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Sometimes it's the little things |
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Location: Blogs barton's aggregated blogbarton's computer science blog |
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| Posted by: barton |
4/4/2007 |
This morning as I was preparing to leave my home, getting ready to pull my car out of the garage, I heard a woman's voice say "excuse me?". I turned out of my garage to see a woman in her pajamas. "I've locked myself out of my apartment. Street cleaning is at 8AM and I had to move my car, but I've locked myself out. Do you have a phone and a phone book I can use to call a locksmith?"
I have a phone but I do not have a phone book, and the only ways I could imagine locating a locksmith for her was to either pull out my laptop or use my mobile phone to call the cellular directory service.
I have avoided for a quite some time now the move toward a phone device that is also connected to the internet and also my email. Seeing people on their phones in their cars and at all sorts of public places is sad enough, but add to this the rise of the "blackberry prayer" (as my brother-in-law calls it), that prolonged gesture by real-time email-enabled pda enthusiasts everywhere, and this has been something I have felt rather repelled from to take on for my own.
Recently, however, it has become clear to me, that like it or not, more and more people I deal with work this way, and I have therefore been thinking about moving to such a platform.
Yesterday I lost my phone, which I have had for more than two years and which I have been quite happy with. I am sorry that it has departed me, but I did not want to be without a mobile device. So last night, I went out and got a new Samsung Blackjack phone and took the internet plunge. My new phone has the 3G cellular service which means I can browse at a reasonable speed.
And so when my poor locked-out neighbor arrived on my doorstep, I had a new way to help her, that was much more convenient than pulling out my laptop. And help her I did, which is always a nice way to start the day.
So I got to thinking, that maybe my resistance was about my own habits and not about how the technology can be used. You see, I am already at my computer so many hours per day and the idea of having another device that connected me and provided yet another opportunity for me to immerse myself in our technological world rather frightened me.
Today, however, I realized that it is just a matter of choice. If I want, my technologies can help people and enhance the way I and others live. What a nice way to start the day - I my new mobile friend and I are going to get along famously.
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