Has my iPhone evolved into a sentient being? Am I in the middle of a campy Star Trek episode where Data is trying to figure out what it “means” to be human?

I brought my iPhone with me to China so I could listen to music and flip through the albums with my fingers because it is cool rather than functional. But upon landing in Hong Kong, I got this SMS message: “Welcome to PEOPLE’S Hong Kong! Calling home / other countries? Dial <001> .” You can zoom in to the maximum size to see the message yourself.

I thought this AT&T thing only worked in the US. That’s what the man said to us, but now I have reasons to doubt the man.

How does my iPhone know I am in Hong Kong? A few weeks ago at a lunch with Will, we put our iPhones very close to one another on the table while we ordered our food. We were hoping that perhaps they would mate and spawn a third iPhone. But maybe what really happened is my iPhone started to learn from Will’s iPhone. I don’t know what it could have learned, other than how to dress conservatively and part your hair in such as way as to make you look one-quarter inch taller, but that does not explain the Hong Kong Recognition Enigma.

Perhaps my iPhone is confused and thinks I am Steve Jobs because I sometimes wear all black in speak like a vainglorious huckster. I cannot say for sure, but I will continue to explore what happens to the iPhone in various countries.

The pic up there on my Apple is the one I took of Hong Kong from The Peak on the previous night… Here is a link the full size.