BLL #2: iPhone

My name is Clark, and I am an iPhone 5.

My owner, Nathan, bought me two months ago when he upgraded from an iPhone 4 and has been using me nonstop ever since to check his email, listen to music, read the news, and so much more.

And here he goes: he pulls me out to check the time (10:43 am, by the way) then puts me back in his pocket.

I should feel special given that I’m the first thing he picks up when he wakes up in the morning and the last thing he uses before he falls asleep. My smartphone brethren and I have practically become electronic limbs to our owners; take it away and they go through withdrawal. Given how much frequently Nathan uses me, it’d be entertaining to see what would happen if you took me a away for a week.

Oh and what’s this? A text from James, his best friend. Whaddup man, want to grab some beers with us at 4:30pm? We’re hitting up the new brewery up north. Jason immediately pulls me out and types a response. Sure bro, sounds awesome. I’ll head over to your place around 4pm.

I’m shocked at how often our owners pull us out to do something like check Facebook or respond to a text when they are physically together, it’s almost like the people they have digital access to are more important than the ones they can physically interact with. Here Nathan is, sitting across the table from his girlfriend Morgan during a lovely Saturday brunch (I know because he took a photo of his smoked salmon scramble 20 minutes ago), and he holds me up in front to answer a text to someone who isn’t even here. Humans are weird. Morgan now has hers out too, my guess is she’s thumbing through Instagram.

Ding ding. I chime, reminding Nathan to pick up his dry cleaning at 11am. What would he do without me?

You’re probably curious as to why I’m named Clark. Well, Nathan’s favorite superhero is Superman, and the moment he unboxed me I was immediately fitted with a blue case sporting the superman logo. It’s kept me safe from the few times Nathan has dropped me. With it, I view myself as Nathan’s sidekick, the case my cape.

Nathan opens up Passbook, and pays for the meal with a voucher his parents gave him. It’s interesting how involved I am with just about every aspect of Nathan’s life. Even more interesting is how much more involved future smartphones might be.

[about the BLL project]

Since I don’t start Accenture until September, I’ve got some free time on my hands. One of the ways I’ve decided to use this period is to exercise my creative writing with a mini-series focusing on everyday objects around us. My goal is to imagine what the things around us, such as our smartphones, would say if they could speak. Through these short stories, I’ll offer my commentary on how these objects affect our lives.

Past BLLs: