What I’ve learned by dropping my Iphone in the toilet
I always though it only happens to “the others”
“Plouf !”
This is the sound produced by an Iphone X diving into a toilet full of whatever I’ve just filled it with.
“What the ….!”
This is the sound produced by a clumsy human being who is witnessing the fall of his phone, his link to the rest of the world, in a mix of fecal matter and water.
It is amazing how I didn’t even have to think before my hand followed the device into the hole to save it from a lethal drowning.
I remembered It happened once to my son — not to fall into the toilet hole but in a swimming pool, when he didn’t know how to swim ; I’m not proud to say I’ve been as fast to save the drowner in both situations.
OK ! Now it’s all wet and I need to get it clean and dry as fast as possible ; running to the bathroom…damn ! it’s locked (my wife is in the shower)… running to the sink, taking off the protection, using some paper to dry the device.
Rice : the first aid kit.
At this point, the dry phone is on the kitchen table in front of me ; I grab it and try to bring it back to life by pushing the power button but the screen keeps staying black (stupid me, I ‘m pushing harder and harder on the button, as if it would make any difference — I really want to see this partial white apple rising on the dark peace of glass)
If it happens to you, just be wiser than me and do not try to switch it on right away : if there is still some water inside, you might damage it even more. The one and only thing to do is to put the dying device in a bucket full of rice and wait till the next day so that humidity can be sucked out of it (and then, please, throw the rice away !)
I can spend a day without my phone, can’t I ?
It’s already 9 am and I need to get back to my home office work, so I grab my laptop and click on the link to launch my corporate mailbox.
The screen is asking me to double check on my phone for authentication…like every morning… of course.
At this moment I started to wonder how long my day will last as I couldn’t even open my mailbox without my phone.
Hopefully, I still have an old corporate phone (a Motorola G4, completely outdated). I fill it with my sim card and spend a moment to transfer the authentication to this new old cellular… and my mailbox finally pops in (at least I can start working).
Most people of my team are already connected to slack, I want to send a picture from yesterday to say hello… But obviously, it’s in my resting Iphone.
A reminder pop’s up on my corporate schedule so I don’t forget to pay my children’s school. Nothing is easier, I usually make a bank transfer with my phone… But not today.
Anyway, today I was about to make my expense report, to get a refund for all the things I recently paid for the company (this last month, I had to buy a couple of screens and wires for a new project, and all together it reached 2500€). This has to be done with a corporate mobile app… that is not compatible with this old Motorola G4 I had left.
I suddenly felt like I was trapped : most of my daily tasks could be done easily on my phone, where all my credentials were recorded, and everything was already set up to be fast and easy.
So what ? Am I phone-dependant ?
I guess, like many of you, my phone is an hyper efficient way to do a lot of things. Little by little, many tasks that we were doing without any device are now widely easier and take less time to perform with the help of that little thing. Here’s my list :
- make a payment
- quickly check emails
- scan a document
- send anything to the printer
- effortlessly do some shopping (food, clothes, books…anything)
- book flights at the best price
- order a meal
- take a picture and make it awesome
- follow a fully personalized body workout
- learn new skills (youtube, courses apps…)
- read breathtaking medium articles anywhere (not anymore in the restroom!)
- see your friends and family (thanks to any visio app)
- replace the TV remote
If I put together all the time I save with those tasks, for sure, I don’t want to go back to the old way. But writing this, I really understood the key point the problem :
The smart phone is a very useful tool, just don’t become its slave !
All this time I pretend to save using my phone should allow me more writing, spending time with my kids and wife, playing music, reading books, doing sport, cooking….or anything that pleases me and brings me happiness in life. Is it really the result ? Am I re-injecting all those precious hours in my passions ? I guess everyone should be answering this question to figure out if this tiny little device is a real helper or just a digital prison.
If my story teached you something, made you laugh or even smile a little, don’t forget to clap ! Who knows, this might help me cover a part of the repair cost…