Dancers smiling with raised fists inside a plant-covered concrete DRS90 venue in daylight

WHY DRS90PRINCIPLE 01DRS90

YOUR LIFE IS NOT CONTENT.

The experience is the reward.

Until very recently, many of the best experiences in life existed mainly for the people who were actually there. They did not need to be filmed, uploaded, tracked or shown to an external audience to have value.

300,000 YEARS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE WITHOUT DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

The always-on digital world appears only at the very end.

RECENT PERIOD ENLARGEDNOT TO SCALE

Drag the timeline to move through the shift into the digital world.

SELECTED YEAR1997
PEOPLE ONLINE / GLOBAL~3%SHARE OF WORLD POPULATION USING THE INTERNET
CONTEXTHome internet begins to spread.
DEVICES
PAGERACTIVE
PERSONAL COMPUTERACTIVE
MOBILE PHONEACTIVE
SMARTPHONENOT YET
INTERNET
WORLD WIDE WEBACTIVE
YOUTUBENOT YET
SOCIAL
FACEBOOKNOT YET
TWITTER / XNOT YET
INSTAGRAMNOT YET
TIKTOKNOT YET
MESSAGING
WHATSAPPNOT YET
SNAPCHATNOT YET

ONLINE FIGURES: ITU VIA OUR WORLD IN DATA — APPROXIMATE, GLOBAL

GENERATION CONTEXTALL INSIDE THE LAST FEW GENERATIONS
GEN XMostly grew up without phones
MILLENNIALSGrew up across both worlds
GEN ZGrew up with smartphones and social media
GEN ALPHA ?Still being shaped now

THE GENERATIONSFOUR POSITIONS

Permanent connectivity became normal extremely quickly.

Different generations now have different relationships to it. DRS90 is not blaming anyone. It is arguing that people deserve a genuine offline choice.

GEN X

Growing up before smartphones.

They experienced adult social life, nightlife and rave culture before permanent connectivity became normal.

They know what it feels like to make plans, travel, meet people, dance and go home without carrying a device that could document, track and interrupt every moment.

MILLENNIALS

Growing up through the transition.

Millennials grew up largely without smartphones and social media, then watched constant connectivity become normal.

We lived both worlds. That gives us a responsibility to help preserve the alternative — not just remember it.

GEN Z

Growing up as smartphones and social media became widespread.

They inherited smartphones, social media, algorithmic feeds, constant recording, tracking and personal-brand culture.

They did not create this environment. They were born into it. The question is whether they will be given a real opportunity to experience something different.

THE PRESSURE

40%

of young people surveyed said social media sometimes made them worry about what other people thought of them.

39%

said it sometimes made them feel anxious.

THE VALUE

82%

said social media helped them feel connected.

71%

said it helped them feel included.

SOURCEUK GOVERNMENT / DSITCHILDREN'S WELLBEING ONLINE15 JULY 2026

DRS90 IS NOT SAYING TECHNOLOGY HAS NO VALUE.

It is asking whether permanent connectivity should be the only environment available.

DO YOU ACTUALLY WANT THIS TO BE THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE?

GEN ALPHA

?

WHAT DO THEY INHERIT?

The goal is not to recreate the 1990s.

The goal is to make sure the next generation grows up knowing permanent digital connectivity is a choice rather than an unavoidable condition of life.

PRINCIPLE 01THE EXPERIENCE IS THE REWARD

YOU DON’T NEED TO PROVE YOU WERE THERE.

NO AUDIENCE REQUIRED

Not everything needs an audience to be real.

NO CAMERA REQUIRED

Not every memory needs a camera to last.

PRIVATE BY DEFAULT

An experience can belong only to you and the people who were there.

UNREACHABLE IS POSSIBLE

Being unreachable for a few hours should remain possible.

VALUE IS IN THE MOMENT

The value of an experience is the experience itself.

CULTURAL CONTEXTCOMMENTARY — NOT A STATISTIC

CULTURAL CONTEXT

Writer Freya India's GIRLS® examines a generation growing up in an environment where identity, insecurity, self-presentation and personal life can all become commercially valuable content.

YOUR LIFE IS NOT CONTENT.

Cultural commentary and influence on DRS90's thinking — not a scientific claim.

SOURCES

  • UK Government / DSIT — Children's wellbeing online: What young people think about social media, safety and AI (published 15 July 2026)

    Survey of young people's smartphone ownership, social media use and reported experiences. Figures refer to the surveyed group. Reported associations are not evidence of causation.

WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGHBUILD THE ENVIRONMENT

YOU CAN’T BUILD AN OFFLINE WORLD WITH A POST ABOUT IT.

DRS90 exists to physically create environments where people can experience another way of living. The first implementation is the Hard No Tech D&B day rave.

LEAVE THE DIGITAL WORLD AT HOME.