Simultaneously, 17-year-old Maria Sharapova demonstrated both the brilliance and the bane of wireless technology last week-after blowing by Serena Williams to become the women’s champion at Wimbledon.
Sharapova grabbed her father’s cell phone to call her mom from center court. Only the call didn’t go through. After several tries. “Come on technology,” Sharapova said, explaining that the call wasn’t connecting. Ouch. Whose network was that?
On the other hand, it’s the Sharapovas of the world-young people embracing technology-who are not so quietly changing what is acceptable wireless behavior. Stodgy Wimbledon asked its audience to turn off cell phones during the tournament. Attendees at the U.S. Open golf championship had to actually leave their phones behind before they were admitted to the tournament, much to the consternation of some attendees.
Will tomorrow’s golf greats not be bothered by an orchestra of ring tones as they try to putt for birdie on No. 16? Who knows?
I have to admit a few of the wireless apps I have seen lately are weird.
You can now send an e-mail from the grave (www.TheLastEmail.com), so it won’t be long until you send a text message as well. Do you really think anyone wants an e-mail from you after you’re dead? Only if you want them to join you quickly. It sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen.
On a more serious note, Tim Blackman, whose 21-year-old daughter, Lucie, was brutally murdered in Japan, launched SafetyText.com last week as his response to try to prevent anyone else from having to go through a terrible ordeal like the Blackmans. To use the service, you basically register for a small fee, tell the service via SMS where you are going and how long you plan to be. When you are home safe and sound, you simply SMS SafetyText to turn off the service. If you forget to turn off the service, a nondescript SMS will be sent to you to remind you to turn it off. If you still don’t turn off the service, or if you can’t, an SMS is sent to your buddy number to tell them where you are.
As part of its pitch to parents, SafetyText gently points out that kids don’t always tell parents the truth about where they are going.
If a person is going some place that they may deem dangerous enough that they think they may not return, perhaps they shouldn’t go. But I do think it makes sense for a business traveler in unfamiliar territory.
Again, the question isn’t whether I like the service, but whether Maria Sharapova will use it. And teens may love to have some SMS service keep tabs on their whereabouts-and that may give their parents some comfort. Unless they have to worry about the call connecting.
