The Swiss Army Knife of Our Time

When I was a kid, after many years of begging, I finally got a present I deeply coveted...a Swiss Army Knife.  My Swiss Army Knife had a large blade and a small blade, a nail file, a screw driver, an awl, a scissors, a can opener (which I could never figure out), a genuine imitation ivory toothpick, a tweezers and a corkscrew.  What more could anyone want?  I think I only regularly used the big knife blade.

I wonder sometimes if smart phones aren't the Swiss Army Knives of our time.  They are sold with a seemingly endless array of features, most of which I suspect are rarely if ever used.  In the store, it is fun to think about using your phone to create business reports and watch movies, but eye strain and readily available, larger-screened options quickly prevail.  In the ad it sounds like a blast to be able to contact a bunch of friends at the same time, whether to plan a great social outing or to just guffaw over the latest TV sitcom.  At home, I realize that I don't have 10 friends that I want to call at the same time.  Most of them don't know and/or like each other and rarely do I do anything with that many of them at a time.

I expect that as smart phones become more and more de rigueur, manufacturers will need to come out with stripped down models.  There is a certain segment of the population who will appreciate, and buy, a phone that is designed to be, well, just a phone.

Once, in college, I used the corkscrew on my knife to open a bottle of wine.  (yes I still had the knife then and yes, I swear it was in college!). Similarly, once, I used the flashlight app on my phone, but even then it was just to show it off.  At least with the corkscrew I got to drink some bad wine!