Digital Detox Challenge



Punkt. is a relatively small, dynamic and independent company, and we like 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 welcomed to review their relationship with technology.
Ten years earlier, smart devices were still extremely unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the mobile phone is unusual. 10 years back, many individuals had smart phones, but they would generally just attract our attention if another human being had actually decided to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are so much more automated: the new normal is to scurry around within a ceaseless attack of status updates, push alerts and an entire lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running considering that 2016. The negative aspects of mobile phones weren't widely discussed at that point, but there has actually since been a rise of interest in the topic. Participant 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 innovation popular and on-going - both in terms of tech addiction and the importance of premium style in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.

The big difference this time round was that the term 'smartphone dependency' had clearly gotten in typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 people were starting to sound truly fretted. You can read the reports listed below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the many applications we received:
" The continuous scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old traditional phone, it was like returning to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We utilize our phones a lot - why shouldn't they be gorgeous in addition to practical?"
" I'm doing my own version now, however 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 some of the success requirements used in my industry, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that modifications, sadly it's extremely difficult to eliminate against 100s of designers who are attempting to hook you in to their products. [] There is a certain irony about this as I develop for these products however want to escape them. However I think it's an opportunity for me as a designer to value how important our attention is, and try to take that lesson back into my industry, hopefully to influence a change in approach to technology.".
" I have actually begun getting rid of all my social networks profiles and have actually instantly discovered the positive result it's had on me. I am a lot calmer now, and I want to keep it that way, by also eliminating my smart device for great.".

Life is too brief to keep our heads down.
Technology has dramatically altered over the last century, from being a valuable tool in our lives to keeping us as connected in as much as it can and for the longest time period. This Challenge changes that in its entirety, pushing us into recognizing exactly what is going on. I've constantly enjoyed using the latest things, however since Punkt. has actually been around, I wished to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what occurred. When you go from a continuously buzzing smart device 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 do not need them.
In such a way, you do become kind of apart socially from your good friends-- let's say if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however 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 do not require 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 fulfilled, it could be an excellent time to offer this phone a shot. A number of my own family members experience this sensation 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 important 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 understand that you do not even take notice of 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 good way to go about it is with the Punkt. MP01.

The more time we invest looking at screens, the less essential daytime ends up being-- and in some cases, 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 enjoying theirs), or viewing a movie, daytime is a hassle.
We started heading in this manner since we wished to. Nowadays-- to a large degree-- we simply do it since we do it. And because others want us to do it.
Is this truly how you desire to spend your time in the world?
* * *.
In 2016, Google staff member Tristan Harris left his task to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to expand the argument on exactly what technology is doing to us and led to the creation of the Center for Humane Technology. Since then, the topic has actually taken off into the mainstream and it has actually become clear that it is refraining from doing advantages to our basic sense of wellness.
The house page of the Center's website features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smartphone is integrated with a photo of a female. But she is not presented as being on the screen. She is 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 appears delighted, taking pleasure in the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Perhaps it makes sense to use these brighter nights for something other than taking a look at pixels? 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 buddies, and a devoted alarm clock.
Signing up with those who have actually ditched their mobile phones entirely, integrating a basic phone with a laptop computer or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas might sound almost extreme, but as far as biology is worried, they're exactly what your brain desires. Thus the medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Because of the obvious decrease in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life expectancy of a nation's residents. Ditto banning phone usage while driving, of course (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are dangerous in other methods, too: scrollers walking into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one risk a lot of, and so on. But over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another way too-- incrementally and undoubtedly. 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 becoming the norm.
Time for a rethink?

Do you discover that anywhere you go, you constantly wind up in the same place: in front of your mobile phone? Utilizing it, or letting it utilize you, to remain 'linked'? Connected with what people are up to back home. Connected with the current report. Gotten in touch with work. Connected with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with photos from the last holiday you took, and the one before that. What kind of 'connection' is that, really? This situation is something that's crept up on us, and possibly it's time to begin making some choices ...

A vacation is an opportunity to change off, to experience new things. But if we don't likewise turn off our devices, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensing units and sd card, if we're still connected to what we were doing prior to we left and exactly what we'll be doing when check here we return, it's as if we're paying a type of holiday tax. Part of the experience is subtracted-- and not to assist the regional economy, however to assist line the pockets of shareholders of social networks business.
Picture a classic travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much. As well as if we're trying to find something a bit less intense for our fortnight away, the concept still applies. Whether it's a case of pings on the beach, or livestreaming from the Louvre, something's gotten but something's lost. And on the topic of getting lost, yes, without a mobile phone it could occur. And maybe you'll end up someplace that turns out to be the emphasize of your journey. Possibly you'll find some intriguing dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You may end up talking to some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, nothing got. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the recovering of overland travel as a mainstream and realistic alternative to flying, shown by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's everything about being there.
If we do decide to have a holiday that doesn't focus on processing huge data, there are a few alternatives. We can go to the other severe, and leave house with no type of phone or tablet. (That never ever utilized to be a severe, however we live in extreme times.) And we have choices like altering our device's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe during the day, etc

. Or we can take a different phone. One that only does calls and texts. Then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some adventures, or simply delight in a little bit of solitude.
The physical act of switching phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's beginning to acquire in popularity: whether an inexpensive, old-tech design or something more trendy and updated, deciding to in some cases use a simple phone is something that everyone can relate to nowadays. They might refrain from doing it themselves, however they definitely understand why some individuals do.
There are practical benefits, too. Only having to charge your phone occasionally is popular with everyone however if you're going someplace without mains electrical energy, your greedy smart device will be no use at all. Also, with a basic phone you do not need to keep inspecting that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly discovered some method of running up monster-sized data roaming charges-- it can still take place. It's the 'actually being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will indicate a few mix-ups, a lowered ability to strategy, to know beforehand what's going to take place. But taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on easy phones are often much tougher than the big areas of glass found on their more complex cousins. Changing a broken smart device screen is a hassle at the very best of times; increase that by ten if you're abroad.
It's the 'actually being there' that truly counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will imply a few mix-ups, a lowered ability to strategy, to know beforehand exactly what's going to take place. However taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.

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

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