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This piece is one of the later ones I made, after getting a good amount of practice with what people call "AI image generators" (namely DALLE). I would often start with "random" material -- a word, a poem, a chat conversation, or in this case, a screenshot of a folder on my desktop which I had blurred and pixelated. There were pictures of people in this folder, which then turned into beige and brown squares (pixels), except for one red square -- that stood out. I liked the feeling it gave me -- the red bright energy coming out of...

// by Pavel Gitnik

It was around 1996 -- we were living in a suburb of Tel-Aviv called Ramat-Gan at the time -- and my dad brought this odd product home from work he said they were testing out.

It was called an "iPhone".

A flat white phone with a screen, a stylus, and a keyboard that slid out.

You could do phone things on it -- but it also had a built-in modem that connected to the internet -- email, browsing (and naughty pictures that loaded super slowly on a black and white screen).

My dad worked on testing the first model and then developing GEN 2.

The company's name was InfoGear, a small Israeli-American startup that was later bought by Cisco. That same year, in 2000, Cisco moved us from Ramat-Gan to Cupertino -- that's how we ended up in the States.

A few years later, Apple licensed the "iPhone" trademark.

My mom still uses the 2nd generation InfoGear iPhone (Black) in her kitchen.

This article was written from my personal perspective. For more backstory and details about Cisco/Linksys iPhone rebranding etc, as well history of predecessor "internet appliances", see below.

Further Reading:

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_iPhone
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InfoGear
- https://www.internethistorypodcast.com/2015/06/the-forgotten-story-of-the-iphone-released-in-1998/
- https://www.slashgear.com/the-1998-iphone-you-probably-didnt-realize-existed-26704115/

The first installment of the Work & Purpose project is now in the store.

It features two of the motifs from the collection -- the big man and the sailboat.

Get them on 8 casual fit tees in black and white.

Future drops will feature other images from the collection on tees, sweaters, vans slip-ons, digital wallpapers, wall art, mugs, and eventually plush toys.

Digital wallpapers featuring the big man and the sailboat are going on sale next. You can also sign up for the early adopter list and get the pack for free:

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Sometimes I find myself putting off certain activities (even ones I really enjoy), just because I don't have anything "on deck" to listen to.

This is one of those "solve your own problem" apps -- a list of 5 full-listen audio recordings that are at least one activity long:

(click the icons to listen)

1. Jay-Z x Linkin Park - Collision Course (2004)   

2. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak (2008)   

3. Ludacris - Chicken-N-Beer (2003)   

4. My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me the Workhorse (2006)   

5. Florence + The Machine - Lungs (2009)   

(BONUS)

Twista - Adrenaline Rush (1997)   

—

You can enjoy these with laundry, a jog, a shower, an administrative task, or anything else that could use some sauce.

Got your own list of 5 complete masterpieces? // Leave it in the comments.