A Samurai and his smartphone…

Remember how cool it was to be a Samurai swordsman? (You should just go with it)

You had abilities that few others could rival — your skill was valued, you were respected, and you were important (and dangerous). Then along came the gun and almost overnight it was all gone... you were not so dangerous unless you were " packin' ".

So then along comes the Internet and then the smartphone… and then "BAM", the value of information for information's sake isn't really that important anymore. You want to know when Louis XIV reigned? The answer is twenty seconds away using your smartphone (it’s 1643 to 1715 btw). Facing extinction is the person who has information for information's sake; more and more we all have information at our fingertips (along with greater convenience and connection). The playing field is now equal, and in effect we are all Samurais with a smartphone.

Here is one Samurai's story about his smartphone, decision-making, risk tolerance, and dealing with a problem.

When I travel I take a Go Pro camera and my smartphone; this meets all of my memory capturing needs. My last trip took me to Iceland, and as expected my portable cameras left me with some amazing visuals, as well as a fine story to tell. The very last picture I took with my smartphone was of a glacier that I was hiking and climbing on. I probably should mention (and offer some foreshadowing) that it was raining at the time. With my picture taken, I put my phone into my "waterproof pocket" and went about enjoying said glacier. On the way back to the hostel (with a long bus ride ahead of me) I settled in and decide to listen to some music. As you know a smartphone is rather multifunctional compared to a cool sword so I reached into my pocket — at first I asked myself why the bottom of my phone is dripping wet, then noticed that my home screen was half its normal size, and then experienced that gut wrenching realization that my phone was soaking wet — it was potentially ruined and I'd now cut myself off from the world (as well as everything else that is holy!)

How did this happen you may ask? Well, the waterproof pocket only really works when you zip it up fully.
Just so you know, Samurais don't throw rabid tantrums or lament to the cosmos as to "why me?" — a Samurai calmly reviews the situation, solicits advice from other travellers who have dry smartphones, and envisions how he can bend the universe to get a box of rice. I have to believe that I have some talent in this regard because ten minutes later we make a pit stop and across the street is a grocery store. 500 Icelandic Krona later, I have a box of rice with a smartphone nestled snuggly inside. For those of you asking, "Why rice?” Well let me tell you it is a tried and true method for drying things out because the grains of rice absorb water. Over the next two days the functionality of my phone was restored except for the mechanical home button, which can easily be replaced by the virtual screen version. My worst fears had evaporated — I was connected with the world again and have regained my equalizing smart phone.

Now fast-forward two months.
I was having a business lunch and all of a sudden my smartphone speaks, and keeps speaking, randomly dials people, and plays music. It seems my smartphone's voice control had become sentient and it's now become a contest for the soul of my phone. Periodically (for about 15 minutes) the voice control took over, wreaked havoc, and then gave the phone back to me. Over the next week I work with the friendly and patient people in technical service to reset the phone a couple of times (as well as reinstall the operating system twice), but still, I wrestled with the voice control for supremacy. Ultimately I had to have someone look at it; an hour and a half later I'm told it's water damage, the warranty is void, and I can either buy a new phone or hope the voice control has surrendered the contest.

Between having the phone inspected and shutting off the voice control I had prevailed in the contest of wills and didn't have to spend $300 for a new phone. Throughout all of this, which I suppose is more reflective of every day modern Samurai life, I am most proud of how calmly I worked through the situation — instead of looking to the stars and screaming at the top of my lungs, "Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?!"

iamgpe

PS: Yes, glaciers really are blue.