Great weekend with the Kompakt

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My entire Saturday I spent a total of less than 10 mins online, morning I dropped my daughter off at Ballet, and went to coffee with a close friend of mine whose daughter is also in Ballet, this has been our routine for the past 10 months, we talked, face to face, none of reached for our phones once, Actually thats a lie lol, I did have to show him my kompakt and he was very impressed with it.

The rest of my day I had to myself as my wife took the kids to her parents for the remainder of the weekend, I went to the library, read, again kompakt with me , no distractions. I did like that now with the yelp app sideloaded I can look up when restaurants, stores etc are open, and their phones numbers, addresses. What is great about using Yelp as a directory app is there is no pull to use it, I literally did not open it once, but liked know if I had to look something up it was right there.

Next I went to watch Ballerina from the world of john wick (highly recommend it), put my phone on offline mode and enjoyed the movie, I had got there about 20 mins earlier and used that time to read a book on my e-reader, I really do love the e-reader, lets you be productive in the moments you are waiting vs mindless scrolling crap on the internet which is what I use to do when I had a smartphone.

After the movie I went back to the library and read some more before heading home and watching movies till bed time.

This is the freedom you can have when you choose a minimalist life, I honestly wear it as a badge of honor trying to keep my online time as little as possible. To get through a Saturday with less than 10 mins online is cathartic. I spent these moments in the library ready and journaling.

I am happy I have found the right balance of apps on my kompakt, as mentioned in a earlier post I had sideloaded email, but within 10 mins of doing that I removed it lol. To me once you put a browser and email on your phone its a smartphone, and I left that life a long time ago and have zero interest of going back to it

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I too spent this whole weekend without my iPhone, only used Kompakt. It’s a different experience. I sideloaded the school app, and two apps (must) used in office daily, the cafe app and the commute app. Luckily, all these 3 apps doesn’t need google play services.

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Other thing I did is I have hidden every single one of my apps, so the app icon on the wallpaper is of no use to me, i like the added friction of having to go in an open any app I need, and when I am done I force stop it

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I love the Kompakt’s physical Connected-vs-Offline+ switch!

With a traditional smartphone, I hated scrambling in the cinema to do this so as not to disturb others:

  1. Turn on the smartphone’s screen.
  2. Unlock the smartphone.
  3. EITHER pull down from the top and tap the “Airplane” button and then turn off the smartphone’s screen -OR- press and hold the power button and wait for the smartphone to turn off.

My Sunbeam Wireless flip-phone required similar steps:

  1. Open the flip-phone.
  2. Unlock it.
  3. EITHER pull down from the top and tap the “Airplane” button and then close the flip-phone -OR- press and hold the power button, wait for the flip-phone to turn off, and then close the flip-phone.

The Kompakt requires a single step: Slide downward the Connected/Offline+ switch!

Oh, and forget about having to remember to power-up one’s cellphone or to disable Airplane mode. That clever little switch on the Kompakt makes the Offline+ mode obvious AND makes it easy to return to Connected mode!

I appreciate your productivity perspective. I chose a different route. I plan NOT to use the Kompakt’s “E-reader” app in moments when I am waiting in public.

  1. I do not like the loss of situational awareness that can come with using the app in public. Having my head in an e-book on my Kompakt can cause me to miss cues about looming accidents or other dangers.
  2. I increasingly enjoy talking with strangers when we are together in waiting rooms, etc. Having my head in an e-book on my Kompakt can cause me to miss enriching, humanity-validating conversations.

For the same two reasons, I plan NOT to use the Kompakt’s “Chess” app when I am waiting in public.

Fortunately, three years with the Sunbeam Wireless F1 Orchid gave me lots of practice with NOT pulling out a cellphone when I am waiting in public.

Put generally, I do not want to use my Kompakt in the way that too many people today use their smartphones – pulling them out to stare at them so that they do not have to acknowledge the presence of and engage with other humans.

Watch strangers together in elevators, in restaurant to-be-seated lines, and in medical waiting rooms, especially in bigger cities. MOST will quickly pull out a smartphone and stare at it instead of even saying hello or good morning to someone else.

We have let smartphones dehumanize us.

It is time to take back our humanity.

Mudita Kompakt and other minimalist cellphones can help!

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That is a very good point about the e-reader, I am going to try to implement this, not trying to fill every moment with a task, when I had the light phone 2, it never had a e-reader so I was forced to just be in the momen

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Thanks again for this note Kirk, in the evening I even removed my podcast app from the Kompakt, I really don’t listen to podcasts all that much and when I was it was before bed, and I want to focus on just falling asleep when I am in bed. I also went and removed the ebook I had on the kompakt. If I am waiting in a drs office I rather carry a physical book with me as I have done in the past. When I really thought about it when I am out and about waiting I don’t want to be staring at any phone, even a minimalist, because then I look like everyone around me, and I take pride in my new lifestyle

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Podcasts

My approach with my sideloaded podcast player is to listen to podcasts only when I am alone and only through the Kompakt’s speaker. I once tried taking earphones with my Kompakt to listen to a podcast in a waiting room, but I realized that using the podcast player in public was yet another way that I was separating myself from strangers. So, I kept the podcast player on the Kompakt, but, because I listen only through the speaker, this reminds me that listening to podcasts is something to do while alone, NOT in public.

Physical Books

I, too, take a physical book when I expect to wait at, say, a medical office, and sometimes the cover of a book will prompt a question from a stranger – a great way to start conversations with others!

Smartphones as Non-Engagement Shields

You make a good point about not wanting to look like everyone with a smartphone. I noticed that when I pull out my Kompakt among strangers that I feel as if I am using it as a shield to keep others from talking to me – just as someone else can use his or her smartphone to block others from engagement.

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All good points as usual Kirk! Thanks for all your posts they always make me look at my use of the Kompakt and then I ask myself important questions and make the change :call_me_hand:

Yeah for with podcasts I just asked how much do I really need these in my life on a daily basis and honestly answer is not a lot, it almost feel like work sometimes being subscribed to podcasts, it is like a to do list I don’t want lol

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