An object appears as a soft rectangular solid of black, silver, and grey- cast in aluminum, glass, and hard plastic. The body of the object is covered in a shell of light blue rubber and hard, medium-blue plastic. The plastic shell bears the inscription “Otter Box.”
The object measures 2.31 inches wide. The object weighs 4.9 ounces. Its depth measures 0.37 inches, and its height spans 4.5 inches.
On the front of the object appears a slightly recessed circle, with a white square inscribed in the center, measuring no more than a half-centimeter or so on each side. There is a rectangular shaped recession near the top of the façade, with grey mesh at its base. Adjacent to the grey mesh, appears a tiny circular lens. On the verso side of the object (the vertical verso), there are two buttons, labeled “+” and “-“, and a switch which can be shifted upward or downward. When shifted downward, the switch reveals an orange rectangle of color above it. The right/recto vertical side of the object remains flush, featuring no modifying switches or buttons. The bottom vertical side features two small grey mesh ovals, two tiny screws, and an opening shaped like a rectangle, which appears to be an electronic female plug. The top vertical side features one oval shaped button and one circular opening which also appears to be a female electrical port of some variety.
Removing the plastic and rubber coverings and directing attention to the back of the object, one discovers what appears to be a tiny camera embedded into the top left corner with an accompanying flash, an image of a silver apple with a bite missing, and the following inscription on the back of the object: “iPhone…Designed by Apple in California…Assembled in China…Model A1387…EMC 2430…FCC ID: BCG-E2430A… IC:579C-E2430A. Below the inscription are inscribed a series of symbols: the first appears to be FCC, with the C’s etched concentrically. The next symbol is a trashcan that’s been drawn through with an “X,” followed by a type of “C,” a type of “E,” 0682, and two concentric circles containing the symbol “!”
Engaging with the object yields the discovery that this rectangular solid is in fact an interactive electronic device, likely to be used for communication, given the inscription on the rear, “iPhone.” Pressing the oval button on the top vertical side activates the front black-mirrored glass to reveal the date and time, a directive at the bottom, “slide to unlock,” two small digital oval buttons at center top and center bottom, and a camera icon in the bottom-right corner of the space. The device is operated by touching the fingers upon the face to manipulate the device. Sliding down the top oval digital button reveals a brief weather report and the date: “Saturday November 8th… Partly cloudy currently. The high will be 61 degrees. Partly cloudy tonight with a low of 43 degrees… Calendar.” Sliding up the bottom oval digital button reveals a menu of buttons: an airplane, a WiFi symbol, a Bluetooth symbol, a moon symbol, and a symbol with a lock circumscribed by a curved arrow. Below these buttons is a sliding scale brightness control, with a sun emitting small rays on the left side and a sun emitting larger rays to its right. Below that bar lies a sliding scale controlling volume: a spectrum bookended by a speaker symbol on the left, and a speaker symbol on the right, emitting sound waves. At the bottom of the screen, 4 more buttons appear, revealing the tools they represent: a flashlight, a clock, a calculator, and a clock.
At the top of the screen, a status bar sits, indicating the level of connectivity, the service provider’s name, Virgin, and the type of service connected, 3G. To the right of this information, a tiny alarm clock, a faded Bluetooth symbol, the figure 75%, and a battery-shaped icon (the battery being ¾ full) are lined up.
With the face of the iPhone unlocked, the screen features several squares that, when pressed, reveal applications which the device can operate: contacts, notes, weather, Wells Fargo, calculator, maps, podcasts, Spotify, music, clock, settings, and Safari. At the bottom of the screen, a secondary row of applications is anchored at the base: phone, messages, calendar, and Gmail. Two circles, one white and one grey, appear above the bottom row. Swiping the finger to the right on the first screen reveals a second screen with similar applications to the first screen.
Having completed a basic description, we find that the object of study is a highly portable and ergonomic tiny computer and a phone, capable of functioning in a multitude of fashions. A brief search into the objects history yielded that it debuted in the marketplace on October 4, 2011, dating the object to being no more than 3 years old.
