Turn Old Books into a Smartphone Dock: ...

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[Background on, & press coverage of, Unconsumption can be found here and here.]

Consumption is a word used to describe acts of acquisition – generally, the acquisition of things, in exchange for money.

Unconsumption is a word used to describe everything that happens after an act of acquisition.

Unconsumption is an invisible badge.

Unconsumption means the accomplishment of properly recycling your old cellphone, rather than the guilt of letting it sit in a drawer.

Unconsumption means the thrill of finding a new use for something that you were about to throw away.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a service like Freecycle (or Craigslist, Goodwill, or Salvation Army) to find a new home for the functioning DVD player you just replaced, rather than throwing it in the garbage.

Unconsumption means enjoying the things you own to the fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a pair of sneakers until they are truly worn out – as opposed to the nagging feeling of defeat when they simply go out of style.

Unconsumption means feeling good about the simple act of turning off the lights when you leave the room.

Unconsumption is not about the rejection of things, or the demonization of things. It’s not a bunch of rules.

Unconsumption is an idea, a set of behaviors, a way of thinking about consumption itself from a new perspective.

Unconsumption is free.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Founder & Editor: Rob Walker, journalist, Savannah, GA

Editorial & Community Manager: Molly Block, marketing and business development geek, Houston, TX

Brian W. Jones, designer & writer, Göteborg, Sweden

Kashvi Kumar, Environmental Studies and Economics major at New York University

Deirdre Nelson, ever threading artist, Glasgow, Scotland

Shanna Trenholm, writer. catalyst. force of nature. San Diego, CA

* * *

Alumnus & Unconsumption logo creator: Clifton Burt, graphic designer, Portland, OR

Further information about Unconsumption can be found here.

2:02 pm - Thu, Oct 4, 2012: 126 notes

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Turn Old Books into a Smartphone Dock:

Surprisingly, you won’t need too many tools to make this work—a drill, a utility knife, a trusty binder clip, some metal files, and a few other items you probably have around the house are all it takes to make this one happen. Of course, you also need a book you’re willing to carve up to turn into your new dock. From there, lay the charging cable on top of the book so you can measure where the cable will run inside of it, then cut the slot into the cover for the connector to peek through. Open the book and carve out just enough from the pages for the cable to slide through and go up into the slot you just carved. We’re oversimplifying the level of effort a bit, so make sure to hit the link below for a walkthrough, complete with tons of photos.

The design here is definitely iPhone-centric, but it wouldn’t take much tweaking to make this work with a miro-USB port and an Android phone charger. All you need it to cut out the slot to the right size slide the charging cable into place, the same as you would with the iPhone.

Just don’t use perfectly good books that someone might want to read, okay?

Meanwhile, we’ve noted other iPhone dock projects here, and here.