The New Pocket Watch
August 27, 2010mike 1 Comment »
As you may have notice from some recent articles I have recently purchased a fantastic art deco pocket watch.
This article is only partially about that.
Here we sit in 2010 with a timekeeper in our pockets. The wristwatch while ever convenient is not a park of every person’s wardrobe (it usually is a part of mine). There is a timekeeper that is… the phone.
We all tend to carry our cellphones on us at all times (pun intended) so that we are never without the ability to connect to the world. Part of that connection is knowing what time it is. Believe this or not, time is that important and something that makes us humans. My dog knows the “time” no, he is not a Superdog (though he can drive a car), he just uses his biological clock to know… time to wake… time to go out… time to eat… time to sleep. He doesn’t rely on hands or LEDs or anything… he can adjust to daylight savings (over time) and he is usually right on cue.
Humans on the other hand (pun intended) tend to need to know what time is.
Now with the advent of pocketable cellphones (since they weren’t always!) we can once again have our timepiece in our pocket at all times.
No longer needed is the wristwatch or the old fashioned pocket watch. We have the iPhone. Now here’s where I shamelessly plug the Rust Movement. So you are now the coolest hipster on the block and you check the time on your iPhone 4. Well let’s talk about that for a moment. The pocket watch I shamelessly plug is 85+ years old and still going strong. There are no exotic materials and it is kept in motion through human power (winding). 85+ years ago its last amount of bought energy was expelled for its existence (manufacturing). It may be old, but it will last forever, whereas that which is new will not last the decade.
Actually if we’re on the topic of iPhone (or smartphone) pocket timekeepers they will last 400 charge cycles, which is called “two years”, I call that 400 days or 13 months, but who am I to say. The iPhone doesn’t even have a replaceable battery. It is 100% throw away. It uses exotic materials, which
are energy consuming to both build and dispose of, and unlike my pocket
watch that disposal is in two years, not 200.
We have moved from a permanent society to a disposable one (starting many years ago).
The items manufactured a century ago will last another century whereas the items manufactured today will not last the decade.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:01 am
“…will not last the decade.” Too true. Good quote btw!