I hate poorly-made products
My story is a bit different, since I was already without a smartphone before I got my MP01, but here goes...
As with many things in life, ditching my smartphone wasn’t much of a conscious decision from my part. So it happened my smartphone stopped working after three years or so (just as it was designed to do), and I had to dig out my old flip-phone (what satisfaction, when hanging up after a call!), until I had the time to get a new one. In the end, this “transition period” took much longer than expected, because at that time I was moving to another city, I was starting a new job and everything was just a bit chaotic, so getting a new phone wasn’t the top priority. Since I hate poorly-made products, finding a new phone was a hardship! Eventually my old flip-phone started misbehaving and I really had to deal with the situation.
Almost at the same time, the all-knowing Web squeezed a Punkt. commercial into my browser and for once I took the bait...
I have been using the MP01 for four months since then and I can’t complain! Here are a few things I noticed...
I am not glancing on my phone every other second anymore. “In countries like the United States, for example, which are from the heaviest users, people check their phones more than a hundred times a day and use it for almost five hours, with most of them underestimating the amount of time they use it by half.” (Beatriz Colomina & Mark Wigley: Are we human?, Lars Müller Publishers, 2016)
Mobile phones surely changed how we communicate, but the smartphones changed how we behave.
A new phone archetype has emerged. What I love about the MP01 is its unassuming design, so it comes as a surprise that it actually brings the attention of others. “Is that a phone?”, “Oh, it reminds me...” and “Can I hold it?” are comments I often hear, which brings me to conclusion that a rectangle with rounded edges has become an archetype of a phone in people’s minds. At the same time it shows many people miss the tactility and richness of shapes of classic phones.
“Oh hello, books!” When I had my smartphone I used to hang out on social networks every time I was stuck in traffic or had some time to kill. Now I open a book instead, or just watch my surroundings and let the thought flow...You can be really surprised with the places you thought you knew well, once you start paying attention, and importantly, I am finally catching up on my long reading list!
It’s fascinating how profoundly smartphones changed our lives; I doubt many people will use an MP01 as their only phone like I am going to (hope it’ll live long!), but the Punkt. Detox Challenge is surely a great way how to step back and take time to reflect what you’ve received from and lost to your smartphone.