Dad’s Smashed iPhone: Frame It or Bury It?

So there I was with my esteemed friend and colleague, Colleen Wheeler. We were on foot, en route to a wine bar along one of Ventura, California’s lovely beaches, on the other side of the scenic interstate 11 from where I had parked my car. After passing a “No Pedestrians Allowed” sign—at which I thought, don’t call me a pedestrian you racist!—we were unexpectedly confronted by a busy and treacherous highway exit ramp. (Hello, State of California, walking people and exit ramps don’t go together!) There is no stop light, which means the rapidly exiting automobiles are permitted to slam into the dainty endoskeletons of unsuspecting bipeds at full speed. So we did the only thing sensible: We scurried across the exit ramp like daring road-kill squirrels.

As we enjoyed our wine (yes we survived), Colleen thought it would be fun to show me every photo she had ever taken on her iPhone. Which added up to about 7. And much as you love someone, reviewing that person’s photo album makes you a bit catatonic. And so as my eyes fluttered, I had this ill-formed thought that I had photos on my iPhone, too, and I should, there was that one, right, which? So I felt my right-side pocket, and then the other one, and my jacket, and, hold the phone, no iPhone!

I explained my lack of phone to Colleen. She called my number and it went right to v-mail. We retraced our steps. I saw something that looked like a flat pack of cigarettes in the exit ramp. I watched it get run over once, then twice. I squirrel-scurried in, scooped it up, and sure enough, it was my iPhone.

The phone was face down, its back marred by multiple tire tracks. I turned it over and this was what I saw. (Click the graphic for a high-res image that you can use, free of charge, for any of your cracked glass compositions.)

My smashed run-over dead-gone-dead iPhone

The phone was, and is forever more, dead.

So here’s the question: I recently showed my phone to my two boys, Max and Sam. Max, the older, wants to frame it. Sam, the younger, wants to bury it.

—In Max’s defense, framing the phone will allow us to see and enjoy it for years to come. Plus, theoretically, it’s more environmentally conscientiousness.

—In defense of Sam, burying the phone permits us to hold a service, say a few words, and send the phone’s rare metals back to the Earth from whence they came. So a dog can later dig the thing up and chew on it.

Please, weigh in. Max and Sam have agreed to let the majority decide. By voicing your opinion, you will ensure family harmony for minutes to come.

Thank you to Lucas Deming for the photographs.

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  • Yep a frame is needed for that.

    The image of the phone front (broken glass) might even make a texture for use in photoshop….  So phone-nomenal art and photoshop texture.

  • Bury it.

    Junk is junk.

    There is too many of these around to ever be of value on the Antiques Roadshow.

    Gary Anderson

  • It’s an iphone….. Not a family member or pet.

    Teach your children a valuable leason about not mourning an inanimate object. Take a few months off and learn to live life without an iphone. You can do it….it is possible…...then reward your self with an iphone 4S. remember the 80’s? I wouldnt say life was better but there sure did seem to be less noise?

  • First frame it, and when you

    First frame it, and when you get tired of watching it, then bury it.

  • Your phone has seen better days

    Do you think it might be time for Deke to get a new phone?  Na, not until the contract is up.

  • Remember the 80s??

    That’s a horrifying thought!

    But it is Halloween, after all . . . ;-)

  • Frame it

    A nice shadow box frame with a shot of the ramp whence it died pictured behind it would make an awesome display piece. You could always give it to Colleen. lol

  • Frame it as a lesson…

    Frame it so you can show it to your new iPhone as a lesson to what can happen if it doesn’t behave.

  • It’s a matter of principal right?

    I love the honesty in the thought of burying it, but I like the gesture of the frame. The idea of just throwing it in a trash can is, to me, the idea of not caring. Which many might want to do, and that’s okay, but the frame just has a nice whimsical approach to showing respect. I’m sure it started by first looking at it and noting that it was actually an “appealing” loss, in the realm of how good a destroyed iPhone could be… We’re not paying homage to the omnipotent powers of intelligent technologies, we’re noting the nuance and irony of good functional design being “redesigned” by the unbiased fact of reality which alongside craftsmanship makes a rather nice display piece. Context, convention, and circumstance, if nothing else it’s a part of your life. That allowed to matter to you.

    Hi Deke,

    I want to thank you for EVERYTHING you have here and especially the MartiniHour’s. I found you along time ago via Bert. You’re my added inspiration into my future as a graphic design student. I wanted to ask you where was a place I could post “specific” questions about applications, (Mainly Photoshop and InDesign) to get that mental backboard on an intellectual level I’ve been looking for.

    Thank you!

  • eBay!

    Sign the back with a Sharpie, put it up on eBay and donate the proceeds to the American Cancer Society in memory of Steve Jobs.

    I’ll bet you’ll get at LEAST $1,000 for it.

  • Ha ha, That’s true, but the

    Ha ha, That’s true, but the kids are bringing it back, along with the 90’s and everything else ive tried so hard to forget. Who ever thought MC hammer pants would ever make a come back?

  • The rubik’s cube and the commodore 64.

    ... Need I say more.

  • Bury it.

    Bury it, along with the painful memory of how you lost it.

  • Deke, you need to bury it!

    There is no question that it must be buried. If you frame it, you will see it taunting you every day. Although there is beauty in everything, even a smashed iPhone, it would only be beautiful to someone who didn’t own the iPhone in the first place. So bury it…unless you want to frame it and give it to someone you never see but who will appreciate the beauty of it.

  • Give it to Adobe

    I say send it to adobe so they can add it to their device central as another peripheral to test our art on, (Smashed I-Phone).

  • Fix it in Photoshop…

    You are a PS Guru - work your magic. Even do it in 3D ;o)

    If you can’t do that, I vote to frame it. Teach your boys not to run across freeway exits or at least hold onto the valuable if they do.

  • Bummer

    I think Bootstrap Bill’s idea is a better use for it.  However if you must make a choice between the two, bury it in an iPhone case coffin (which would frame it at the same time)...  and thanks for the free pic, makes a wonderful wallpaper on my Android :-)

  • So….

    What DID you finally decide to do with it?

  • I recently came across your

    I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

  • Screen Resolution

    I recently started your One On One training sessions. Finished the Fundamentals, now into the Advanced series…Great, by the way! So, i’m in the Measuring and Screen resolution video, and was wondering if the video card (which is Open GL) would make a difference in my screen resolution? I mean i have a new monitor, and the pictures look amazing. However, by following your formula for changing the default resolution, i only got 81pixels/inch. Seems kind of low for my monitor which i thought was one of the better choices i looked at purchasing. Although in doing some research my graphics card is somewhat “middle of the road”, i’ve been told. In the Display settings of my Control panel, it shows a recommended setting of 1920 x 1080. Would upgrading my graphics card allow for a higher screen resolution is what i am trying to ask? Thanks

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