This column made me laugh out loud. Virginia Hefferman is hilarious. Her annoyance with technology in this piece is something every human can relate to- in a laughable, "I've been there" kind of way. She writes, "And so the iPhone made suggestions. Did I want to say Ride? Ripe? Ruin? No. I wanted to say Running. You know, the way a human might. But with its know-it-all suggestions, the iPhone seemed to want to be more human, more helpful, jollier than I was!" This wit and sarcasm come out again when Hefferman talking about other "trends" of the age: "As I spoke I felt like a chippy freak — one of those people too intransigently cranky even to like Barack Obama, or recycling, or the Internet." The rhythm of Hefferman's column has people immersed in a conversation with her. She talks about the style of the iPhone and Apple in general, and how she felt compelled to buy the new, much-acclaimed item. In the end, this "refined, introverted, mysteriously chilled iPhone" was too much for the self-proclaimed technologically-inept writer. She trades it in for a Blackberry, and is "just as happy." In this piece, the iPhone represents much more than technology - it is a lifestyle. I love how Hefferman questions this, in a time when it seems like so many do not.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/magazine/05wwln-medium-t.html?em
2 comments:
I agree, this op-ed was absolutely hilarious. And I can totally relate. Though I've never felt any inclination what so ever to have an iPhone of my own I often play with my mum's when I'm bored, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to type on. And the suggestions are rather annoying. I love the way the author made this piece a sort of conversation between her and the reader. I also loved the way she personified the iPhone as an know-it-all, cutesy enemy of sorts. Very entertaining to read.
I agree with you - this article was very sarcastic and witty and I could relate to what the author was saying. I feel like suggestions made by the iPhone are in attempts to make our lives easier, yet it is interesting to see how different suggestions can be from what we actually want. However, I think that the iPhone is an amazing source of technology. It is interesting to see how much power we have at the palm of our hands and if we need to listen to some ridiculous suggestions once in a while, I still think it is worth it.
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