A Brief Reflection on Surfaces
Smartphones, personal screens permanently before our eyes, offering continuous and virtually infinite varieties of stimulation, are the fulfillment and vindication of our slightly clunky old metaphor for internet use, “web-surfing.” To surf is to ride the ocean’s surface, to skim excitingly along on transient and ever-changing waves which, in their momentary violence and extreme proximity, foster illusions of ultimate importance. Meanwhile, the ocean’s...