Categories: uncategorized
Date: 11 July 2008 06:57:32
Over the last few days I've became v. aware of how our modern world with it's range of technology isn't making communication as smooth as it could be. There is an assumption we tend to have that (i) everybody has access to the same range of communications we do and (ii) they are choosing to use all of the methods they have access to for communication purposes.
Yet it's not that easy. For example: Person A, B, C and D are all signed up to Facebook.
Person A starts a thread to find out the four members are going to be meeting up together at a given time.
Person B responds and says she's up for it. However, she is not sure how often others check their Facebook. Perhaps they could be texted.
Person A doesn't have the relevent mobile numbers and so says she will phone person C's landline instead.
Person A gets hold of person C who then texts person B to see if they need a lift. When there is no response to the text person B leaves a voice mail message there is still no response.
When they get home person B does phone person C, but on the landline because, although they had recieved persons C's messages at the points in the day when they had checked their phone, they were out of credit.
When discussing the original Facebook thread with person C later it emerges that she is currently not checking home e-mail or Facebook because she has an urgent task going on till mid month and doesn't want to get caught up with other stuff. She is using the logic if it's urgent they'll use another form of communication to get hold of her.
As for person D they had disappeared for a break without the technology and so you couldn't get hold of them anyway.
As for where the technology is combined and one machine does it all, I heard a great quote yesterday. "I have this machine which is does it all but I only use it for the games."