You know you shouldn’t

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11 September 2012

You may find this hard to believe, but 12 years ago when I was editing UK channel weekly, MicroScope, I did not own a home computer or a mobile phone and I managed to do my job perfectly well without them. For the benefit of younger readers I should point out that both products were in existence back then but I chose not to use them.

Why? Well, when it came to the mobile phone, in particular, I felt very strongly that I should not put myself in a position where I would be at the beck and call of my employer wherever I was. Not that I was completely inaccessible even without it. For example, I had to deal with a potential legal issue on the day of my stepfather’s funeral because I was still available on my home number.

Anyway, eventually my wife persuaded me to take her old mobile phone so she could stay in touch with me but I was still very miserly about whom I gave the number. I also developed a bad habit of leaving my mobile behind whenever I was mobile which sort of defeated the object of having it.

Things changed (and how) when I finally got an iPhone a couple of years ago. It’s one of the first things I check I have with me when I head out of the door. Of course, the quid pro quo is that people can get me on my phone whenever they want and wherever they want (except for those patches in Donegal and other counties where mobile coverage is not complete).

All of the above is by way of preamble to a press release that landed in my mailbox this week (5 November) headlined "Enterprise Ireland Supports Irish Distracted Driving Technology Company". The company in question, 10n2 Technologies, has developed "anti-distracted driving software" which is now available in Ireland. The technology prevents drivers from using their smart phones to text or browse the Internet while driving. A good idea, I’m sure you’ll agree. Actually, when you think about it, it’s a bloody good idea. Just think how many people you saw "driving" today with heads bowed, looking at their phone. Quite a lot I suspect.

CEO Ciaran Hynes has a fair point when he claims the technology "saves lives" and will reduce accidents and fatalities on the roads. Still, I must confess to a feeling of ambivalence about this. Yes, it’s a really good idea for a product and probably destined for success, but there’s a wee part of me that can’t help thinking the problem it has been developed to address wouldn’t exist if we didn’t have mobile phones. If we didn’t have mobile phones with us in our cars, we wouldn’t be looking at them while we text or browse the Web on them. We’d be looking at the road instead. Okay, so we can’t turn back time-smart phones are here to stay and I’m more than happy to keep using mine. This is just one of those unintended by-products of progress and innovation that gets thrown up when new products emerge.

On the other hand, it says something about human nature that frequent exhortations from the powers that be and warnings to drivers not to use their mobile phones while driving have failed to stem the problem. You would think making something illegal might act as a deterrent to many people but it would seem not. The chances of getting caught are so small that most people have no qualms about taking the risk.

So, it is to 10n2’s credit that it has managed to develop a technological solution to address a problem created by technology in the first place. It’s not a unique approach per se. Security software, after all, is an obvious example of a technology that has been developed to address a problem created by technology. Still, I suspect there is going to be a lot more of this kind of stuff happening in the future and it’s an area where many businesses will do very nicely out of it thank you.

And while I’m loath to actively discourage anyone from reading anything I’ve written can I just say to anybody out there reading this on their smart phone, "look up at the road instead".

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