I was watching a classic thriller movie a few nights ago; it was the ‘80’s classic, “The Hitcher” starring Rutger Hauer. The story begins as a young man (C. Thomas Howell) is contracted to do a “drive-away” (deliver a vehicle from one place to another) of a new Cadillac from Chicago to San Diego. Ironically, Howell makes a crucial judgmental error when he decides to stop to pick up “The Hitcher”. Hauer quickly unveils his psychopathic plan to do all sorts of evil things to Howell and the movie goes on for another hour or so – thrilling to the end.
While this blog is not intended to be about movies the reason that I brought this movie up is because it made me think about the age in which we live. Could a story happen in the same fashion today as this one played out in the mid-eighties? If this same scenario were played out today, Howell would need only to press his “On-Star” button in the new Caddy and he could have reported the incident directly from inside of his car; in fact, his exact location would have been GPS triangulated to within 5-10 meters and given to the authorities. Not only that but in today’s society, what self-respecting American would be caught dead without their cell phone?
We live in an era where information is available 24X7 and wireless is almost as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. The “Can you hear me now?” commercials are funny because we have all been there and have demanded better coverage from our carriers and in many cases, they have responded accordingly. Wireless coverage is growing at leaps and bounds and so is our insatiable thirst for connectivity and information.
Communication technologies, specifically wireless communication, are available around just about any corner. From fast food chains to coffee shops, hotels to airports, the Internet is a mere click away. You don’t even need a laptop computer anymore to stay connected. With the onslaught of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), smart phones (i.e. Window Mobile, Palm, etc), Black Berry, and other wireless devices, you now have a plethora of ways to stay connected. Many of these devices even support multiple protocols for connectivity. i.e. cellular wireless and Wi-Fi.
Socially, we are living in an age of technological convergence, an age where a phone is not just a phone but a means to communicate in a multimedia format. When I got my first cell phone, it was for “emergencies only”. That is no longer the case with these phones. You can chat, text messages, take photos, record video/audio, listen to MP3s, send multimedia messages, check your email, browse the Internet and exchange information via Bluetooth. Oh, wait, I didn’t even mention that you could “talk” on the phone. Statistically speaking, the vocal use of cell phones is beginning to diminish as people begin to use them for other purposes, i.e. chat, text, email, etc.
On a corporate level, mobility is taking on a different kind of convergence. Applications are being developed for the mobile workforce like never before. Road warriors take to the streets now with much less gear thanks to this emerging technology. Checking email is no longer a problem since Black Berry pushes it to you. Most of the smart phones all come equipped with VPN capabilities now, so connecting to your corporate network from the hotel is a simple task. Applications are being developed specifically for PDAs and smart phones that go far beyond just an occasional spreadsheet or document.
I love to see the look on my children’s faces when I tell them about “party line telephones” and “black and white TV”. I get real joy in explaining that televisions were not invented with remote controls and that I grew up with a meager three channels to choose from. It will be interesting to see where technology takes us in the next twenty years. I look forward to hearing my son tell his children that he grew up with only 200 channels on satellite and that cars actually burned fossil fuels.
Doug Finch
Director of Technical Support
