Digital Detox Challenge



Punkt. is a relatively little, dynamic and independent company, and we want to maintain close connections with our consumers and with individuals and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we routinely run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These consist of style challenges that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox challenges where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are welcomed to review their relationship with innovation.
Ten years earlier, smartphones were still very unusual. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the mobile phone is unusual. 10 years ago, the majority of people had mobile phones, but they would generally only attract our attention if another person had actually decided to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are so much more automated: the new typical is to scurry around within a continuous attack of status updates, push alerts and a lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running because 2016. The negative aspects of smart devices weren't extensively gone over at that point, however there has because been a surge of interest in the topic. Individual reports are an essential aspect 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 dependency and the importance of top quality design in the genuine (i.e. non-virtual) world.

The big difference this time round was that the term 'smart device dependency' had clearly entered typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 people were beginning to sound truly stressed. You can read the reports below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we received:
" 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 utilize our phones a lot - why should not they be gorgeous as well as practical?"
" I'm doing my own version now, however I needed to settle for a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital items I've often questioned a few of the success criteria utilized in my industry, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Until that modifications, unfortunately it's really hard to combat versus 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you into their products. [] There is a specific paradox about this as I develop for these items but want to avoid them. But I believe it's an opportunity for me as a designer to appreciate how important our attention is, and attempt to take that lesson back into my market, ideally to influence a change in technique to technology.".
" I have started eliminating all my social networks profiles and have immediately observed the favorable effect it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I wish to keep it that method, by likewise removing my smartphone for good.".

Life is too short to keep our heads down.
Technology 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 time period. This Challenge changes that in its entirety, pressing us into understanding exactly what is going on. I've constantly enjoyed utilizing the newest things, but since Punkt. has been around, I wanted to change that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what happened. When you go from a constantly buzzing smartphone to a phone like this, you realize how much you can sacrifice all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you do not require them.
In such a way, you do end up being type of apart socially from your pals-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however you begin to recognize that it's for the better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes just that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you don't need everything on your phone. Just the essentials.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like the majority of individuals I have met, it might be an excellent time to provide this phone a try. A lot of my own relative experience this sensation and I feel like passing this challenge on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has actually become so important in 2018 because-- as I stated-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. 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 don't even pay attention to exactly what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be a great time to obtain that inspected out, and a good method to go about it is with the Punkt. MP01.

The more time we invest looking at screens, the less important daytime becomes-- and sometimes, yes, more of a hindrance. Whether you're checking your messages while walking to work, enjoying your smart device with your buddies (who are each delighting in theirs), or enjoying a movie, daylight is a trouble.
We started heading in this manner since we wished to. Nowadays-- to a big extent-- we simply do it due to the fact that we do it. And due to the fact that others want us to do it.
Is this really how you wish to invest your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google employee Tristan Harris left his job to discovered a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to expand the argument on what innovation is doing to us and caused the creation of the Center for Humane Technology. Ever since, the subject has blown up 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 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 seems delighted, delighting in the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Maybe it makes sense to utilize these brighter nights for something aside from looking at pixels? When bedtime methods, matching sundown with a digital sunset: everything changed off, leaving just a land-line with a number known just to household and buddies, and a dedicated alarm clock.
Signing up with those who have dumped their smart devices entirely, combining a standard phone with a laptop or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts may sound nearly extreme, but as far as biology is concerned, they're exactly what your brain desires. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Because of the evident reduction in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is said to increase life span of a nation's citizens. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, naturally (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are harmful in other methods, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one threat a lot of, and so on. But over-use of tech diminishes our lives in another way too-- incrementally and inevitably. It gives us a narrower presence in which 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 any place you go, you always end up in the same location: in front of your smart device? Using it, or letting it utilize you, to remain 'connected'? Connected with exactly what people are up to back house. Linked with the current report. Gotten in touch with work. Gotten in touch with games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Linked with images from the last vacation you took, and the one prior to that. What sort of 'connection' is that, actually? This circumstance is something that's approached on us, and perhaps it's time to start making some decisions ...

A vacation is an opportunity to switch off, to experience brand-new things. If we do not likewise change off our devices, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensing units and memory cards, if we're still connected to 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 help the regional economy, but to assist line the pockets of shareholders of social networks companies.
Envision a classic travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much left. As well as if we're looking for 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 gained however something's lost. And on the topic of getting lost, yes, without a smartphone it could take place. And possibly you'll wind up somewhere that turns out to be the highlight of your trip. Perhaps you'll find some appealing restaurant that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You may end up talking with some residents. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. This connect the growing slow travelmovement, and the reclaiming 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 all about existing.
If we do decide to have a vacation that doesn't focus on processing big information, there are a few options. We can go to the other severe, and leave home with no kind of phone or tablet. (That never utilized to be an extreme, but we reside 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 various culture, have some you can look here adventures, or merely delight 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 model or something more elegant and updated, deciding 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 understand why some people do.
There are useful benefits, too. Only needing to charge your phone occasionally is popular with everyone however if you're going someplace without mains electrical power, your greedy mobile phone will be no use at all. Likewise, with a basic phone you do not need to keep checking that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some method of running up monster-sized information roaming charges-- it can still occur. It's the 'in fact being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smartphone will suggest a couple of mix-ups, a decreased capability to plan, to understand ahead of time what's going to occur. But taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on basic phones are frequently much harder than the large locations of glass found on their more complex cousins. Replacing a damaged smartphone screen is a hassle at the very best of times; multiply that by 10 if you're abroad.
However it's the 'actually existing' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a smart device will imply a couple of mix-ups, a reduced ability to strategy, to know ahead of time exactly what's going to happen. However taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.

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

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