Digital Detox Challenge



Punkt. is a relatively little, 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 regularly run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include style challenges that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox obstacles where self-confessed smartphone addicts are invited to review their relationship with innovation.
10 years back, smartphones were still extremely uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the smartphone is uncommon. Ten years back, the majority of people had smart phones, however they would usually just attract our attention if another human had actually decided to call us or send us a text. Now that a lot of individuals's lives are so much more automated: the new typical is to scurry around within a ceaseless onslaught of status updates, push notifications and a lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have actually been running given that 2016. The negative elements of mobile phones weren't extensively gone over at that point, but there has actually given that been a rise of interest in the topic. Participant reports are an essential 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 popular and on-going - both in terms of tech addiction and the value of premium design in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.

The huge difference this time round was that the term 'smartphone dependency' had clearly gotten in common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 individuals were beginning to sound really fretted. You can check out the reports below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the lots of applications we received:
" The constant scrolling."
" I tried it with an old timeless phone, it was like 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 practical?"
" I'm doing my own version now, however I had to choose a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital items I've frequently questioned some of the success requirements utilized in my industry, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that changes, unfortunately it's really difficult to fight versus 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you into their products. [] There is a particular paradox 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 value how important our attention is, and aim to take that lesson back into my industry, ideally to influence a change in approach to innovation.".
" I have begun getting rid of all my social media profiles and have actually immediately observed the favorable result it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I want to keep it that method, by also eliminating my mobile phone for great.".

Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Technology has actually significantly changed over the last century, from being a handy tool in our lives to keeping us as hooked in as much as it can and for the longest period of time. This Challenge changes that in its entirety, pressing us into recognizing what is going on. I've always loved utilizing the latest things, but considering that Punkt. has been around, I wished to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's precisely what occurred. When you go from a continuously buzzing smartphone to a phone like this, you understand just how much you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day: you do not require them.
In such a way, you do become kind of separated 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 simply that. It teaches you simplicity and teaches you that you do not need whatever on your phone. Just the essentials.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like the majority of people I have actually satisfied, it might be an excellent time to provide this phone a shot. A number of my own relative experience this sensation and I seem like passing this challenge on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has actually become so crucial in 2018 because-- as I stated-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and so on are here to keep us hooked in for the longest time. Don't think 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 might be a great time to obtain that took a look at, and an excellent way to tackle 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 examining your messages while strolling to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your buddies (who are each delighting in theirs), or enjoying a film, daytime is a hassle.
We began heading this way since we wished to. Nowadays-- to a big level-- we merely do it because we do it. And because others desire us to do it.
Is this really how you want to invest your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google employee Tristan Harris left his job to discovered a brand-new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to broaden the dispute on what technology is doing to us and caused the development of the Center for Humane Technology. Since then, the topic has actually exploded into the mainstream and it has ended up being clear that it is not doing great things to our basic sense of wellness.
The house page of the Center's site features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a mobile phone is integrated 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. She appears happy, taking pleasure in the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Perhaps it makes good sense to use these brighter evenings for something other than looking at pixels? When bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sunset: everything turned off, leaving simply a land-line with a number known only to household and close friends, and a dedicated alarm clock.
Joining those who have ditched their smart devices completely, integrating a standard phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas may sound practically extreme, but as far as biology is concerned, they're exactly what your brain desires. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the i thought about this obvious decrease in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a country's citizens. Ditto prohibiting phone usage while driving, obviously (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are dangerous in other ways, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one risk a lot of, and so on. But 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 eats our lives, and it's ending up being the norm.
Time for a rethink?

Do you find that any place you go, you constantly wind up in the very same location: in front of your smart device? Using it, or letting it utilize you, to stay 'linked'? Connected with what people are up to back home. Gotten in touch with the current report. Connected with work. Gotten in touch with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Connected with photos from the last vacation you took, and the one before that. What type of 'connection' is that, truly? This scenario is something that's crept up on us, and maybe it's time to begin making some decisions ...

A holiday is a chance to turn off, to experience new things. If we don't also change off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our awareness to image sensors and memory cards, if we're still attached 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 vacation tax. Part of the experience is deducted-- and not to assist the regional economy, but to assist line the pockets of investors of social media companies.
Envision a classic 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 extreme 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 but something's lost. And on the subject of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it could happen. And perhaps you'll wind up someplace that turns out to be the emphasize of your journey. Perhaps you'll discover some appealing dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up speaking to some locals. Absolutely nothing ventured, absolutely nothing gained. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the reclaiming of overland travel as a mainstream and sensible alternative 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 doesn't revolve around processing huge data, there are a couple of alternatives. We can go to the other severe, and leave home without any type of phone or tablet. (That never utilized to be a severe, but we live in severe times.) And we have options like changing our device's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe throughout the day, and so on

. Or we can take a various phone. One that only does calls and texts. Then immerse ourselves in a various culture, have some experiences, or merely take pleasure in 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 gain in popularity: whether a low-cost, old-tech model or something more elegant and updated, selecting to in some cases use a simple phone is something that everyone can connect to nowadays. They may not do it themselves, but they definitely know why some individuals do.
There are practical advantages, too. Only having to charge your phone occasionally is popular with everybody however if you're going somewhere without mains electricity, your greedy mobile phone will be no use at all. Also, with an easy phone you don't have to keep examining that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some way of adding monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still take place. But it's the 'really existing' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will imply a couple of mix-ups, a decreased capability to plan, to understand beforehand what's going to happen. Taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on basic phones are frequently much tougher than the big areas of glass discovered on their more complicated cousins. Replacing a damaged mobile phone screen is a hassle at the very best of times; increase that by 10 if you're abroad.
But it's the 'really existing' that actually counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will mean a couple of mix-ups, a minimized capability to plan, to understand beforehand exactly what's going to happen. Travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.

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

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