Electronic Heaven And Hell

The highest highs and the lowest lows of the wired world: Bobos in electronic paradise dial-up the eschaton:

“Here’s your new life,” said the Apple Store clerk, beatifically, handing me the little black bag with my hot-off-the-FedEx-truck new iPhone. The comment was supposed to warm my heart, but I felt a slight chill. I’d just been thinking in line about how waggish bloggers had long since dubbed the long-in-coming device “the Jesus Phone,” so the clerk’s sendoff got me wondering what level of spiritual commitment I’d just made. I felt a little like Tom Cruise, finally graduating from the highest level of Scientology (and like I’d paid nearly as much for the privilege).

Simultaneously, Megan McArdle explores the Dante’s Inferno that is Sony VAIO customer service.