Still thinking

minimalmac:

Graham writing about his refusal to own an iPhone, and further, his recognition of this act as a personal, and therefore inessential, move, is significant. We don’t lack for models of consumption, excess, and self-fulfillment online; what we need are more acts like this that are disengaged from the web yet which nevertheless exert an influence through it. Our need to learn to say no is not simply about addiction; it is more importantly about the possibility of the self.

There are times when the commentary added to a link on someones site is just as fascinating, smart and insightful as the thing it is linking to (if not more so). This is one of those cases.

Both are looks at the idea of setting limits and giving up things we have become attached to, not because these things are inherently bad, but to regain control. I know I find self imposed constrains often spur levels of creativity I would likely never reach if there was a solution to every problem.

That said, there is balance to be found here. A butter knife makes a fine enough screwdriver in a pinch but would you really want to build a table with one? Where one draws the line, and when, is just as important as the line itself.