* Illustration: Jason Lee * Admit it: You sometimes leave your Jawbone headset on after hanging up the phone. Perhaps spending your formative years watching The Six Million Dollar Man and RoboCop gave you the mistaken impression that upgrading your body with electronics is the height of cool. Let's be clear: Walking around with a Bluetooth device in your ear is pure douchebaggery. There is no excuse for it. That said, it's not entirely unfathomable; the urge to accessorize is deeply rooted in human nature. UCLA cultural anthropologist Mari Womack equates the modern appetite for tech bling with the status symbols worn by Aztec royalty. "While the lower classes wore clothing made of agave, the nobles distinguished themselves with cotton and gold jewelry," she says. Conspicuous gadgetry is essentially the 21st century's royal raiment. Leaving your Palm Pre out on the bar is a way of saying, "Look on my gizmo, ye commoners, and despair!" But prestige isn't really about expense, it's about rarity—with well over 20 million iPhones out there, possessing one no longer separates you from the herd. And keep in mind: The whole notion of electronic gadgets conferring status applies only within the small tribe that is geekdom. If you're out among normals, flaunting your tech doesn't make you look like the King of Coolsville, it makes you look like Count Clueless of Dorkylvania.

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