In a relatively short time frame, cell phones went from neat gadgets to must-have communication devices to indispensable parts of the human anatomy. One rarely goes out to dinner or drinks now without at least one person setting their Blackberry on the table (or starting deeply into their iPhone). This is for those situations where the time it takes to get your phone out of your pocket could cause an international incident.
Ingrid Zweifel, a student at Parsons The New School for Design, decided to do a thesis on this issue (or more broadly, on how technology has affected interpersonal communication). The conclusion was, unsurprisingly, that people are technology whores.
She ended up inventing a “Phonekerchief” that actually blocks cell signals, rendering a phone unreachable. For those that might use this as a pocket square, losing style points and wrapping your phone into an impenetrable gift bag would surely impress a date (although if you have an embroidered handkerchief, it would probably best be used to block the girl from texting anyone about how embarrassed she is).
Here’s Zweifel’s site – these are supposed to be available to order the day after Thanksgiving.
