http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZMr-ZfoE4
Back in 2007, Apple did something truly amazing. Not only did Apple create a device so unique and so complex, they also shook up the entire technology industry as a whole. On June 29, 2007 they introduced the world to the very first iPhone. Never before was a cell phone so sleek, so smart and so fast. The Iphone took the word cellphone and created an entirely new meaning.
In Georg Simmel’s essay “The Metropolis and Mental Life” he illustrates the idea of a “blasé attitude”. The word blase can be defined as apathetic to pleasure or excitement as a result of excessive indulgence or enjoyment (Miriam-Webster.com). In other words one has become so unimpressed by something because one has experienced it so often. This blase attitude is a nonchalant approach to mundane daily occurrences in our lives.
Several million people in the United States alone own an iPhone. Do we realize how vital our smart phones have become to us? If you want to see where your sister is you text her, if you want to find out the weather for the evening you google it, if you want to know where santa claus lives you siri it, if you want to try a new restaurant two blocks away you yelp it. Hence the geniuses who invented these devices called them : smart phones. We are glued to our phones and we check and recheck our phones constantly. But do we really appreciate the capabilities of this piece of aluminum and plastic we use most of our waking time?
I would say we have all come to view the amazing and extraordinary iPhone with little acknowledgment for all it actually does for us. We have come to see the iPhone with a blasé attitude , forgetting how much easier this little device makes our lives. We literally have the world at our fingertips and yet we oversee the true magic the iPhone offers. We have accepted this cellphone as part of our lives and forget that as little as 6 years ago no such thing existed. You could not just google on your phone the weather in India and instantaneously get an answer. We have an unimpressed daily experience with our cell phones and forget to acknowledge the many burdens which are relieved due to this innovative invention.