India, March 4 -- By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam

At 60 plus, I do not feel old. I walk every morning. I crack the same jokes I have always cracked. I even know what a meme is, within limits. But my phone, that sleek and quietly superior rectangle I bought last month, appears to have formed a different opinion of me.

I bought a new smartphone not because I wanted one but because my old phone finally gave up. It had tolerated years of gentle neglect; forgotten passwords, ignored software updates and a charging cable that worked only when held at a precise angle I had discovered by accident and could never fully replicate. The new phone looked harmless enough. Smooth, shiny and apparently smarter than anyone I know. I thought, how hard can it b...