quality style in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big distinction this time round was that the term 'mobile phone addiction' had actually clearly entered common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 people were beginning to sound genuinely worried. You can check out the reports below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we received:
" The continuous scrolling."
" I tried it with an old traditional phone, it was like returning to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We use our phones a lot - why should not they be lovely as well as functional?"
" I'm doing my own variation now, but I needed to go for a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital items I've often questioned some of the success criteria utilized in my market, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Up until that changes, unfortunately it's very challenging to combat versus 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you into their items. [] There is a particular paradox about this as I design for these products however wish to avoid them. I think it's a chance for me as a designer to value how important our attention is, and attempt to take that lesson back into my industry, ideally to influence a change in approach to innovation.".
" I have actually started getting rid of all my social media profiles and have actually right away observed the positive result it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I want to keep it that way, 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 valuable tool in our lives to keeping us as hooked in as much as it can and for the longest duration of time. This Challenge modifications that in its entirety, pushing us into realizing what is going on. I've always enjoyed utilizing the newest things, however given that Punkt. has actually been around, I wished to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what took place. When you go from a continuously ringing mobile phone to a phone like this, you realize what does it cost? you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you don't need them.
In a manner, you do end up being sort of apart socially from your buddies-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you begin to understand 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 basics.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like the majority of people I have actually met, it could be an excellent time to give this phone a shot. A lot of my own relative experience this feeling and I feel 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, etc. 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 take note of exactly what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it may be a great time to get that took a look at, and a great way to tackle it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we invest taking a look at screens, the less important daylight ends up being-- and often, yes, more of an obstacle. Whether you're inspecting your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your smartphone with your buddies (who are each delighting in theirs), or seeing a movie, daytime is a hassle.
We started heading in this manner since we wished to. Nowadays-- to a big level-- we merely do it because we do it. And since others want us to do it.
Is this truly how you want to spend your time in the world?
* * *.
In 2016, Google staff member Tristan Harris left his task to found a brand-new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to expand the debate on what technology is doing to us and led to the production of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the topic has actually taken off into the mainstream and it has actually ended up being clear that it is refraining from doing excellent things to our basic sense of well-being.
The web page of the Center's site includes a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a mobile phone is combined with a photograph of a female. However she is not provided as being on the screen. She is in fact 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, taking pleasure in the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Maybe it makes sense to utilize these brighter nights for something besides looking at pixels? When bedtime methods, matching sundown with a digital sunset: whatever turned off, leaving just a land-line with a number understood just to family and buddies, and a devoted alarm clock.
Signing up with those who have dropped their mobile phones completely, integrating a standard phone with a laptop or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas might sound practically radical, however as far as biology is concerned, they're exactly what your brain wants. Hence the medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Due to the fact that of the apparent decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a country's residents. Ditto banning 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 threat a lot of, and so on. Over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another way as well-- incrementally and inevitably. It provides us a narrower presence where we are less focussed, less rested and thus less awake. Over-use consumes our lives, and it's becoming the norm.
Time for a rethink?
Do you find that anywhere you go, you constantly end up in the exact same location: in front of your smartphone? Using it, or letting it utilize you, to stay 'linked'? Linked with what people are up to back home. Gotten in touch with the latest news reports. Linked with work. Gotten in touch with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Connected with images from the last vacation you took, and the one before that. What type of 'connection' is that, actually? This scenario is something that's approached on us, and perhaps it's time to begin making some choices ...
A holiday is a possibility to turn off, to experience brand-new things. If we do not likewise change off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our awareness to image sensing units and memory cards, if we're still attached 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 holiday tax. Part of the experience is deducted-- and not to assist the local economy, but to assist line the pockets of shareholders of social media companies.
Picture a traditional travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There would not be much left. And even if we're trying to find something a bit less intense 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 gained however something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a smartphone it could take place. And possibly you'll wind up someplace that turns out to be the highlight of your trip. Perhaps you'll find some appealing dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up talking to some locals. Absolutely nothing ventured, absolutely nothing acquired. This ties in with the growing sluggish travelmovement, and the reclaiming of overland travel as a mainstream and realistic option to flying, shown by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's all about existing.
If we do choose to have a holiday that doesn't focus on processing huge data, there are a couple of alternatives. We can go to the other extreme, and leave home with no type of phone or tablet. (That never utilized to be an extreme, however we reside in extreme times.) And we have alternatives like changing our gadget's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe throughout the day, etc
. Or we can take a various phone. One that only does calls and texts. Then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some adventures, or just enjoy a little solitude.
The physical act of switching 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, deciding to sometimes utilize a simple phone is something that everyone can associate with nowadays. They might refrain from doing it themselves, but they definitely know why some people do.
There are useful benefits, too. Only needing to charge your phone occasionally is popular with everybody but if you're going someplace without mains electricity, your greedy smart device will be no use at all. With an easy phone you don't require to keep checking that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly discovered some way of running up monster-sized information roaming charges-- it can still occur. It's the 'in fact being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will imply a few mix-ups, a lowered capability to plan, to understand in advance what's going to take place. Travelling sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on basic phones are often much tougher than the big locations of glass discovered on their more complex cousins. Replacing a damaged mobile phone screen is an inconvenience at the finest of times; increase that by 10 if you're abroad.
It's the 'actually being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will indicate a couple of mix-ups, a decreased ability to strategy, to understand ahead of time what's going to take place. However taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action find more info is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.