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I am calling this an addendum because it feels like an extension of my very first essay of sorts, which launched this whole series of newsletters. Born from being without a smartphone for 2 months, as well as the digital ghost predicament described in this most recent issue, a search has been enacted to harness control over a virtual life. Fortunately and unfortunately, I have transitioned to a job that is no longer attached to anything grounded in the physical world whatsoever and have joined the ranks of those solely reliant on working from the black mirror-hole that is sending copious amounts of emails, glued to my screen and on my ass all day. Not like I wasn’t on my computer all the time anyways, thought this has increased my intake exponentially. It makes me pine for the pace of the restaurant and the tangible and immediate reactions and tasks associated with it. In light of this woeful sedentary station, I have come to accept the reality that I need to be conscious of how my body is positioned and what my eyes are consuming on a daily basis. This has resulted in a ridiculous list of home office accessories that I must admit I am very excited about and have already started making a difference in my body and mind. Is this a tip-off that I am truly starting my descent towards death? Perhaps. Before going forth, I want to be clear and maintain that this way of working, singularly in a digital format, as a full work week is actually inhumane. This established, I suppose I will move on and mention some of my recent additions for desk prison bodily comfort (and please feel free to send me some of your own): This balance disc which is basically like a seat cushion version of a balance ball and has already made my spine and posture a hundred times better, because when you’re depressed why not do it with good posture? An accupressure mat which can be used both under the desk to stimulate circulation in the feet and for end of the day relief on the back and spine. This was actually a gift for Dusty for his birthday and instead of the normal-person mat made of plastic, I decided to really go hard and get this one made from pure metal and is most literally a bed of nails. Because if you’re numb to everything, why not make sure you can still feel real pain? And blue light glasses, because they’re cute and actually useful. Which brings me to the main event: The Screens. As mentioned previously, since the dawn of smartphone usage, I have tried to find ways to limit the screen’s pull on me. I am simple person. I see flashing lights, I stare. In recent years, there has thankfully been an uptick in more humans recognizing the benefits of limitations. As enticing as it is to have an encyclopedia in your pocket at your whim, it has become all-consuming and increasingly harder to break our eyes away from its seductive stimulations. It is a real addiction we are at the mercy of, geared towards harnessing our attention and milking it for all its worth. My own observations are neither new nor original. However, the search is still there - How do we use these devices that have become a mainstay in our society for the amazing resources they offer without sacrificing so much of our precious attention to it? Begin: My journey to make my screens as boring as my Kindle. In college my grandparents gave me their old Kindle in the hopes that I could load some textbooks on there. Mostly I used it, before I had my smartphone, as a way to browse the internet during the three-times-a-week mandated chapels I had to attend. When I say “browse” I mean I found out how to hack the browser used for buying books to go to other websites, which took about 3 full minutes to load. Basically mini dial-up moments. I loved it nonetheless, an aide to my pathetically mild rebellions against being forced to be lectured at relentlessly. Now, I mostly use it the way most moms I know use it - for my more clandestine reading. Though I always prefer actual physical books to a digital format, I really admired the way e-readers managed to keep a soft true paper-like quality with virtually no screen glare. A couple of years ago, Dusty brought The Light Phone to my attention. You may have seen it advertised to you on Instagram, you may have considered buying this device as well, though I wonder how much it’s circulated since it’s the antithesis of Instagram’s marketing goal. It’s basically a satellite phone for your smartphone, the way a smartwatch works, but looks similarly to an e-reader in screen quality and only has a couple of functions, including text, phone call…etc - mainly the things that aren’t connected to the Internet. We seriously considered getting it, but admitted that the GPS function and having music on our phone were things we used regularly. In fact, there are a couple of other things I like as options on my device and to have at the ready. I’m not a complete Luddite, I just don’t want everything to feel so fast or out of my own control. Now, apparently, the Light Phone is adding GPS and Spotify options. I was extremely close to caving and getting one but kept putting it off, not ready to pull the $300 trigger. I couldn’t really justify the price and besides, it just seemed so silly to get another device. I kept thinking about the Kindle and how these e-readers were such a better screen alternative on the eyes, and therefore soul. I was visiting with some friends who are also somewhat neo-luddite aspiring. She had her Kobo e-reader out (her attempt at sticking it to Amazon, only to find out that company is owned by Walmart - we can’t win them all). She was showing me how she was reading the article I had just sent her on it through Pocket, which is an app I also use to organize essays and articles worth archiving. I was holding it and oggling it because the size was just so perfect and satisfying and I had never known you could use an e-reader to read articles. I have thought about printing out certain articles to read them better but then it feels wasteful and such a hassle. But my brain lit up seeing her device and I went home to see if I could do that on my Kindle, but to no avail, it was just too old. I was so disappointed and nearly just bought the one she had. What is it with this new impulse I have to buy a new thing to fix my problems? I blame Instagram’s eerily tailored algorithm. I openly confess here before you to buying makeup, TWO different toothbrushes and shampoo that were explicitly advertised to me. And you know what, I love these products. Slippery slope. So there I was, in a fit of madness laying upside down on my sofa concocting ideas of how to make this work and stacking up devices in my head to minimize my screen consumption and I realize that all I’m doing is adding more things. Because if I get the Light Phone, and I go out somewhere I’ll want to bring a camera anyways, and would I bring my phone or get a separate digital camera and if I want to read articles, I’ll have to bring my e-reader and if you give a mouse a cookie…(not to mention the price of those cookies). So then a lightbulb went on in my head and it was oh so obvious - What if I could just make my phone look like an e-reader? Could I change my screen to be softer somehow? I knew about the “dark” function on my phone, but I still didn’t like that because the contrast was too high. I researched “Make my phone like a Kindle” to see if any other fellow weirdos had tried doing that. Most of the articles were about the Kindle app on the iPhone, but then… a-ha! The magic of the random forum website in the depths of the internet giving you the answers you really want. Basically, I found that a Kindle screen and LED screen are two different things, so you can’t really change the screen itself, but you can use the grayscale function for the color effect. I came across this article in Wired, showing you exactly how to do it. In fact, I learned that eliminating stimulating color from your devices isn’t just an aesthetic effect. According to Tristan Harris, former Google design ethicist and founder of The Centre for Humane Technology, going grayscale actually “removes positive reinforcements and dampens that urge” to keep scrolling. You’re literally giving your brain a break from the treadmill of consumption. As it turns out, grayscale is actually pretty tricky to find if you’re just messing around with your phone because -surprise surprise - phone companies don’t actually want you to not be addicted to your black box. They only have the grayscale option under Accessibility for colorblind people. Yay for colorblind awareness and yay for us. The next step was figuring out a way to switch easily from grayscale back to color for when I actually want to look at a picture or video. Because the main objective here is choice. We live in the 21st century with unprecedented smart technology, yet to find a way to limit your screen obsession is a feat and an obstacle. We have absolutely incredible technology in our hands and I want to maintain a healthy relationship with it. Ideally, I wanted it to happen with the click of a button or an easy swipe down. I found out how and it’s very exciting. Bear with me for some details (this is for iPhone users, though I’m sure if you mess around you can figure out similar ways for other phones): You can add different features to your “Control Center” (the menu that pops down when you either swipe from the top or bottom or hit your home button). It usually by default has a flashlight, Wi-Fi button, calculator, camera…etc., but you can add other functions to it. If you go to Settings>Control Center>Customize Controls, under “More Controls” there should be “Accessibility Shortcuts”. Add it to your Control Center then go back to your home screen. Swipe to your Control Center and hit the Accessibility button. This should take you to a list of options for a quick button shortcut. Click the Color Filters option (this works to grayscale after you have changed your Color Filter option under Accessibility to grayscale in your settings prior).
Et- Voilà! You can now toggle back and forth from grayscale to color at your own whim. If you have a Mac (I assume, a PC or other would have the same feature as well, because of the colorblind factor), you can employ the same tactic of changing to grayscale through the Accessibility feature. If you do some mild research you can figure out how to install a keyboard shortcut to switch back and forth as well, but it varies version to version on computer and requires some minor coding. I have only the most basic copy-and-paste experience with coding and I figured out how to do it. While the grayscale feature is now truly life-changing, I still had the issue of the glare of the screen. The nice thing about the e-reader is that its screen is matte and anti-glare. So I researched screen protectors and found this amazing one for MacBooks from Moshi. The nice thing with this screen protector is that you can remove it when you want to see a glossy screen again. Ah, options. Moshi also makes the same for most iPhones, but not my size unfortunately, so I found a matte frost screen protector on eBay. Another tip recommended by a friend of mine is to employ the oft-hidden Reader Mode on your browser as often as you can. It usually is only available on pages that house articles, but it eliminates all the hoop-la advertising and gives you a simplified text version, allowing you to actually read the article without those little boxes clamoring for your attention. Once all these steps are activated, we have entered what I have now unofficially dubbed soft digital. A way to simply not feel assaulted every time you open your devices. Instilling a softness to your digital worktimes and pastimes. The whole framework around this is about choice. Enjoy the amenities and resources that being a child of the 21st century allows, at the pace of a high-speed PalmPilot. Give it a try (or don’t, not everyone wants a “downgrade”) and let me know what you think of your new un-distracted life! **** I hope this was of interest to at least some of you. I was just very very VERY excited and had to share my new knowledge. Apologies if this read more like an agonizingly long intro in a cooking blog when all you want is to know the friggin ingredients and recipe and be on your way to your Sea Bass Crunchwrap Supreme or whatever. Feel free to share your own technology journey with me :). ***** Speaking of PalmPilot, in my desire to find old Palm commercials (which you can enjoy if you click on the images at the top and bottom), I found this little golden amateur short film by one Mr. Nuttycombe titled “God is My Palm Pilot” that I appreciate on so many levels. I have so many questions. Who is filming? Did he storyboard? I wonder what shots had to be left out. Very impressed by the variety of scenes. Regardless, I am glad he took the time to make this film, and some of the others on his YouTube page. His taste in music seems solid and his organizing skills are impressive. Maybe I feel all these things because I see myself in him - dedicated to broadcasting my personal opinions in whatever kooky format we find, that and I really appreciate the commitment in a good old-fashioned home film. Mostly, you know he’s having fun and boy do I appreciate that. I bet he’s an Aquarius, too. ***** Was going to have some new Field Notes up as well, but am experiencing technical difficulties at the moment. That said - I am still and always accepting entries if you or someone you know is interested. Also, if you already have participated, especially during this past year, I am always interested in adding follow up pages to old entries.
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