The Punkt. Digital Detox Challenge: Winter 2018

Punkt. Journal

In a black-and-white photo, a person holds a Punkt. minimalist phone in one hand and a smartphone in the other, visually contrasting digital simplicity with a connected device.

Punkt. Digital Detox Challenge number three, Winter-Spring 2018

The big difference this time round was that the term 'smartphone addiction' had clearly entered common parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 people were starting to sound genuinely worried. You can read the reports below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the many applications we received:

“The constant scrolling.”

“I tried it with an old classic phone, it was like going back to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?”

“We use our phones a lot - why shouldn't they be beautiful as well as functional?”

“I'm doing my own version now, but I had to settle for a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old...”

“As a UI designer for digital products I've often questioned some of the success criteria used in my industry, specifically 'engagement' as a metric for success. Until that changes, unfortunately it's very difficult to fight against 100s of designers who are trying to hook you in to their products. [.] There is a certain irony about this as I design for these products but want to get away from them. But I think it's an opportunity for me as a designer to appreciate how valuable our attention is, and try to take that lesson back into my industry, hopefully to influence a change in approach to technology.”

“I have started getting rid of all my social media profiles and have immediately noticed the positive effect it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I'd like to keep it that way, by also eliminating my smartphone for good.”

What’s life like without a smartphone? I want to know.

This report is an updated version of a blog entry from October 2017. We often read the saying “Be the change you want to see in the world.” So, I’ll start now with myself....

My undivided attention

I know this may sound preachy, but – speaking as someone who recently made the switch, and for whom aesthetics are important – my opinion is simple: ditch your smartphone, use a dumb one,...

We would just sit there in silence, scrolling away

Although it doesn’t seem like it, given its current ubiquity, the first-generation iPhone came out just eleven years ago, in the summer of 2007. It would have been hard to imagine then that the...

Be brave and choose that mysterious side-road

Marilia was a participant on one of Punkt.’s educational collaboration projects, run in conjunction with Relational Design. My digital detox was not planned, it was imposed. (Thanks,...

A story about freeing my brain

Late one night in January 2016 I found myself glued once again to the flux within my iPhone’s screen. I was surrounded by a blue cloud of smartphone light, held inside a bubble I did not even...

Paperboy

When I was kid, I saw something on TV. A handheld device on the show Star Trek. I think it more resembled a flip phone than today’s smartphones, but the idea that you could have video phone...

It’s clear that I’m so addicted, that…

Day 1 Two phones are lying on my kitchen table: my Huawei P9 and a brand-new MP01 from the Swiss company Punkt. It has a particularly elegant design, in earth-brown, and has been...

Future calls

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The MP01: my little piece of freedom

A brief introduction Various aspects of the Challenge launched by Punkt. were of significance for me: Switzerland is a country I am particularly fond of The company itself – I...

Making Good on the #TravelUnplugged Pledge

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By Week Two I needed to change tactics...

I am mobile phone junkie, that's the truth of it. A detox has been on the cards for a while. My plan for this Challenge was to take the SIM out of my iPhone 6s and to do the detox from 8am to...

I eliminated most of the apps from my smartphone

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