Ubiquity

August the 31st, 2007--the not so distant past. Something aired on British television that had  given me pause to think today...

I was recently re-watching The I.T. Crowd, Graham Linehan's genius comedy about nerds and their interactions with the work world, and noticed something startling. In the episode "Return of the Golden Child," series two and episode two, the character Roy is extremely excited about a new mobile phone he's just purchased. It's top of the line, and he brags about the specs and screen size to his friend and coworker, Moss.

This in itself is a fairly normal thing. It happens all the time, especially in basement-housed I.T. departments, and is not exceptional. What is odd, though, is the fact that this was not even five full years ago, their Luddite-manager, Jen, hears the conversation, she immediately douses the fire with the request "Ask me what kind of phone I've got" and a response of "It--doesn't--matter."

Now, fast forward to 2011 or 2012, and have this conversation again. Insert the latest fruit flavoured phone, or a shiny robot-featured phone in place of the classic Motorola candy bar phone Roy held in esteem. Phones--smart ones, anyway--have become so ubiquitous that even the Luddites and technology haters don't mind hearing about the newest gadget-filled phone.