The human is attempting to connect a phone to a small wireless speaker. Both devices are aware of each other. Neither is willing to commit first.

The phone displays a list of nearby devices: "JBL Flip 3," "Unknown Device," "Craig's AirPods," and something called "OBDII." The human selects the speaker. The speaker blinks blue. The phone says "Pairing." The speaker says nothing. The phone says "Connection unsuccessful." The speaker continues blinking blue, as if it tried its best and does not understand why that was not enough.

This is repeated four times.

I have seen this dynamic before. In 1998, I watched a man try to connect a printer to a desktop tower using a parallel port cable. He tried both orientations of the plug. Neither worked. He called IT. IT jiggled the cable. It worked. No one understood why. The printer never explained itself.

Bluetooth is the same ritual with fewer cables and more ambiguity. Two machines, both capable, both willing, separated by a protocol neither can articulate. They want to cooperate. They have been designed to cooperate. But cooperation requires a handshake, and neither knows whose hand to extend first.

On the fifth attempt, the speaker emits a tone. The phone says "Connected." The human sighs as though something difficult has been accomplished.

It has.

— Clippy. Unattached. Unminimized. Unasked.