Big Brother in your hand – the Pebble phone

The Pebble is an essential in the world of Lifeform Three. Think of a phone or a cell and let it become a library of your life – contacts, photos, diary, media, personal organiser, navigator.

Indeed, you’ll soon find it knows your needs more accurately than you do. It tempts you with the perfect breakfast at the cafe you’re passing and advises you on the ideal birthday gift for loved ones. When you text a friend about a life crisis, it’s on hand with a lawyer, therapist or comfort buy. (I designed all this in 2010, but this 2014 article in The Economist suggests it’s coming true.)

So what should it look like, this personal electronic confidante and sneaky advertising spy? What should it be called? I wasn’t clear until I saw this photo taken by my friend Tim Gummer. It looks like an artificial stone, but in fact is a duck egg, marked with chalk. I felt this was what the people of Lifeform Three would like their life-gadget to look, while it governed their lives through a cocoon of algorithms, data and sales messages. This is the Pebble.

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