5. The Feed
Definition: Continuous digital content supplied to the user without a defined endpoint.
Examples: TikTok, Instagram feeds, Reels, Shorts, Facebook feeds and Reddit home feeds.
What it replaced: Idle time, waiting, people-watching, daydreaming and boredom.
Removing this layer means: Giving up the continuous stream of content selected and supplied for you. Little required for ordinary modern life stops functioning.
4. Chosen Entertainment
Definition: Digital leisure deliberately selected by the user.
Examples: Films, television, music, podcasts, games, ebooks and deliberately selected YouTube content.
What it replaced: Television schedules, radio schedules, CDs, DVDs, physical media and much of the need to wait for entertainment.
Removing this layer means: Giving up digital entertainment. Modern life continues to function, but without much of the leisure and convenience provided by connected technology.
3. Practical Utility
Definition: Digital tools and services used to complete tasks, access information and navigate everyday life.
Examples: Search, maps, weather, translation, email, calendars, AI tools, online shopping, bookings, parking, transport and delivery services.
What it replaced: Paper maps, directories, encyclopaedias, timetables, phrasebooks, travel agents, shop visits and asking other people.
Removing this layer means: Giving up many of the tools that make modern life easier, faster and more convenient. Life remains possible, but ordinary tasks become materially harder.
2. Digital Infrastructure
Definition: Connected systems increasingly embedded in reasonable participation in modern society.
Examples: Banking, payments, authentication, government services, healthcare access, digital tickets and essential account management.
What it replaced: Bank branches, cash, paper tickets, physical forms, letters, counters and face-to-face administration.
Removing this layer means: Giving up the systems that modern society increasingly expects people to use. Life remains technically possible, but functioning normally in 2026 becomes increasingly impractical.
1. Direct Connection
Definition: Technology used to communicate directly with specific people or groups.
Examples: Phone calls, SMS, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Messenger, video calls and family group chats.
What it replaced: Landlines, letters, arranged meeting points and much of the delay once created by physical distance.
Removing this layer means: Giving up the basic connected ability to reach and be reached by other people.
How to use the framework
Start at the top and remove layers until the technology left behind matches the level of connection you actually want.
The framework does not tell anyone how offline they should be. It simply makes the trade-off visible.
Removing The Feed is very different from removing Practical Utility.
Removing Chosen Entertainment is very different from removing Direct Connection.
The deeper someone moves through the layers, the more of modern connected life they are choosing to leave behind.
The grey-area rule
Classify the function, not the app.
An app does not permanently belong to one layer.
YouTube can be Practical Utility when used for a repair tutorial, Chosen Entertainment when used to watch a documentary, or The Feed when used to scroll through Shorts.
Instagram can be Direct Connection when used to message a specific person and The Feed when used to scroll.
AI can be Practical Utility when used to complete a task and Chosen Entertainment when used for amusement.
The question is not:
Which app am I using?
It is:
Which layer of connection am I using it for?