I tried writing this without sounding like I am on the payroll of a phone maker. Not that Apple needs any more praise, they’ve got plenty of those to go around, but I guess one could call this another glowing Apple product review.
Yesterday, I foolishly dropped my phone down the toilet. This sinking feeling came over me as I picked it up, desperately hoping it would start up again. I tried not to panic but the dread had come over me. I hadn’t backed up my files in a while, and I knew my contacts, photos, notes and music were all in jeopardy of being wiped out. I tried to start it up again but to no avail. It felt like a futile effort trying to bring that thing back to life, but then I remembered someone telling me that once you get your phone wet, the best thing was to put it in rice to soak it up. I couldn’t wait to get off work to go get some rice. It was the only bright spot I could see in what was turning into a gloomy night. Now some might not be as attached to their phones as I am, in fact I think its unhealthy the way I rely on it, but I have come to realize it has morphed into something I’d like to think of as an extension of myself. When I am without it, feels like I am devoid of something important.
On getting home, I rushed to the store to get some rice and ripped it open as soon as I got home to dip my phone in it. It was a long night to say the least. I kept thinking what if the phone never works again. It was completely my fault that I didn’t back up my files. To be honest, the pictures were on my photo blogs, so in some way they were already backed up. The notes would be tough to recover, but luckily most of my ideas just like the photos were also on blogs and such. Still, the ease at which I could jump into my notes via my phone cannot be understated. If indeed my data were gone, that would be a tough loss to swallow.
Early this morning, I nervously picked up my phone from the bowl of rice, hoping that once I plugged in the charger, it’d start up again. Alas such was not the case. Now I had to think about replacing it and I really wasn’t about to spend 500 or so dollars for a new phone. Yet I knew I couldn’t go without a phone. My phone is my camera, my notepad, my personal computer and the gadget I use to keep in touch with friends and family, some on the other side of the world. I’d already gone a night without my phone, I couldn’t imagine going several nights without.
I mean I don’t think I am addicted to my phone, despite everything I wrote above. Its just a very useful gadget, one that has made expressing myself much easier. Kudos to Steve Jobs and the folks up at Apple. They have created a product that has become a vital part of my life and I am sure there are others out there that feel the same about their Apple products. No knock on the other smart phone makers, maybe there are in fact products that can rival the Iphone. Who knows, maybe in time I will become enamored with another gadget. Hopefully it won’t suffer the fate of my former Iphone, and that’s a cold winter bath that fried its internal circuitry.
