A More Mindful Way to Stay Connected

21 September 2026

A Digital Dispatch by Marcus Wilson, Director

Open Source

Imagine you have a new friend. They’re helpful, sure, but they never leave. They follow you into every meeting, sit at the dinner table, and even hang around by your bedside at night. Every few minutes, they poke you in the shoulder to tell you about something random – the latest horrendous news story, an email you don’t need to read yet, a photo of someone’s lunch…

We’d never actually invite a person like that into our lives willingly. We’d find it exhausting. And yet, most of us carry that exact experience in our pockets, twenty-four hours a day.

The Pooka Philosophy

At Pooka & Co, as a digital partner for good, we spend our days building open-source websites and CRM systems for charities and nonprofits. These tools are built on transparency, trust, and the fundamental idea that technology should serve humans, not the other way around.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how that philosophy applies to the devices we carry. I’ve been around tech my whole life; my Dad and I used to go to computer classes together on Saturday mornings back in the 1980s, and I was one of the first to introduce online ticketing to West End Theatres in the 90s. I love what tech can do, but I’ve started to crave a more mindful approach to staying connected.

Taking the Leap: The Fairphone 6

Recently, I made a big change: I switched to a Fairphone 6 running Murena /e/OS. I don’t think Big Tech is “evil” – Apple is actually better than most when it comes to privacy – but I worry that their focus is often a response to customer demand rather than a core belief in doing the right thing.

The Fairphone is built differently. It uses responsibly sourced materials and it’s modular. If the battery wears out or the screen breaks, I can just replace that specific part rather than throwing away the entire device. It’s a hardware philosophy that just makes sense.

Reclaiming Digital Sovereignty

The real shift, however, comes from the /e/OS software. Because it’s open-source, the code is transparent and free for anyone to review. There’s no “secret sauce” or creepy algorithms tracking my moves. It’s a “de-Googled” version of Android, meaning I’m not constantly sending data to Big Tech.

As the late Gord Downey of The Tragically Hip sang, “If something’s too cheap, somebody’s paying something.” With Murena /e/OS, I can see exactly how many trackers are being blocked. It’s eye-opening.

I also love the practical features. I can use “Profiles” to create a hard boundary between my work and home life. There’s even a microSD slot for up to 2TB of local storage. I can turn my phone into an old-fashioned iPod or eReader, because I shouldn’t need an internet connection just to read a book or listen to music.

The “Off” Switch for Chaos

My favorite feature is the “Moments” button. With one click, it puts the phone into a minimalist mode, giving me access only to the apps I’ve chosen. In an age of aggressive AI and the pressure to be “always on,” it’s like having an “off” switch for the chaos.

Has it been perfectly smooth? Not entirely. Moving away from the convenience of Apple or Google takes some patience and technical knowledge. But what you lose in convenience, you gain in customisation and, more importantly, control over your own focus.

At Pooka, we try to stay human and helpful. Sometimes, staying human means knowing when to switch the world off so you can focus on what actually matters. It’s not about wearing a tin-foil hat, it’s about making small choices that reclaim our mental health and our time.