Digital Detox Challenge



Punkt. is a fairly small, dynamic and independent company, and we like to keep close connections with our consumers and with individuals and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we frequently run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These consist of design obstacles that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox obstacles where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are invited to review their relationship with technology.
Ten years earlier, smart devices were still extremely unusual. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the smartphone is uncommon. 10 years earlier, the majority of people had cellphones, however they would normally only attract our attention if another person had chosen to call us or send us a text. Now that the majority of people's lives are so much more automated: the brand-new normal is to scoot around within a ceaseless attack of status updates, push notifications and an entire lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running given that 2016. The negative elements of smartphones weren't commonly gone over at that point, but there has actually since been a surge of interest in the topic. Participant reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and publishing these reports we aim to keep the conversation of people's relationship with technology popular and on-going - both in regards to tech dependency and the significance of top quality style in the genuine (i.e. non-virtual) world.

The big difference this time round was that the term 'mobile phone dependency' had actually clearly entered common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 individuals were beginning to sound really stressed. You can read the reports below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we got:
" The consistent 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 utilize our phones a lot - why should not they be lovely as well as 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 products I've frequently questioned a few of the success criteria used in my industry, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Up until that changes, sadly it's extremely tough to eliminate versus 100s of designers who are trying to hook you in to their products. [] There is a specific irony about this as I design for these products but desire to avoid them. However I believe it's a chance for me as a designer to appreciate how valuable our attention is, and try to take that lesson back into my market, ideally to affect a change in approach to technology.".
" I have started eliminating all my social networks profiles and have immediately noticed the favorable impact it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I want to keep it that method, by also removing my smart device for great.".

Life is too short to keep our heads down.
Innovation has dramatically altered 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 modifications that in its whole, pressing us into recognizing exactly what is going on. I've always enjoyed using the latest things, but since Punkt. has actually been around, I wished to alter that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what took place. When you go from a constantly ringing smartphone to a phone like this, you understand how much you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you do not need them.
In a method, you do end up being sort of separated socially from your pals-- let's say if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you begin to realize that it's for the much better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes just that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you don't require everything on your phone. Just the basics.
If you feel like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have satisfied, it could be a great time to provide this phone a shot. Much of my own family members experience this sensation and I seem like passing this difficulty on to others so they can get the hang of it. This Challenge has become so crucial in 2018 because-- as I said-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and so on are here to keep us hooked in for the longest time. Don't believe me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will recognize that you do not even take note of what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be a good time to get that had a look at, and a great way to tackle it is with the Punkt. MP01.

The more time we spend looking at screens, the lesser daylight ends up being-- and often, yes, more of a hindrance. Whether you're inspecting your messages while walking to work, enjoying your mobile phone with your buddies (who are each taking pleasure in theirs), or viewing a film, daylight is an inconvenience.
We started heading in this manner since we wished to. Nowadays-- to a big degree-- we merely do it due to the fact that we do it. And because others desire us to do it.
Is this actually how you wish to spend your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google staff member Tristan Harris left his task to discovered a brand-new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to broaden the dispute on exactly 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 advantages to our general sense of well-being.
The house page of the Center's site features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smart device is combined with a photograph of a woman. 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 appears happy, delighting in the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Maybe it makes good sense to utilize these brighter evenings for something other than taking a look at pixels? And when bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sundown: everything changed off, leaving just a land-line with a number known just to family and close friends, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have actually dumped their smartphones totally, combining a standard phone with a laptop or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas might sound practically extreme, but as far as biology is worried, they're what your brain desires. Hence the medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Because of the obvious decrease in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life expectancy of a nation's citizens. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, obviously (with a much clearer causal link). Phones threaten in other methods, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one danger a lot of, etc. Over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another method as well-- incrementally and inevitably. It provides us a narrower presence where we are less focussed, less rested and thus less awake. Over-use eats our lives, and it's ending up being the norm.
Time for a rethink?

Do you discover that anywhere you go, you always end up in the exact same place: in front of your mobile phone? Using it, or letting it utilize you, to remain 'linked'? Linked with exactly what people are up to back house. Connected with the current report. Gotten in touch with work. Linked with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with images from the last vacation you took, and the one before that. What sort of 'connection' is that, truly? This scenario is something that's sneaked up on us, and maybe it's time to start making some choices ...

A vacation is a possibility to change off, to experience brand-new things. If we do not also change off our gadgets, 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, however to help line the pockets of investors of social networks business.
Think of a timeless travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There would not be much. And even if we're trying to find 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 however something's lost. And on the topic of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it might occur. And maybe you'll wind up someplace that turns out to be the highlight of your journey. Maybe you'll discover some interesting restaurant that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You may end up speaking to some locals. Nothing ventured, absolutely nothing gained. This ties in with the growing slow travelmovement, and the recovering of overland travel as a mainstream and practical alternative to flying, demonstrated by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's everything about being there.
If we do decide to have a vacation that doesn't focus on processing big information, there are a couple of alternatives. We can go to the other severe, and leave home with no type of phone or tablet. (That never ever used to be a severe, but we reside in extreme times.) And we have alternatives like altering our device'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 experiences, or simply read more take pleasure in a bit of peace and peaceful.
The 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 updated, opting to in some cases utilize a simple phone is something that everybody can relate to nowadays. They may refrain from doing it themselves, but they definitely know why some individuals do.
There are practical benefits, too. Just having to charge your phone sometimes is popular with everybody however if you're going somewhere without mains electrical energy, 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 discovered some method of adding monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still occur. But it's the 'really existing' that actually counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will suggest a couple of mix-ups, a reduced ability to plan, to know ahead of time exactly what's going to take place. But travelling 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 an inconvenience at the best of times; increase that by 10 if you're abroad.
It's the 'actually being there' that really counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smartphone will imply a few mix-ups, a decreased ability to plan, to know in advance exactly what's going to take place. Travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.

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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *