I am reminded of a Bloom County strip in which Oliver Wendell Jones (Bloom County's resident computer genius/hacker) is ecstatic about his new Banana 3000 Jr. computer only to discover that Banana has just released a newer version, "Now, with tint control!!!"

The last frame is him staring at his new computer in the trash can and saying "Hackers don't take obsolescence well."

Opus is this generation's Pogo. Old Walt Kelly, who drew the "Pogo" comic strip, once observed, through Pogo, that "we have met the enemy and he is us".

Brethed has reminded us, through Opus, of our techie/nerdie folly and the general silliness and shallowness of everyday American life.

Anyone who is offended by Opus needs serious couch-time with a shrink...lying right next to those odious cavemen from the "Geico" commercials.

Love the little nod to Salon there--Binkely looks like he's reading Farhad Manjoo!

Ok first to be on topic. I thought the cartoon was cute. In this recard iPhone is no different than any other tech gadget. I got this dual core PC two years ago when it was the new hot technology and now it appears quad core PCs are the norm. Such is life.

But as far as people debating whether to have a cell phone or not, I've never worried about it. I only got my first cellphone in 2000 (when I was already 24) and have had a very peaceful coexistence with it. If you're concerned about people being able to reach/track/annoy you anywhere, LEAVE IT AT HOME! If they have a problem with you not being available, screw 'em! OK so maybe you need to carry it around with you for work. But for the other 95% of us, phooey on that.

I do not take my cell phone with me when I go out shopping or to a movie.

I do not take it when I drive an hour up the road to visit my parents.

Most days I also do not take it into work. If people want to talk to me there they can call my work phone.

Strive for balance!

-Adam in Philly

PS - I am not getting an iPhone. As a veteran (5+ years) Treo user I find the lack of QWERTY keyboard disconcerting and am not willing to be persuaded otherwise.

Sorry for the confusion, my tinfoil interferometer is squelching the brain signals from the Illuminati.

Thought you would get this by me, eh? I haven't seen Opus on salon before, and maybe I wasn'st paying attention, but now i'm so glad you're here.

Tweak the lion's beard, my little penguin with a nose job!

I haven't seen you in a long time because they don't have you in my city, but I"m relieved to see that there is somewhere that continues to have the best cartoons on stuff that's topical.

Many thanks.

What is this... "Al-umin-um" of which you speak? 'Tis a most quaint and curious term. Is it, perhaps, some kind of felt or straw material which may be woven and thus worn as a hat?

Perhaps it was too subtle? The threat of terrorism hasn't been enough for Americans to temper their greed. Yes; is basic greed that fuels the scene depicted in the cartoon. That greed is what angers and fires up Muslim extremists and creates "why should we care" attitude in the remainder of the Muslim faithful. Hell there was a time When Christian leaders inside the USA caution against this kind of rampant consumerism. Some still do I'm sure, but no one wants to hear it and it doesn't get reported. I consider the Patriot Act as evidence as the terrorists one battle, but the Cartoon is correct they aren't winning any others. THAT should create fear.

Why are people who claim to not own a cell phone, mp3 player, tv, computer or horseless carriage even on this thread? Why is the aluminum hat squad here?

They are nasty, but they are harmless if you just ignore them.

I almost dare not respond because you sometimes seem kind of deranged.

But what did I say that would make you wish I would commit suicide?

That's not cool.

Let's call it what it is....an addiction. Our schools graduate functional illiterates, each insisting they're capable of multi-tasking,ie: simultaneously listening to equally illiterate, decibal producing dreck on the ipod, text messenging with a fellow adenoid candidate, and doodling graffiti in hopes it will pass for an essay by his/her equally stupid, gadget addicted growth, masquerading as a teacher.

It would be really neat if the iPhone could help you commit suicide. Yeah, that's it.

No wait, it already has that feature included.

Just use it while you're driving, or trying to cross a busy city street.

But you know what would be cool? If the next iPod I have could be used to look up directions when I'm lost in a new city, or I could email someone from it to tell them I'm lost and will probably be late. I mean, I'm already carrying the iPod around; wouldn't it be cool if it could suddenly do those extra things?

My iPod already lets me carry around calendar items and notes, but if I could create new calendar items right on it, that would be cool. And sometimes I see things I want to take pictures of. If my iPod could take a picture of that thing, that would be cool. There's simply just not enough arm length self-portraits in the world yet. One million such photos per person is the minimal requirement for modern life.

Ah, hell, if my iPod is going to do all that already, it might as well be able to look at the world wide web, too. I can look at my latest batch of 100 arm-length portraits on Flickr (what would be neat is if the iPod could automatically upload them... it can? cool!). It's a win/win situation. It allows the world to celebrate the infinite variations that is me, plus I don't see how that is going to keep me from reading a book later. I mean, come on.

And if my iPod is going to do all that, well, we've come this far, might as well throw in the phone call thingie, too. I don't have a cell phone now. I think they are basically evil. Take the plunge! Dare to be out of contact, if only for a few minutes! But I can see times when it would be nice to have one: Emergency calls and stuff.

That's my biggest gripe with the iPhone and all cell phones for that matter. There don't seem to be any viable carrier options for people who can only envision making two or three calls a year.