I fired up AirDrop out of curiosity and both their phones immediately popped up, names included. I can tell you that at a recent technology conference, I happened to be sitting a few feet away from a certain Apple executive and one of the company's PR people. When I'm on there, I'll quickly rename my phone "BART." If it's a coffee shop, I'll change it to "Starbucks." The sky is very much the limit.ĭid Apple ever envision people using it like this? I sure hope so. It's Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART for short. I, on the other hand, go with a handle that presents the possibility and plausibility of authority depending on the situation. People name their phones all sorts of obvious and generic things. What makes things particularly fun is that the option to share with someone only pops up if they're actively using their device, and you don't often know who your target is. You can decline my space sloth, but I know you've seen it They can, of course, decline the AirSloth, but I know they've seen a small preview of it. I assume that's by mistake, but by the time they've realized that, I've already struck. But I've found that a surprising number of people have flipped it on, and set it to accept things from the entire world. In fact, AirDrop itself is not even turned on until you use it for the first time.
Since September, it's also worked between iOS devices and Macs, opening up an even wider group of targets.īy default, the feature is not set to share with everyone. In reality, Apple created AirDrop as a simple way to exchange things without pecking in an email address or phone number, and it continues to be wonderfully brilliant. It quickly became a meme of its own, with people replacing the heads of humans with sloths for wondrous comedic effect. Dionísio has repeated the process onto other historical photos, and has merchandised them with phone cases, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and even tote bags. The sloth photo I use is always the same, and was created by artist Pedro Dionísio nearly three years ago. You may think I'm looking at a spreadsheet or playing Candy Crush, but I am trying desperately to hold my shit together knowing you saw Neil Armslow. Though the beauty of the technology is that your targets can be far away by the time you've done the deed. Part of the act involves a poker face and pretending to be doing something more important so as not to be caught. I've seen reactions that range from amused to confused, but never has anyone been visibly angered. I've done it perhaps a hundred times, and the thrill has not waned one little bit. The poker face is essential to keep sloth sleuths at bay And not just any sloths, but sloths wearing spacesuits. Where Apple envisioned it as a way to send useful files and websites to friends and acquaintances, I use it to send photos of sloths to strangers.
Many have iPhones or iPads, and have a setting turned on that lets me send them unsolicited files through AirDrop. Perhaps the only difference is that my motive has been to make them smile.Įach day I get on the train to make the half hour voyage into San Francisco for work, I am surrounded by people using their phones.
I abhor many aspects of trolling people, but I've given in and done it to other humans.
I've abused great power with great irresponsibility and savored every moment of it like the perfect last bite of a delicious meal. For the past year I've been a terrible person.