Digital Detox Challenge



Punkt. is a fairly little, vibrant and independent company, and we want to preserve close connections with our clients and with people and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we frequently run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include design challenges that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox obstacles where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are welcomed to revisit their relationship with technology.
Ten years ago, smartphones were still really uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the mobile phone is unusual. 10 years earlier, many people had cellphones, but they would generally just attract our attention if another human had actually decided to call us or send us a text. Now that the majority of individuals's lives are a lot more automated: the new typical is to scoot around within a ceaseless attack of status updates, push notices and a great deal more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running since 2016. The unfavorable aspects of mobile phones weren't extensively gone over at that point, but there has given that been a rise of interest in the subject. Individual 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 innovation prominent and on-going - both in regards to tech dependency and the significance of high-quality design in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.

The huge difference this time round was that the term 'mobile phone addiction' had actually plainly gotten in typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 people were beginning to sound really worried. You can check out the reports listed below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we got:
" The consistent scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old classic 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 should not they be gorgeous as well as 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 frequently questioned some of the success criteria utilized in my industry, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that changes, regrettably it's very challenging to combat against 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you in to their products. [] There is a certain paradox about this as I create for these products but wish to get away from them. I believe 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, hopefully to affect a modification in approach to innovation.".
" I have started eliminating all my social networks profiles and have actually right away discovered the positive effect it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I want to keep it that way, by likewise eliminating my smart device for excellent.".

Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Innovation has actually dramatically changed 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 amount of time. This Challenge changes that in its whole, pushing us into realizing what is going on. I've constantly enjoyed using the latest things, but considering that Punkt. has been around, I wanted to alter that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's precisely what happened. When you go from a constantly buzzing mobile phone to a phone like this, you recognize just how much you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you don't require them.
In a manner, you do end up being type of apart socially from your pals-- let's say if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you begin to realize that it's for the better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes simply that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you don't require whatever on your phone. Just the essentials.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like many individuals I have actually satisfied, it might be a great time to provide this phone a try. A lot of my own relative experience this feeling and I seem like passing this obstacle on to others so they can master 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 think me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will realize that you don't 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 method to set about it is with the Punkt. MP01.

The more time we spend taking a look at screens, the less important daylight ends up being-- and often, yes, more of a limitation. Whether you're checking your messages while walking to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your pals (who are each delighting in theirs), or viewing a film, daylight is a trouble.
We started heading this way because we wanted to. Nowadays-- to a big degree-- we simply do it since we do it. And due to the fact that others want us to do it.
Is this really how you desire to spend your time in the world?
* * *.
In 2016, Google employee Tristan Harris left his task to discovered a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to broaden the argument on exactly what technology is doing to us and resulted in the production of the Center for Humane Technology. Given that then, the subject has actually exploded into the mainstream and it has become clear that it is refraining from doing advantages to our basic sense of well-being.
The home page of the Center's website features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smart device is combined with a picture of a woman. She is not provided as being on the screen. She remains 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. this site She appears pleased, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Maybe it makes sense to utilize these brighter nights for something other than looking at pixels? And when bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything turned off, leaving simply a land-line with a number understood only to household and friends, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have actually dumped their mobile phones entirely, integrating a fundamental 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.
Since of the apparent decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life expectancy of a nation's citizens. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, naturally (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are hazardous in other ways, too: scrollers walking into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one risk a lot of, etc. However over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another way too-- incrementally and inevitably. It gives us a narrower presence where we are less focussed, less rested and therefore less awake. Over-use consumes our lives, and it's becoming the norm.
Time for a rethink?

Do you discover that wherever you go, you constantly wind up in the same location: in front of your smart device? Using it, or letting it utilize you, to remain 'connected'? Linked with what people depend on back home. Gotten in touch with the most recent news reports. Linked with work. Gotten in touch with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with pictures from the last vacation you took, and the one prior to that. What kind of 'connection' is that, truly? This scenario is something that's crept up on us, and maybe it's time to start making some decisions ...

A holiday is a chance to turn off, to experience new things. If we don't also switch off our devices, 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 vacation 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.
Think of a traditional travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There would not be much. As well as if we're searching for 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 gotten however something's lost. And on the topic of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it might take place. And maybe you'll wind up someplace that turns out to be the emphasize of your trip. Perhaps you'll find some intriguing dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You may end up speaking with 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 existing.
If we do decide to have a vacation that doesn't revolve around processing big data, there are a couple of options. We can go to the other extreme, and leave house with no kind of phone or tablet. (That never ever utilized to be an extreme, however we live in extreme times.) And we have choices 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 just does calls and texts. And after that immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some experiences, 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 starting to get in popularity: whether a cheap, old-tech design or something more stylish and updated, deciding to often use an easy phone is something that everyone can associate with nowadays. They might not do it themselves, however they certainly understand why some people do.
There are practical advantages, too. Only needing to charge your phone occasionally is popular with everyone however if you're going somewhere without mains electricity, your greedy mobile phone will be no use at all. Likewise, with a basic phone you don't require to keep examining that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly discovered some way of adding monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still occur. It's the 'in fact being there' that really counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smart device will imply a couple of mix-ups, a reduced ability to strategy, to know in advance what's going to occur. 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 mobile phone screen is a hassle at the very 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 imply a few mix-ups, a minimized capability to plan, to know ahead of time what's going to happen. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.

SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.

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