The old clocks

Remember the alarm clocks? Those in the old days, mechanical ones with sounds that could wake up everybody in the whole house — so different now

The old mechanical alarm clock type with the slowly circling arms ( illustration Frits Ahlefeldt)

Phones

Text and drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt

Well different in many ways, not only have our phones swallowed those alarm clocks, but also our cameras, calendars and even TV screens. Most of us don’t have to fear waking up the whole house — Because we are living alone, only with the company of our phones… And they never sleep

The alarm clocks didn’t even have to have numbers, but it could be anything from dots, to flowers… or hearts, because we knew what it meant when the arms moved around the circle, as if the day only had twelve hours… then starting over again.

Digital clocks, show numbers, not space, they show the fragmented moment, not the distance between those hearts.

I look at the clock, and the distance between the hearts, and the arms, slowly circling around to hug them… All this seems to be strangely fading