Digital Minimalism Discussion Thread

[Homer Potvin]

I wonder if it's a generational thing. I'm in my late 40s and don't see anything wrong or different with screens vs their erstwhile equivalents. So what if I stream a movie instead of watching the same thing on DVD? Or read something on an e-reader instead of in print? Or use the Internet instead of newspapers to read the exact same thing? I'm not seeing the difference.

As for social media... meh. I guess if you lived in a world without it, you can see what a vapid nothing-burger it is. But if that's your only connection to the world, yeah, you've got a "problem." Though is everyone has the same problem, I guess it's not a real problem at all.

Don't worry. One way or the other, it will all be over soon.

 

[Heartlet Happer]

What is wrong with having media consumed too efficiently?

I think it is lack of filters being a problem. In less efficient times the cost and effort to move the information was high. An average person could trust the economy of time to be real, if someone you know, trust, had something to say, it was worth an attention.

 

[ps102]

I wonder if it's a generational thing. I'm in my late 40s and don't see anything wrong or different with screens vs their erstwhile equivalents. So what if I stream a movie instead of watching the same thing on DVD? Or read something on an e-reader instead of in print? Or use the Internet instead of newspapers to read the exact same thing? I'm not seeing the difference.

Algorithms. Media platforms often have a "recommended" section that is algorithmically tuned to you specifically so you're hooked.

They're a key part to why people get addicted to social media. I don't use Facebook, but I do have an account just for the Marketplace part of the site. When I was there a month or two ago, I noticed how the site was showing me specific types of posts and videos. I wondered how it caught onto my interests so I did a bit of experimenting to see if I could trick the algorithm into thinking I liked cooking videos.

So, for about ten minutes, I scrolled through my feed and let Facebook play a minute or two of any cooking-related content I came across. If any other content came up, I'd scroll away as fast as possible. And what do you know? After about thirty minutes of doing this, it started showing me mostly cooking videos.

They probably use more factors than just watch time, but the point is, those platforms have psychological methods to get you hooked. I don't have Netflix but I imagine it has something similar. DVDs don't.

I guess that's the where the main merit of a "vintage lifestyle" comes from.

 

[Homer Potvin]

Algorithms

Yeah, I get that part. Saves me the trouble of having to organize it all myself.

"vintage lifestyle"

First generation in history to lost back with any nostalgia, haha. Glad I'm past the halfway mark.

 

[Tallyfire]

TL;DR - I would love to cut down even more on internet use. Or my phone in general. Or simply use it for an e-reader. Easier said than done.

This is also a topic for me right now, so I can tell you what I've been doing in case you're curious about different methods.

An e-reader has actually been a surprising help. I like reading articles and short stories, but if I start them on my phone I often get distracted by notifications or other topics. So I copy the link and email it to my Kobo (e-reader), which has Instapaper on it. The Kobo downloads it and I can read the article/short story like any other book with highlighting and whatnot. That's helped make the reading more focussed too. No distractions or rabbit holes on the Kobo since it's offline most of the time.

I would love to be less on the internet too. But I seem to have an ongoing trivia in my mind, my own version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, barring Jeremy Clarkson's voice, asking random stuff that I simply must look up as soon as possible. I could be in the middle of spraying invading ants when he sounds out a question. Drop everything. Google the answer. Sometimes Google the answer for 20 minutes.

I'm like this. I'd pick up my phone to google the answer, then get distracted by new messages, or open an old tab and see something I stopped reading, get distracted for ten minutes, put my phone down and only then remember the thing I originally wanted to look up. So much time wasted.

So I've started "storing" my phone underneath a notebook, and whenever I want to look something up I write it in the notebook. At the end of the day (or whenever I like), I go through the notebook list and look things up on my laptop and tick them off as I go (or just don't bother if I lost interest). The laptop is less of a rabbit-hole for me with fewer distractions. (I even wrote a reminder to reply to this thread .) Putting a notebook on top of my phone has reduced the number of times I pick up my phone by half.

 

[GoldMoon]

This is also a topic for me right now, so I can tell you what I've been doing in case you're curious about different methods.

An e-reader has actually been a surprising help. I like reading articles and short stories, but if I start them on my phone I often get distracted by notifications or other topics. So I copy the link and email it to my Kobo (e-reader), which has Instapaper on it. The Kobo downloads it and I can read the article/short story like any other book with highlighting and whatnot. That's helped make the reading more focussed too. No distractions or rabbit holes on the Kobo since it's offline most of the time.


I'm like this. I'd pick up my phone to google the answer, then get distracted by new messages, or open an old tab and see something I stopped reading, get distracted for ten minutes, put my phone down and only then remember the thing I originally wanted to look up. So much time wasted.

So I've started "storing" my phone underneath a notebook, and whenever I want to look something up I write it in the notebook. At the end of the day (or whenever I like), I go through the notebook list and look things up on my laptop and tick them off as I go (or just don't bother if I lost interest). The laptop is less of a rabbit-hole for me with fewer distractions. (I even wrote a reminder to reply to this thread .) Putting a notebook on top of my phone has reduced the number of times I pick up my phone by half.

The notebook is interesting! Someone also mentioned treating their computer like a pet that must sleep. I think I'll jointly try those two.

It's, unfortunately, not quite so convenient for me to transfer articles or anything to my Kindle. It's an old 7th Gen I got as a present from my sister.

The firmware is out of date and I'm unable to update it, but I prefer it that way, because Amazon is apparently forcing people through firmware these days to only buy from them, removing the ability to transfer files using USB.

I've never been a massive supporter of Amazon, so I use USB-transfer a lot. It's the only method I can now use since the email method isn't working any longer, and I don't connect to the internet with the Kindle because I want to avoid it starting an update.

This makes transferring reading material to Kindle, at least everyday reading stuff I just pick up wherever, a bit of a schlep. I first have to get it on my laptop from my phone, then convert it to a usable format, then transfer it via USB.

It usually feels more efficient just to read it on the phone in the first place. (Semi-related sidenote: I usually have the book I'm reading synced on both Kindle and phone, and a one-click shortcut to it on my homescreen on the phone. I'm trying to click on that instead of the browser more often than not, Lol)

But in the interest of curbing the scroll-hole (bad attempt at replacing rabbithole), I suppose the inconvenience of transferring files between phone and kindle is worth it.

 

[Stuart Dren]

I wonder if it's a generational thing. I'm in my late 40s and don't see anything wrong or different with screens vs their erstwhile equivalents. So what if I stream a movie instead of watching the same thing on DVD?

Nothing wrong with it. I stream all my viewing. But to go full hipster on you...

The older formats' physical representation and tactile qualities did add a certain context to their enjoyment: sensation and discovery, some scarcity. It was all unintended, of course. You went to the rental store, chose a movie, interacted with the teller. Maybe it was fully rented out that day and you had to pick something else. Or you were looking through old discount movies, shuffling them around in the discount bin until some cover art caught your eye.

The equivalent with books is the library sale or used book store, where what you find is determined spatially or by spine art, more by disorder than any kind of system.

Algorithms.

Yeah, I get that part. Saves me the trouble of having to organize it all myself.

Was it always the trouble, never a feature of the experience? My parents had all their VHSs stored alongside the basement stairs, which had no railing to protect one from the gaps on either side. The shelves, of course, did not descend with the stairs; the further I went, the more I needed to reach. This made it a little dangerous exciting as a child looking for something to watch to pass the time while sick. Indiana Jones—and Popeye oddly enough—were suicide. When I retrieved the hunk of plastic, the Gattaca or Red Planet that I assumed would be like Star Wars, I had it for the time in my little hands. The algorithm was whatever my parents had bought, probably from a bin at Zellers or something the grandparents sent as a gift.

I can't see a kid today ending up with something not really ordained for him. He'll be guided by what's recommended and provided instantly. He'll be told to watch Mr. Beast, Logan Paul, The Minecraft Movie, The Mario Movie, fake accounts narrated over random footage with one subtitle word shown at a time, AI generated animal videos, and his broccoli hair ass will comply.

 

[GoldMoon]

I still remember the times of physical dvds and CDs. And my bad, bad brother who burned a movie to a DVD for me he'd bought, and smuggled it into the house because it was an 18+ movie (not in the romance department, though). Those were the good old days when you could actually own something, and didn't have to pay and repay for it, aka streaming, which has now gotten so strict with rules they are ironically driving people back to piracy.

And the library, and actual paper catalogues from which we could order books and have them delivered by mail.

It was often chaotic to search for something you wanted yet it somehow felt less "crowded" and chaotic than the Internet today. Weird that it sucks up so much mental space, even when you stick to just a few sites. The screentime must be draining mental energy as much as the scrolling.