1532 I-Cradle

It's interesting how we adapt to new technology we have a adopted. You'd think since we were the creators it would be the other way around—we would create new technology to adapt to us.
But no, for years and years things like phones required us to lean in close to a wall, or juggle knotted cords. The original Ma Bell bakelite phone had a head-knocking hard chassis and a handset about as far from comfortable ear-gonomics as you can get.
Today's phones are no exception. They're so smart, they show how dumb we are. A flat 2-by-4 inch rectangle is not very ergonomic. But it does fit in another human invention—the back pocket.
But as far as your face? It makes contact not in any particularly comfortable way, but definitely in a way that encourages your face to grease up its screen.
And look at the way we hold them. My friend Rick, ever the student of human nature, pointed out we tend to hold smartphones palm up, like we're balancing an open-faced tuna melt.
I suppose it makes sense. When not talking on the phone we are using our fingers to swipe icons on it, and that's hard to do unless it's flat like a piece of paper. Even with new technology we still write best—or fingerswipe best—in a horizontal plane.
Come to think of it, that face grease makes the swiping pretty slick.
And iPads and other tablets? Notice how people hold them in the crook of their elbows? When not being propped up on a table with those origamic covers, the average person who freehands an iPad does so handsfree, with his or her forearm. Holding it like one would hold a baby.
A flat, sharp-edged, makes-us-squint-to-read-it-in-bright-sunlight baby.
We love our creations. Even when they're adopted.
America, ya gotta love it.