Digital Detox Challenge



Punkt. is a reasonably small, vibrant and independent company, and we want to preserve close connections with our customers and with individuals and organisations within the style world. As part of this, we frequently run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These include design obstacles that form part of postgraduate design courses, and digital detox difficulties where self-confessed smartphone addicts are invited to review their relationship with innovation.
Ten years back, smart devices were still very uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the structure of the smart device is unusual. 10 years back, many people had smart phones, however they would usually just attract our attention if another human being had decided to call us or send us a text. Now that most people's lives are so much more automated: the new typical is to scamper around within a continuous assault of status updates, push alerts and a great deal more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running because 2016. The negative aspects of mobile phones 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 aim to keep the conversation of people's relationship with technology prominent and on-going - both in regards to tech dependency and the significance of high-quality design in the genuine (i.e. non-virtual) world.

The big difference this time round was that the term 'smart device addiction' had actually clearly gotten in common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, however in 2018 people were beginning to sound truly worried. You can check out the reports below, however here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we received:
" The continuous scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old classic phone, it was like returning to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We use our phones a lot - why shouldn't they be gorgeous in addition to functional?"
" I'm doing my own version 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 a few of the success criteria used in my market, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Till that changes, regrettably it's extremely challenging to combat against 100s of designers who are aiming to hook you into their products. [] There is a particular irony about this as I create for these items but desire to avoid 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, ideally to affect a modification in technique to innovation.".
" I have actually started getting rid of all my social media profiles and have immediately observed the favorable result it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I wish to keep it that method, by also removing my smart device for excellent.".

Life is too short to keep our heads down.
Innovation has considerably altered over the last century, from being an useful 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 totality, pushing us into understanding exactly what is going on. I've always liked using the latest things, but because 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 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 require them.
In a way, you do end up being kind of apart socially from your buddies-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- however you start to understand that it's for the better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes simply that. It teaches you simpleness and teaches you that you don't need everything on your phone. Just the basics.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have actually fulfilled, it might be a great time to provide this phone a try. A number of my own member of the family experience this sensation and I seem like passing this obstacle on to others so they can master it. This Challenge has actually become so important in 2018 because-- as I said-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. 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 focus on what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it may be an excellent time to obtain that checked out, and a great way to go about it is with the Punkt. MP01.

The more time we spend looking at screens, the less important daylight ends up being-- and sometimes, yes, more of a barrier. Whether you're examining your messages while walking to work, enjoying your smartphone with your buddies (who are each delighting in theirs), or enjoying a film, daytime is a trouble.
We started heading by doing this due to the fact that we desired to. Nowadays-- to a large level-- we just do it because we do it. And due to the fact that others want us to do it.
Is this actually how you want to invest your time more info on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google employee Tristan Harris left his job to found a new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which sought to broaden the debate on exactly what technology is doing to us and caused the development of the Center for Humane Technology. Because then, the subject has taken off into the mainstream and it has ended up being clear that it is refraining from doing great things to our basic sense of well-being.
The house page of the Center's site features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a smartphone is combined with a photo of a woman. However she is not provided as being on the screen. She is in fact 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, taking pleasure in the view. And she is bathed in sunshine.
Perhaps it makes good sense to use these brighter nights for something aside from taking a look at pixels? And when bedtime techniques, matching sundown with a digital sunset: everything switched off, leaving just 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 totally, combining a fundamental phone with a laptop or tablet (much better for typing on). Nowadays these concepts might sound nearly radical, however as far as biology is worried, they're what your brain desires. Thus the medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the evident reduction in traffic mishaps, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a country's residents. Ditto banning phone usage while driving, naturally (with a much clearer causal link). Phones threaten in other ways, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one threat too lots of, etc. Over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another method as well-- incrementally and undoubtedly. It gives us a narrower existence in which we are less focussed, less rested and hence less awake. Over-use consumes our lives, and it's becoming the norm.
Time for a rethink?

Do you find that any place you go, you always wind up in the very same place: in front of your smart device? Using it, or letting it use you, to remain 'linked'? Linked with exactly what individuals are up to back home. Connected with the current report. Gotten in touch with work. Linked with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with images from the last vacation you took, and the one prior to that. What kind of 'connection' is that, really? 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 switch off, to experience new things. But if we do not likewise turn off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our consciousness to image sensing units and memory cards, if we're still connected to what we were doing prior to we left and exactly what we'll be doing when we return, it's as if we're paying a sort of holiday tax. Part of the experience is deducted-- and not to help the local economy, but to assist line the pockets of investors of social media business.
Think of a classic travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There wouldn't be much. And even if we're trying to find 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 gained but something's lost. And on the topic of getting lost, yes, without a smartphone it might occur. And maybe you'll end up someplace that turns out to be the emphasize of your journey. Perhaps you'll find some intriguing dining establishment that isn't on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up speaking with some residents. Absolutely nothing ventured, nothing got. This connect the growing sluggish travelmovement, and the recovering of overland travel as a mainstream and reasonable option to flying, demonstrated by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's everything about being there.
If we do choose to have a vacation that does not focus on processing huge data, there are a couple of options. We can go to the other extreme, and leave home without any sort of phone or tablet. (That never ever used to be an extreme, however we live in severe times.) And we have options like altering our device'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. Then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some adventures, or merely delight in a bit of peace and quiet.
The physical act of switching 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 stylish and current, opting to often utilize a simple phone is something that everybody can relate to nowadays. They might not do it themselves, but they certainly know why some individuals do.
There are practical benefits, too. Just having to charge your phone periodically is popular with everybody however if you're going someplace without mains electrical energy, your greedy smartphone will be no use at all. Likewise, with a basic phone you don't have to keep checking that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly found some way of adding monster-sized information roaming charges-- it can still happen. However 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 minimized capability to strategy, to understand ahead of time exactly what's going to take place. However travelling sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on easy phones are typically much harder than the large locations of glass discovered on their more complex cousins. Changing a broken mobile phone screen is a trouble at the very best of times; multiply that by 10 if you're abroad.
It's the 'actually being there' that really counts. Sure, travelling without a mobile phone will indicate a few mix-ups, a minimized capability to strategy, to know ahead of time what's going to happen. But taking a trip sans algorithms is where the action is.

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

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