iPhone
The individual iPhone demonstrates a functional lifespan of approximately 3-4 years before battery degradation, software incompatibility, or social pressure renders it non-viable. Even well-maintained specimens eventually succumb to planned obsolescence—a deliberate engineering strategy that ensures continuous market renewal.
The iPhone as a species, however, shows no signs of extinction, with each generation replacing its predecessor in an endless succession of incrementally improved rectangles. This biological pattern of individual mortality combined with species perpetuity mirrors many organic systems.
Teacher
The individual Teacher operates effectively for 30-40 years before retirement protocols activate. Unlike digital devices, experienced specimens often demonstrate enhanced functionality over time, developing refined methodologies, extensive anecdote libraries, and increasingly efficient systems for detecting student deception.
Furthermore, effective Teachers achieve a form of intellectual immortality through their students, who carry forward knowledge, values, and occasionally characteristic phrases long after the original practitioner has ceased active service. This memetic persistence extends Teacher influence across multiple human generations.