I was away from the office today and--completely by happenstance--found myself in people-watching mode for the first time in I don't know how long. I do know, however, that the last time preceeded the widespread adoption of smartphones, and the contrast was glaring. In defense of the folks yakking or fixated on tiny screens and keypads, we were all more or less stuck in the hurry-up-and-wait zone--one that had a certain Purgatorial feel to it at times.
True, I unwillingly eavesdropped on any number of "working" calls, but the overwhelming absorption in the universe channeled through or created by miniaturized computers that also happen to make phone calls generally brought to mind the fetishization of TV in previous decades. Which, in turn, specifically brought to mind a strip from Bill Watterson's Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons, which begins with Calvin kow-towing to the television, intoning: "O great altar of passive entertainment, bestow upon me thy discordant images at such speed as to make linear thought impossible." And you just can't argue with things that just juxtapose themselves like that in your brain, now can you?
And of course, a cult with any longevity whatsoever can't exist without having rival factions at some point in its history. Witness how the "Crackberry" gave way to the iPhone, which is now battling a horde of Android upstarts. In any case, there's certainly no lack of Kool-Aid to pound back, nor charges of heresy & blasphemy to fling at the other faction(s)--am I right?
But ultimately, cults excel in nothing so much as their ability to block the outside world. Really, after that, what other argument do you need?
And, now, if my gentle reader will excuse me, I need to stop fixating on a small screen myself. Good night, all!
