I actually sometimes like to commute. It gives me a chance to unplug and do all the things I like to do when I’m not online, such as sleep, think, read, listen to podcasts, or watch movies on my iPod.
Unfortunately, the days of commuting being an oasis from connectivity are now over. More and more airlines are offering Internet access in flight and now BART has signed a 20-year deal to deliver Wi-Fi on its trains. BART expects to have all the routes and stations online by the end of 2011.
This sucks. As we become more and more connected we’re running out of excuses as to why we didn’t respond to someone’s message. The good ‘ole “I didn’t get your message” doesn’t work if you’ve got a BlackBerry or iPhone with its ubiquitous connectivity on email, Twitter, and Facebook.
Luckily technology is not perfect, and with the volume of information we’re all processing and filtering we’ve become overloaded. So no matter how ubiquitous wireless and communications technologies become, we can still rely on these two standard excuses:
Internet access wasn’t working
I’ve been so overloaded. I didn’t see your message. Sorry.
This news item is for the Spark Minute week of 2/2/09 which can be heard daily on Green 960 and 910 KNEW in San Francisco, CA.
