Unplugged

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Two years ago I was in LA, my phone fell and the screen cracked. Family had taken the cars so I decided to go for a walk to the nearest repair shop, a bit more than an hour away. Without working phone, I had to go back in time and make notes on a small paper before heading out. After half an hour, I noticed a street that I shouldn’t have reached, so I realized I had missed a turn. Again I had to go back in time, trust my orientation and ask locals for directions. The detour was only 10 minutes and was actually much more fun and interesting than if I’d gotten there directly by checking Google Maps a dozen times. Since that day, before bike rides into unfamiliar parts of Chicago, I always sketch out a little route on paper. It feels like I’m activating my brain, and I connect much more with the city and its people.

 

Fast forward to today: a lot has happened since that cracked phone screen. Now, I not only want to unplug more, but I also want to rely less on "Big Tech" (Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple) and focus more on my privacy. I’ve been reading about this over the past months, especially with the shifts in the U.S. government and how it’s clear that these tech giants don’t share my values.

 

Completely avoiding these massive companies is nearly impossible unless you live off the grid. It’s like trying to eat better. I’m not going full vegan or grow my own food, but I’m on a "Big Tech diet" whenever possible, given the way I want to live my life. It’s definitely a challenge—sometimes a big, time consuming and dazzling one—but, like changing eating habits, it feels a lot better in the long run.

 

Here’s how I’ve been making the switch so far: Proton Mail for Outlook/Gmail, Signal for Whatsapp, DuckDuckGo for Google Search, Pixelfed for Instagram , Mastodon for Twitter. This is a work in progress, I still have some of my accounts although I use them much more low key, and things might turn out not to work for me. So far, I feel more intentional already about how or why I use the internet.

 

Let me know if you have thoughts or tips. I will keep you posted on the progress with updates.

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Thanks!

Arjan

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This text was also published in Newsletter #11 on Feb 18, 2025. Sign up for the next newsletter and hear news and updates from the studio first.