From the day
Perspective: The Future Historian · Sound
The rhythmic chirp of a Nokia ringtone cuts through the heavy humidity of the street, while a nearby radio pulses with 50 Cent’s "21 Questions," his voice distorted by cheap terrestrial speakers. I watch a group of teenagers hunched over a flip phone, one of them typing "rofl" into a text message as they argue about the ticket line for **Finding Nemo †** snaking around the corner. Under the neon glow of an electronics shop, the clicking gears of a Robosapien toy provide a mechanical backbeat to the grim news of a Philippine economic slowdown flashing on the television. The air is thick with the scent of diesel and the high-pitched hum of a world frantically digitizing itself into the sleek, blue light of the new millennium.