What satisfying, simple pleasures life has to offer!

During my digital detox I slept better. Without something to look at at night, I relaxed and went to sleep. I spent my waking moments interacting with my daughter, rather than flicking through Twitter.

During the day, I was less distracted during conversations, since I was not attempting to browse and talk at the same time. I also spent more time observing my environment. Including seeing three people at a restaurant sitting together, yet all looking at their phones! On the first evening I also picked up a book for the first time in quite a while.

While my daughter was somewhat confused by the new phone, wondering why it did not play cartoons or show photos, she was fascinated by the digital camera I took with me. We played around with it, taking some photos together. Perhaps the first time she had ever seen a dedicated camera.

Maps are something I often turn to my phone for but the transition from Google maps was less of an issue than expected. I found an old pocket-sized city map and carried it with me, referring to it on several occasions during the 48 hour period: on our outing to St. Hanshaugen, to locate the address of a birthday party my daughter was attending and to select a meeting point with a friend for a shared beer. I also noticed how many maps there are around the city at public transport points. The nice thing with using physical maps is that you tend to glance at them and memorize the locations, rather than slavishly following the directions with your head down.

The phone itself was beautiful and I particularly appreciated the way that almost every button had multiple functions based on either long click or context. The UI is nicely thought-out.

Ruarí Ødegaard

Twitter: @ruari