Mania

It's 1 am and I'm jazzed about solving some iPhone development problems. At this time of night these problems seem small beside the towering figure of my post-midnight genius.

As a younger man, I used to fetishize the cigarette box. The smoothness of a machine-rolled single. The Zippo. The small objects in people's pockets they fingered when getting off the bus. I had a fondness for key fobs, for complicated keyrings, and for moneyclips. I figured I could become the person I strove to be with the right accoutrements in my pants.

Over the years these things replaced one another. D-ring replaced Zippo, tiny cell phone replaced horking giant beast Motorola flip. Out with the Bic, in with the headset. Headphones superseded game cartridges, somebody invented wallet-thin tools, somebody else found them unwieldy. Gerber Multi-tool. Some cheapo pliers. A 3rd gen iPod. A nano.

I don't carry much anymore. A money clip that doubles as a utility knife, some keys, and my iPhone.

I used to run through PDAs like Forrest Gump through the end zone. 4 models of Sony Clie, 3 Palm Pilots of varying vintage, a Sharp Zaurus. These were among the dorkiest, clumsiest tools I've ever cringed at in later contemplation. The iPhone is like none of these. I'm going to develop the hell out of iPhone apps. Maybe a cigarette app.