Talking on the WhyPhone


iPhoneTechnology marches on, Moore’s law becomes MoreMoreMore’s Law, and drooling consumers fight it out on Christmas Eve for the last latest and greatest mind-numbing electronic socially isolating plastic and silicon unvention.

These devices become smaller/faster/cheaper feature-packed future junk, and I ask myself why do we need this stuff?

I think of the iPhone as the guy next to me on the train trashes his eardrums with the audible-over-the rumble-of-the-train hip-hop iPod, and I keep repeating to myself WhyPhone WhyPhone WhyPhone.

I think of Apple, Inc.’s marketing lit, “a true multi-tasker” they call it.

Does this mean my seatmate could continue listening to music while he talks to a friend on the phone? Would he lower the music so he could lower his voice? Or just yell loud enough so he could hear over it?

Radio stations advertise the fact that they are “Still Free Radio Stations” as a competitive advantage, setting the stage for a future of pay-per-listen-only airwaves. TV stations push their (for a small additional fee) HD siblings, I try to imagine what our “entertainment culture” will be like in 5 or 10 years.

Technology companies have been building the infrastructure to nickel and dime us to the tune of billions of dollars with “advances” like Digital Rights Management “services” and Clipper Chips, I dream of a profound and serious techno-savvy culture backlash, where hobbyist record collectors with Heathkits and Netgear wireless routers spin vinyl on USB turntables and broadcast them nationwide on a “free” network of linux-driven linked home networks, outside the purview of the Apples and Microsofts, Cablevisions and Time Warners, making Fair Use of the toys in ways never intended… neighbor to neighbor, house to house, Pringles can antennas amplifying their signals, a technical uprising occurs, where people tired of the force-fed tripe they get from media-makers take matters into their own hands and host talk shows about consumerism with their webcams.

Or are we really satisfied? Do the antics of the Paris Hilton of the hour really fulfill us, validate us, and give us the inner-peace and serenity we crave as a species?

Or is she a Band-Aid we slap over a wound until we wait for it to heal itself?

The iPhone is a brilliant step in an evolution - but I wonder what we are evolving into.

Does anybody really idolize an American Idol? Does anybody really need an iPhone?

Try humming a few bars, we’ll see if we can fake it.

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January 13th, 2007
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Viewing 4 Comments

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    • v
    Are you saying that you'd prefer it if everyone on the train hummed their hip-hop instead of playing it on an iPod? Would it be better if every commute turned into West Side Story?
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    • v
    I dunno about the iPhone at all. Conventionals CE wisdom says that people don't like multi-function devices. The clock radio was the last big seller. People have smartphones capable of iPod like functionality. How many people play music on them? And just how well has Verizon done selling music over the cell net?
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    My great-great grandfather: Reading just isn't the same when not read by lamp light.

    My great grandmother: Remember when we were able to enjoy the countryside and enjoy a picnic while our horse's rested on the side of the road?

    My grandfather: Sunday night with the Lone Ranger in front of the radio. Now THAT was entertainment.

    My mother: Nobody knows how to spell anymore. Its all spellchecked.

    Me: I used to only have to carry my keys and my wallet. I need more pockets.

    I certainly hope my sons don't understand what their kids are doing.

    We aren't evolving into anything. We are merely evolving. When parents understand and "get it" we are all in trouble.
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    • v
    Brendan, you're right - terrific evolution but can we actually consume more? And will the net native generation - our kids - be able to listen slowly enough to really enjoy it all? I can remember spending hours and hours with a single new LP spinning on a cheap turntable - listening for the lyrics, learning where the hooks were, figuring out who was playing what. (Patti Smith's Horses comes to mind).

    On the other hand, there's also been an explosion in DIY media - in music, that means more semi-amatuer musicians; lots of indie video; podcasts; web journals - the whole ball o' wax.

    I suspect (hope) your post is the start of a long conversation here...
 

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