This is not to say that it doesn't have its positives, the smartphone I mean. It sure does.
It introduces a fancy preoccupation amidst insipid regularity and mundane obligations of our lives. Makes up for healthy & hearty conversations with peers and pals. Gives us the opportunity to flaunt and be proud of our possesion. Heck, it even makes for a perfect life partner, always by our side and constantly subjected to our 'fingerings' and 'touchings.'
For most of us, life itself would be unimaginable without that beloved pandora's box we refer to as smartphones.
These things are actually pretty amazing. There's no telling what these little electronic demons are capable of. From reporting sub-zero temperatures at the 'noth pole', to tracking your precise geographical position, down to the exact location of your penis-head through satelite navigation, to turning itself into a musical instrument, all within a flash, or atleast that's what they tell you anyways. Who needs the bulky guitar or the grand old piano anymore, when you can have both and much more, easily fit right into your pocket!!! Well, not quite literally, as somehow almost every smartphone user I have ever come across had their hands glued to their beloved gizmos. Even the dictionaries define smartphones as a handheld electronic device, and people seem to have taken the definition quite seriously.
On account of my personal experience I can tell you that these mean-machines can do pretty much anything and everything other than what they're actually supposed to do. Which is quite like people I think, well atleast most of us.
Yet somehow, smartphones have failed to catch my fancy, for numerous reasons that I shall explain as we move along. But one of more important ones, is a principle that I follow as a cardinal rule. Something my grandpa used to say, may god have mercy on his soul, "Never buy a machine that is smarter than you are." What can I say, I guess he was a great visionary. He saw it coming. Cause Invariably every smartphone I ever lay my eyes on, turns out to be way too smart for me. Worst is when during a seemingly urgent situation, someone hands over their smartphone to you asking you to make a call, send a text or simply find a number, as they're onto something else. I don't know why people do that?? I mean, how long could it take??!! And you find yourself looking at a shiny screen wondering whether the keys along with the keypad have decided to take a walk at the hour of crisis, till you realise that the damn thing is touch sensitive, and yet it turns out to be either too sensitive or too callous to your touches. But you're adamant to get it right, so you persist, and decide to go 'trial & error' to the horror of both the machine and its owner. Heck, after putting in, what seems to be a painstakingly long time and a great deal of effort you might even succeed in doing what you intended to do, but then you ask yourself, "Do I wanna do this everyday??," and you hear a big loud "NO" even before you've finished asking the question. And with that, all your smartphone aspirations come to an end.
And so, I stick to my old chum, which I'm proud to say, is about as smart as I am, though that's not saying much, and that wasn't always the case. In the begining of our longstanding relationship, my good old phone did not refrain from playing the smart Alec. Although, it was only a matter of time before I had it figured out. But I really like how we've both grown together since then, both in our 'smartness' and 'persona.'
Both my phone and I have had to learn to adapt to harsh conditions of life in order to stand the test of weather and time. And the evidence of this adaptation is clearly visible both on my phone & me. It is for this reason that I like to call my phone; a 'streets-smartphone.' Although, I cannot say the same about myself.
It's a phone as good as any. It is what you'd refer to as an endangered species in the realm of technology and electronic gadgets, but it's not extint just as yet. Even though, it has started to make me seem peculiar and strange to a lot of people, some of whom even go as far as blaming it on my parsimonious and stingy attitude, I know that I'm not alone in my appreciation for 'ice-age fossils' and 'pre-historic artefacts'. Every now and then I run into the odd one walking with a lost 'dinosaur' in their pockets, emitting funny polytonal harmonies. And somehow, these are almost always found confined to the depths of our not-so-deep pockets, unless one absolutely needs to use them, as opposed to being a hand fixation, which is a great relief, cause frankly, I can always think of a number of activities, far more interesting, I'd like to keep my hands free for!!! ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment