The Magic iPhone

October 15 2020

Have you ever stopped to think about how addicted humans are becoming to technology?  For most of us, life would be foreign without it.  For example, look at smart phones.  More and more it seems that we depend on technology, specifically our beloved phone, to help us, not only communicate, but help make everyday decisions.  Call a friend, find directions to a favorite restaurant, or just ask for a new recipe, there is no end of what the magical phones of today can do.  But what if we were suddenly to lose our, all knowing, do everything for us, box? Perhaps a well-known cartoon character can help us understand our dependence on the phone.

In the television show, SpongeBob SquarePants, there is an episode titled, “Club SpongeBob” (season 3, episode 42), where SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward get lost in the Kelp Forrest.  Luckily, SpongeBob and Patrick have a magic conch to help answer all of the questions they need in order to survive.  They ask it a question, pull the string, and do whatever it says to do.  SpongeBob and Patrick seem addicted to the conch, whereas Squidward calls it a stupid toy.  A Forest Ranger comes to help SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward, he then shows them he also has a conch shell.  They all ask it what to do, and once again they listen to the Magic Conch.

How does the Magic Conch resemble the iPhone? It reminds me of the modern-day phone because we live in an era where we depend on our phones for most things.  If we were lost in the woods, we would be looking at our phones for answers just like SpongeBob because we depend on it so much.  Instead of taking the time to learn something, or at least buy a map, we just Google search the answer and then forget it a few minutes later.  This being said, being in the woods most likely means no cell service. So, what are you supposed to do?  Considering most people turn first to their phones in cases of emergencies, it has gotten to the point where it is expected to always be there in times of need (Fischer, 1994).  Unfortunately, without your phone, you would most likely do what the characters in the show did…absolutely nothing. 

Just like the Conch shell, the invention of the phone was once referred to as a toy.  Alexander Graham Bell and his patrons had to persuade people that their "toy" was more of a tool than a toy (Fischer, 1994); however, the reality is that this “toy” has become an essential part of life and we are addicted to it.  People depend on some technologies so much that their use is even implemented into the individual’s daily life to point where they get looked at as necessities (Fischer, 1994).  In many of the breakout groups during our class Zoom meetings, we would discuss how addicted we are to our phones.  We get all of this information, and do not even question if the information is accurate.  Comparing the modern-day phone to the Magic Conch from SpongeBob, makes it easy to see the resemblance in the lack of questioning of technology for the information we receive.  Figuratively, it is time we cut the cord, put down the conch for a second, and realize these technologies should not be held to such high standards without questioning the information they give to us.  Without these devices, we become hopeless sea critters wandering around a kelp forest because we do not know what to do.  Siri, Alexa, and Cortana would be little to no help, and would leave us lost in the world, right when we would need them most.

Works Cited

Claude S. Fischer, (1994). America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940. University of California Press, 1992. 424 pp. Paper, $25., American Journalism, 11:3, 278-280, DOI: 10.1080/08821127.1994.10731643