Punkt. is a relatively small, dynamic and independent business, and we want to keep close connections with our clients and with individuals and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we frequently run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These consist of design challenges that form part of postgraduate style courses, and digital detox difficulties where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are invited to review their relationship with innovation.
Ten years ago, smart devices were still extremely unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the smart device is uncommon. Ten years earlier, the majority of people had cellphones, but they would normally just attract our attention if another human had chosen to call us or send us a text. Now that the majority of individuals's lives are so much more automated: the new regular is to scurry around within a continuous assault of status updates, push alerts and a whole lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running because 2016. The unfavorable aspects of smart devices weren't widely talked about at that point, however there has given that been a surge of interest in the subject. Individual reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and publishing these reports we intend to keep the conversation of people's relationship with technology popular and on-going - both in regards to tech addiction and the significance of premium design in the genuine (i.e. non-virtual) world.
The big difference this time round was that the term 'smart device dependency' had clearly gone into typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 people were beginning to sound truly worried. You can read the reports below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we got:
" The continuous scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old timeless phone, it resembled going back to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We use our phones a lot - why should not they be stunning along with functional?"
" I'm doing my own version now, but I had to go for a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital items I've frequently questioned a few of the success criteria utilized in my industry, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that modifications, unfortunately it's very tough to eliminate against 100s of designers who are attempting to hook you into their products. [] There is a specific irony about this as I design for these products but want to get away from them. However 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 industry, ideally to affect a modification in method to technology.".
" I have begun getting rid of all my social media profiles and have actually right away observed the positive effect 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 short to keep our heads down.
Technology has actually considerably changed over the last century, from being a helpful tool in our lives to keeping us as hooked in as much as it can and for the longest amount of time. This Challenge changes that in its entirety, pressing us into realizing exactly what is going on. I've always loved using the most recent things, but since Punkt. has been around, I desired to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what occurred. When you go from a constantly buzzing mobile phone to a phone like this, you understand how much you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you do not require them.
In a manner, 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 understand that it's for the better, and the Punkt. MP01 achieves just that. It teaches you simplicity and teaches you that you do not need whatever on your phone. Simply the essentials.
If you seem 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 ended up being 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 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 an excellent way to set about it is with the Punkt. MP01.
The more time we spend looking at screens, the lesser daytime ends up being-- and often, yes, more of a hindrance. Whether you're checking your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your pals (who are each taking pleasure in theirs), or watching a movie, daytime is a trouble.
We began heading this way due to the fact that we wished to. Nowadays-- to a large extent-- we simply do it because we do it. And because others want 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 task to discovered a brand-new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to expand the argument on what technology is doing to us and led to 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 good ideas to our basic sense of wellness.
The web page of the Center's website features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a mobile phone is combined with a picture check here of a female. She is not provided 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 happy, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Perhaps it makes sense to utilize these brighter evenings for something other than taking a look at pixels? When bedtime approaches, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything turned off, leaving simply a land-line with a number understood just to family and buddies, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have actually dumped their smartphones entirely, combining a fundamental phone with a laptop or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts might sound practically radical, however as far as biology is concerned, they're exactly what your brain wants. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the apparent decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a country's residents. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, naturally (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are hazardous in other ways, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one threat too many, etc. Over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another way as well-- incrementally and undoubtedly. It gives us a narrower existence where we are less focussed, less rested and thus less awake. Over-use eats our lives, and it's ending up being the standard.
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 remain 'linked'? Gotten in touch with what individuals depend on back home. Connected with the current report. Gotten in touch with work. Connected with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with images from the last vacation you took, and the one before that. What kind of 'connection' is that, truly? This scenario is something that's approached on us, and maybe it's time to start making some decisions ...
A holiday is a possibility to change 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 exactly 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 help line the pockets of investors of social media companies.
Picture a traditional 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 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 acquired but something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a smartphone it might take place. And possibly you'll end up somewhere that turns out to be the emphasize of your journey. Possibly you'll discover some appealing dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up talking with some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, nothing gained. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the recovering of overland travel as a mainstream and practical option to flying, demonstrated by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's everything about existing.
If we do decide to have a vacation that doesn't revolve around processing huge data, there are a couple of alternatives. We can go to the other extreme, and leave home with no kind of phone or tablet. (That never ever used to be a severe, 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 different phone. One that only does calls and texts. Then immerse ourselves in a various culture, have some experiences, or merely delight in a little 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 acquire in popularity: whether a cheap, old-tech model or something more stylish and up-to-date, opting to sometimes use an easy phone is something that everybody can relate to nowadays. They might refrain from doing it themselves, however they definitely understand why some people do.
There are practical benefits, too. Only needing to charge your phone periodically is popular with everybody however if you're going someplace without mains electricity, your greedy smartphone will be no usage at all. Also, with an easy phone you do not have 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. But it's the 'actually existing' that actually counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will imply a few mix-ups, a lowered capability to strategy, to know in advance what's going to occur. However taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on basic phones are often much tougher than the large areas of glass found on their more complicated cousins. Replacing a broken smartphone screen is a hassle at the best of times; multiply that by ten if you're abroad.
But it's the 'actually being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smartphone will mean a few mix-ups, a reduced ability to strategy, to understand beforehand exactly what's going to occur. But travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.
SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.