Hmmm ... muting. Not a bad idea, I suppose. I guess that practicality is not really what I'm going for here, though. That's what got us into this mess in the first place, after all: or, as I might say, practicality, taken to its logical extremes, becomes extremely impractical? Still, it may be useful in the future. I do generally find, though, that the vibration of the mute setting still conveys the arrival, or rather, the summons, if you will -- assuming that I have kept the machine on or close to my person, as a dutiful caretaker of its techno-magicalness (which, of course, I generally have). I would like to suggest that the truly magical presence of afore-mentioned "napping baby" might have supplanted at least some of iPhone's mesmerizing properties? I understand that's how these dear creatures work. And if that's so, I say hooray. Hooray! Many thanks for the details on your own ascetic triumphs in the smartphone tug-o-war match, and the moreso, for enjoying the piece.