The modern smartphone is something deceptive, something deluding. See how it captures one’s attention. Call it what it is: ignis fatuus. Like a haunting light in the darkness, it dances enticingly just beyond one’s reach. It is a will-o’-the-wisp.
Never physically distant, but it shows only what is far away. Why would it show anything near when eyes and body can experience things proximal without this enchanted device. No, instead it shows fancies from afar. Perhaps the vision is down the street, across the state, or on another continent. What matters most to the attention leech is that the image is absent from the room.
With an ingenious malevolency it offers its power as a two way street. Perhaps a fascinating reality of life manifests before one’s eyes. Now there is nothing on the screen that could hold interest in this moment. However this spectacle could be broadcast to everyone else sitting in a moment of dullness, wanting for excitement. So the smartphone is held aloft by the user during the experience, as they watch on its screen to make sure it properly captures that moment. At restaurants, phones eat first. At shows, phones have the best view.
The smartphone has murdred boredom. It can keep it at bay so long as it has a charge. There is something it can always show the user. A new notification that needs attending to. We should mourn the the death of boredom, of quiteness, and of stillness. They can still be found, but more often than not, they must intentionally be sought out.
What a queer life technology has wrought us. It is a Lady of Shallot business. The smartphone is the mirror that can tightly hold a conscious world. It must have everything in it for what could be beyond it? One’s life my require interfacing with these devices. Perhaps a final severance and parting of the ways is impossible. The best outcome within the realm of possibility may only be careful regulation of the interactions between man and device, but at least call the damned thing what it is: ignis fatuus.
