For this week’s Online Participation Part Two the exercise was to download an app that tracks your sleep cycle. Everyone I was talking to in class already had an app and was already trying it out. Ok. But what should I do? I know that for my phone there isn’t even a decent weather app, so how is there a chance that there would be a sleep cycle tracking app?

“Don’t worry too much”, said Tjerk, one of our teachers, and I realized: damn, he is right. Even if I would have had an app compatible with my phone would I’ve wanted to track my sleep? Definitely not, but apparently 45 other people that are my fellow student did. They either didn’t question it because it was a given exercise we “had” to do for University or just didn’t care and just did it. Or, as a third option some of them could be adherents of the QS movement, something I can’t understand (sorry).

I can understand that in the first moment it could seem fun to see how a phone can be able to track mood or steps or anything. But actually I find it very very scary.

Besides the fact that you would need your phone or other devices to be even more present in your life than it already is now, it also makes you even more dependent on it. But the question I am asking myself is: why would people want that some technology some electronic device is determining one’s life by tracking data? There is the claim that with those apps of quantified self or self-tracking we could have a happier and healthier life. Really? Can we? I mean are we not happy and healthy already? Sure, every innovation and progress gives new possibilities but why does that necessarily be good ones? For me it sounds like people are saying: How could people before the information age even live? Seriously? Where have we arrived? What kind of world are we living in?

Sorry but I cannot share those new values. I mean nothing against technology and everything it brought about, but this hype of quantified self in my eyes is just ridiculous.

Can you not just go for a run by yourself? Do you really need your phone tracking your time, kilometers and calories?

Well, anyway, I guess I am the only person in my different networks of friends who still possesses a BlackBerry. I remember the day when I got my first one: 4 years ago (I assume very late for most techies here) I went to the phone house and proudly came home with a brand new (at least at that time) Blackberry Bold. It was the shit back then. Finally I could text my friends via the Black Berry Messenger( yeaah it was that time). I immediately started texting, getting email on my phone and I was super excited about it, not leaving my beloved baby alone for one second. Well as time proceeded I recognized that there is not really that much that you can do with this phone (at least compared to Samsung Galaxy whatever version or I Phones). Even the camera was pretty poor, not to talk about the media card. But I stuck to the Blackberry, I got a new one and again another one. With my actual device, which I got 2 years ago and which looks pretty banged up I am happier than ever.

No I don’t have fancy apps to see the weather or some train information. Every app I have on my phone (5 in total I think) looks very old school. No, neither do I exchange photos on Snapchat or post pictures on Instagram, and last but not least I don’t and I never will let my Black Berry track and analyze data of myself, there is no way.

With this device I have everything I want and need: I can call and text people, I can look up things in the internet, I do have a weather app that in fact is very accurate (although it looks shitty), I have a working alarm clock and most importantly I have shazam so I always know wherever I am what songs I am listening to.

That’s it. Not more not less. I live. Happy. And healthy. Most of the times.