iLove Have you seen your brother recently? How about your

boyfriend? Parents? College roommate? Have you seen a

commercial for the iPhone 4? If you have, you know that

you can see all of those people, so long as you have an

iPhone.

To purchase an iPhone, you not only get the

technological wonder and all the bragging rights that come

with it. Bundled along with this marvel is access to

hundreds of thousands of apps that can do everything from

guide you through NYC’s subway system to stave off

boredom by providing a virtual stapler for you to endlessly

punch.

The device itself is incredible. Not only can you now

speak with a person across vast distances, you can see

them in the palm of your hand. Yet there is more! This

device brings hope. (There truly is an app for everything.)

Watch any of the new iPhone commercials and you’ll see

two people, not just communicating across distances, but

sharing intimate moments via a Skype-like feature. Learn

you are soon to be a father, encourage your girlfriend after

a traumatic haircut, watch an ultrasound. It is all possible.

All you need is an iPhone. Oh... and let’s not forget, you

cannot wait. After all, what is the point of waiting to share

exciting news when you have a pocket miracle that can

Copyright 2011 [Michael Blankenship]. All rights reserved. 1

inform the world of your life’s developments with a quick

tap of the finger. Besides, you already waited four weeks

to get your hands on your new phone. Now that you have

it, use it! Never wait again.

But this is not a diatribe against modern technology or

the present culture. On the contrary, I am a big fan of

Apple. I am writing this on my mac right now. It is a great

company. They create incredible technology. Yet we often

lose ourselves in the expanse between our present world

and our virtual reality. Our technology is a gift that can

offer simplicity in an ever more complicated society. The

important factor, however, lies in our use of these devices.

Do we recognize that our toys are tools? Technology

serves as an extension of ourselves. I cannot speak with

my brother when he is away at school in Israel, so I see

him on Skype. I keep in touch with my college friends on

Facebook because we can no longer meet to go out for an

evening. Technology offers a portal through which our

physical limitations might be overcome. Remember back to

elementary school and the story of Archimedes and his

lever. He moved a massive warship with the use of a

pulley and rope - a feat that would have been impossible

without the aid of that simple technology.

This simple tool now reconstructs our approach to life.

Getting “Facetime” in your spare-time on a 3.5-inch

screen alters the understanding of the relationship when

other methods are available. Can your news about the

pregnancy wait until he gets home? Would not a face-to-

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face conversation (in the old-fashioned, physically present

sense) be a more appropriate conduit for that information?

Now, this topic has been discussed by figures far wiser

than me. Pick up any book by Marshall McLuhan or Neil

Postman and you will discover an extensive exposition on

the subject. What I present is not a revolutionary question.

I simply wish to ask if we could take the time to consider

what we say and how we say it. If I say “I love you” by

typing on a miniature keyboard to be sent via airwaves to

be received on your little pocket miracle, am I also saying

it when I meet you later in the day. Our technology can

bridge obstacles and offer wonderful opportunities for

reminders of the reason why we wish to overcome those

limitations. But like all things, this tool that offers the

ability of so much good, may also consume us and become

the idol of our affection. I love technology, but I love

people more.

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