I love my phone, on a practical level, both as a means of communication and as a creative tool. It has one of the best cameras available, which is why I chose that phone to begin with. The picture quality is amazing and it is a joy to carry it around, especially since the DSLR isn’t the most practical thing to haul at all times. The phone lives in my pocket either way.
The phone itself is a sleek piece of design, curved edges, and lots of glass on every side. It is a beautiful piece of craftmanship.
Except…
The estethic design has been given more thought than the practical design. All that glass makes it look beautiful, but it slides around slicker than a puck on a airhockey table. I have, before this, dropped a phone exactly one to such a degree that it recieved any damage or scratches. The current phone, the beauty of design and grace? It is after less than a year banged and scratched up. Not because I’ve dropped it, but because it has slid out of my pockets, slid of a flat table, slid of the kitchen counter, slid of the sofa, etc. etc.
No matter how flat the surface, no matter how high the friction of the surface; the phone will slide of at great speed and thud onto the floor.
Examining the phone, I have come to realize that the protrution from the camera optics is a great part of why. It creates an angle and the non-existent friction of the phone launches it into orbit. Which should be an easy fix; just place it face-screen down. But it isn’t always easy to figure out which side is which when you’re in haste, and that side too is slippery as a greased up weasel on crack. This also makes the task of operating said phone one handed rather difficult. I cannot count how many times I have dropped this phone out of my hands. All my other phones combined: 0 times.
All of this has me thinking about a lot of the items surrounding us in day-to-day life. You can read a set of values out of these items, what the creators prioritised. My phone, for instance, is a great tool and beautiful, but it is ultimately tailored towards the creative to whom aesthetic is more important than practicality. A priority that, ultimately, diminishes itself, since countless head buts with the ground (and it is strange that it always seems to be the hardest tiles or concrete where it happens) has left my phone looking rather un-attractive. It has become just a tool used for practical purposes, no longer an object of beauty to either admire or show off.
This is not an either/or situation, normally. You can have several tools that are both practical and beautiful. My kitchen knives are, in essence, just a practical tool, but they are also beautiful both in regards to their craftsmanship and their aesthetics. The axe I used back in the days I worked as a lumberjack was gorgeous and practical. My laptop is sleek and futuristic, but it has been designed with practicality in mind. It is stable and has friction at strategic places to make sure it stays put (which I am utmost grateful for, as it is a rather expensive tool).
The problem seems to be dominant when it comes to phones, especially as their price gets higher. The beauty of the object seems to be a consequence of the value that is placed upon it in regards to its quality as a tool. I.e. a quality phone must also be pretty. This is important because it signifies an important change in the nature of the tool. It is no longer a tool that we use to communicate, to create with, and to connect with the world; it has become art.
It seems that now, the beauty of the tool, i.e. the phone, no longer lies in the fact that it is a well designed for its purpose, but that it is a beautiful object that just happens to also have the function of a phone. This is important because it signifies an important change in the nature of the tool. It is no longer a tool that we use to communicate, to create with, and to connect with the world, it has become art.
Most people will never have need for the qualities of such an expensive tool, but society and its norms tell us we must have it because it is a symbol. A symbol of a certain kind of class, of a certain kind of people, and a certain level of affluence. Owning the object for its value as a tool, now means means you must also buy the object as a piece of art along with all it signifies as a symbol.
