Inventors often have said people will find new uses for wireless products, whether they are data or voice, once they have a chance to play with them. The human factor will open many new horizons to functions the inventors couldn’t have possibly dreamed when they designed the device.
The more people that use the devices, the more ways they will find to use them.
The VCR started out as a machine that would enable people to watch movies at home, but today it is probably used just as much to record TV programs. And even though our VCR has messaging capabilities (so I can program a message to my husband while I’m away and in theory he would turn on the TV and read my message), we’ve never used that function. It is easier to use a pencil and paper.
So what are people using devices for? According to an article in The New York Times, the British journal New Scientist has found a new automotive use for the infrared port on the Palm Pilot handheld organizer. A computer journalist evidently reprogrammed the infrared port on the Palm Pilot so it could be used as a TV remote control. Upon further tinkering, the Palm Pilot was used to dismantle a car’s security system.
“After the owner locks the car using a remote control device (typically on the key chain) and walks away, the Pilot could capture the signal, send it back to the car and unlock the doors,” according to the Times article.
Somehow, I don’t imagine this use was one of the many envisioned for the Palm Pilot. (Still, a useful feature to incorporate into a Palm Pilot or similar device would be to turn off car alarms that ring incessantly when in fact, no one is stealing the vehicle.) What will they think of next?
… It looks like the privacy law may have new poster children. A photographer was arrested by the FBI this month for allegedly intercepting a wireless call between Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and his wife Nicole Kidman and attempting to sell their conversation to the tabloids. (Thanks to CTIA’s Web site for that info.)
