Angry Bulgarians Want You To Pick Up Your iPhone
Posted by Lance Atkins on October 13, 2011 2 Comments
It’s a cool, relaxing Saturday night. With a glass of scotch at my side and surrounded by friends at the dinner table, I’m handily winning (probably not) the board game we are playing. I’m building my railroads to cut off Daniel (making him angry is one of the best parts of the game) and exerting my strategy for total domination. All is right with this world on a dreamy evening.
Then. It happens like it happens a hundred times a day. I subconsciously disconnect from my friends and board-game-domination to pull out my iPhone and check my email. Why? I don’t know. You do it too. I know you do.
I’m confronted with an irate, long winded email from a person in Bulgaria who is angry that his package, about a week after mailing, hasn’t arrived. Mentally, I’m quickly taken from my friends and into my head, worrying about someone’s anger. It bugged me for the rest of the weekend.
So I came up with an experiment. I took my business email account off my phone. If I’m gonna do work, I’ll have to be at my computer. Instantly, I started noticing things: the sky was beautiful blue, a drive in the car became a fun escape again, and I started really being with people more. I now will often turn off my phone for a whole day. The feeling of getting off the hamster wheel is great.
Technology is here to stay. And yes, I think technology is a really awesome thing. I enjoy my iPhone and MacBook Air. Hell, we make cases for them. But at what point does technology burn us out? I hear people talking about how they loathe their email and, seemingly, their life. Wasn’t email supposed to be a helpful thing ten years ago?
Remember when it was okay to wait ten minutes to answer an email or text message? Remember when the stress of something couldn’t electronically follow you to dinner with your spouse? What if you took the Facebook status out of your sunset, the emails out of your crisp-aired morning drive, and the text messages out of your face-to-face friendships?
We’re big fans of 1) People and 2) Creating really cool stuff that we believe in. But #2 should never be moved to #1… what if your iPhone’s case was purposefully - and beautifully - designed to be a small barrier between your family dinner and your e-everything? Ha!
Comments (2 Comments)
It’s iemprtavie that more people make this exact point.
Posted by Colanie on December 27, 2012
That sounds like your taking both your business and private life serious.
I would prefer to get my emails answered by a person sitting at their desk during work hours concentrated at doing their job, and not someone trying to answer a message as quickly as possibly to not annoy their friends.
I wish more people would follow you, I’m sure their customers would receive better service.
Mr. B.B
Sweden
Posted by Bo on October 19, 2011
People Who Talk With Us Are Awesome