Airplane Mode: A concrete box designed to seduce you into digital disconnection | Hacker News Reader

Airplane Mode: A concrete box designed to seduce you into digital disconnection

sfchronicle.com

42 pointshelloandyhihi40 comments

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This reads like a submarine[1] for the design firm. Also, calling it "airplane mode" makes it impossible to google for.

1. http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html

Airplane mode sounds less macabare than phone sarcophagus.

And also way less cool.

There is an issue.

The big problem with Professional "Faraday" cages/boxes/bags - set aside how much they are efficient - is power supply, you need to provide power to the device in them.

A modern smartphone when isolated from network will start scanning all it can scan to try and re-gain a connection, the battery will go down much faster than in "idle" mode.

And battery duration in "normal" condition is already scarce enough.

You could put it into airplane mode before putting it into the airplane mode?

Sure, but - at least in theory - if you switch it off you will save even more battery, and BTW save also on the concrete boxes, as you will need more than one (home, office, etc.) as it must be in the 5-10 Kg range, not much "portable".

It looks like I may be alone in thinking that some variant of this would be welcome in my life.

Not so much the faraday aspect, but putting some significant friction in between myself and my phone, so that every time I go to impulse check it, I’m mindfully reminded that I’m doing it again.

Just power it all the way down. It will take it longer to be usable again than pulling it out of this sarcophagus.

> “The idea is to think about that moment back in the day when we would get on a flight and just read, watch movies or talk to the person next to you,” Morenstein says. “There was a time when you were disconnected and all you could do is be in the moment.”

Wow. The rose colored glasses here are pretty ridiculous. “All you could do is be in the moment”, by reading a book, watching a movie, or doing literally anything other than focusing on the actual moment of being stuck inside a cramped metal tube. Air travel is one of the least mindful activities we engage in, and has been for decades. Finding nostalgia here is just bizarre. No one who actually flies in a passenger jet is nostalgic for the experience.

Don't say no one. I am. I used to enjoy meeting people while traveling, learning where they are going where they came from. The anonymity of it all somehow shut off the normal anxiety and panic I get from have to converse with others.

Now it's all earbuds. So I nap :/

It was earbuds before smartphones with airplane mode. I distinctly recall carrying headphones on the plane in 2002 with that moronic split minijack that the airplanes used so they could try to charge you for their crappy headphones for the movie. I was not the only one.

It probably is more prevalent now but it was present decades ago. And being “disconnected” (aka bored) has sucked since air travel became a commodity instead of an experience.

Why do I need a concrete box with a leather cradle for this? My phone has a feature - conveniently also called “airplane mode” - that does this.

Oh, well of course it's because:

"From opening the heavy lid to placing your phone in the cradle, each analog movement becomes an intentional affirmation of the digital sacrifice you are about to make. To complete the gesture, close the box and encapsulate the device."

You can't just turn your phone off or get a dumb phone, you need a ritualized sarcophagus to bolster your decaying willpower.

Heh. While it’s a bit silly in this case, your argument isn’t very solid.

Your ability to resist doing something you’re tempted to do is directly related to how easy it is to do. Try living with a bowl of M&M’s on your beside table, and see how easy it is to hold a diet compared to never buying the M&M’s in the first place.

So while putting your phone in a concrete box is a bit extreme, turning it off and putting it in a drawer is more likely to help you succeed in not checking it than just toggling a software button.

You could recreate this using tech too. Make the UI for turning on airplane mode much easier than turning it off.

That could be a little questionable as far as safety is concerned since you want to be able to call 911 quickly.

    import phone_util
    import dialer
    emergency_numbers={"101","110","111","112","155","555","888","911","999"}
    if number is in emergency_numbers:
        phone_util.flight_mode(False)
        await dialer.dial(number)
        phone_util.flight_mode(True)
    else: phone_util.gui_alert.touch_modal("No network available",WITH_OK:True,MODUS:phone_util.UIprimitives.WARNING)

EDIT: now it returns back to flight mode after emergency/fire services/police call

It still has to re-initialize the connection when you take it out of airplane mode.

Maybe you want to turn on airplane mode and put it in "airplane mode" for double-meassure security. Maybe you want a Faraday cage made with the finest craftmenship. Maybe you just want to ignore work and tell your boss that it wasn't possible because your phone had no signal and it wasn't your fault it had no signal (in case your employer keeps track of that sort of thing.)

Just put it into the microwave

Does not work for me.

reheat for 10 minutes

Please avoid commenting without first reading the article.

    > If we want a break, why not turn off our phones?
    
    > “Does anyone do that?” Morenstein asks.
    
    > What about tossing our phones into a shoe box?
    
    > “Maybe it’s too easy an answer,” Cronan suggests. “This approach was
    > about having a certain presence.”
    
    > In fact, Cronan and Morenstein set out to add a ceremonial aspect to
    > disconnecting. From opening the heavy lid to placing your phone in the
    > cradle, each analog movement becomes an intentional affirmation of the
    > digital sacrifice you are about to make. To complete the gesture, close
    > the box and encapsulate the device.

> "does anyone do that?"

I do. And I find myself doing it more and more often...

also - I'm missing more and more having control over when I'm available and when I'm not - 'always online' seemed great but in recent months I noticed that its a actually hellish experience if you want to get things done and you somewhat rely on your phone - you can't just disable chats so you could either disable Internet altogether (but you may need it) or sounds / vibrations (but you may rely on notifications from other applications)

I read the article first then checked the comments here and I still feel that way. I highly doubt I'm alone.

"You can't just turn your phone off or get a dumb phone, you need a ritualized sarcophagus to bolster your decaying willpower." still stands 100% true though.

The fact they accord so much importance to a tool is beyond moronic.

"Ooh I can't stop using my new Shamwow ! I'm so addicted to it I need to lock it in a concrete box at night because I could simply never let it down..."

> The fact they accord so much importance to a tool is beyond moronic.

There's definitely a part of me that thinks this product may be some sort of Thomasson's HyperArt Product / Thought Experiment-type thing. And I'm only calling it that because I'm not sure if there is a better term for a product that is created simply to see how many people will purchase a [mostly] useless, overpriced, redundant product [accessory])?

And a semi-aside: Maybe it was just a[n] (sort of) experiment on Kanye's (or his team's) part to sell $120.00 plain white t-shirts to see how many fans would buy them as if they were a premium product. The "Airplane Mode: Concrete Box" seems more along the lines of Kanye's $120.00 T-Shirt than any of Thomasson's HyperArt Product-type installations / things.

Just some useless musings.

The feature of this product is more similar to turning the phone off, since it requires some time to open, just like turning the phone on.

aesthetics & consciousness are the underlying reasons.

So, just to be sure, this is an article about a one-off non-product/art piece?

>Although just two prototypes exist today, both companies have expressed interest in producing the object for sale.

I’ve been thinking about getting a signal-proof box for the purpose of keeping my phone and my car keys, which are apparently now susceptible to car thieves with remote amplifiers. I’d be curious to know what material at what thickness would serve this purpose.

You can buy effective faraday pouches for car keys in many places. I have one, and can attest they work. They are no thicker than any other fabric.

I've not tried it for my phone though.

Wouldn't a metal biscuit tin work? You can test them by putting your smartphone inside, and then try to call the phone. Or pinging its IP address...

A plaster walled room (on grate backing) with lead paint and iron wrought window cages is also extremely effective at blocking RF.

Kitchen aluminum foil.

Sure! Let me buy this expensive piece of concrete that wears down my battery.

The practical method is to turn my phone off. It can be done as a ritual and it takes a while until it's available again. Bonus: It works everywhere.

Too much chance to scratch the phone or watch if it’s also kept there.

A Faraday cage could do the same thing

I disagree. The having to lift a heavy weight to regain access to your phone is a feature.

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