

Please Pull Over Before You Read This - davepell
http://blogs.forbes.com/davepell/2010/09/07/pull-over-before-you-read-this/

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potatolicious
So people feel the need to be constantly connected and communicating. I can
sympathize with this.

Maybe this means we can now embrace mass transit, where you can tweet and
facebook to your heart's content without risking your own, or anyone else's
life.

~~~
kunley
No. people feel the need to be artificially connected and artificially
communicating while sacrificing the REAL connection and communication which is
actually taking place at the moment.

~~~
taelor_rb
I hate when people say this.

I am a bartender and a hacker. I go out at night. I have tons of friends. I
can have an engaging conversation on the train with a complete stranger. I
think I'm fairly social, moreover everyone else says I'm really social.

But at the same time I love Facebook. I'm on it all the time. I talk to people
about their facebook comments, face to face. I talk to people telling them to
expect a cool link on some new HTML 5.

Its not artificial, its just "the new hotness". I honestly think I can be
hyper-social now, both through the net and the real world.

~~~
kunley
You missed my point, I said "at the moment", so let's repeat: it's artificial
when it happens at the same time when real communication is in place already
but people turn to their twitter or whatever.

On the other hand if you have a problem with what I said then it's just your
another problem. I prefer to talk to people about life things not about
Facebook comments. YMMV

~~~
potatolicious
Most of the world is not Reddit ;) Which is to say, I rarely see people on
Facebook talking _about_ Facebook. In fact, they are more often than not
talking about... life things.

> _"it's artificial when it happens at the same time when real communication
> is in place already but people turn to their twitter or whatever"_

Yet... even before smartphones, before you could get lost in Facebook or
Twitter on a bus, people _still_ weren't talking to each other. The fact that
we are placed in a situation with great social potential, yet do nothing about
it, is hardly the fault of this technology we've created. It's not as if buses
and trains were the hub of social affairs prior to the invention of the mobile
web.

~~~
kunley
You've touched a significant point I'd like to follow.

I guess we are very responsible for the impact of the technology we create.
That's why I'm saying all this stuff here - we are not mere hackers who give
people the toys or tools to work with and forget what and why we created it.
With every new web application we're creating a new way people will spend
their time (in the biz lingua: new business processes blah blah). It's our
responsibility to make it meaningful for the people.

It's like with the mass media: some people say that making a silly tv show is
what people want but my whole point is that such thinking is broken. People
want to relax with what's on air and that's all -- they don't want to spend
their time making superfluous choices to check what's really good for them.
Everyone has such little time for entertainment in today's world. So if you're
broadcasting something it's your responsibility to make it meaningful for the
people, not _their_ responsibility. I'm thinking in the same way of internet
tools and applications.

------
hristov
"Ryan, the plastic surgeon behind many celebrity looks, was reportedly
tweeting about his dog just before he drove to his death off a Malibu cliff."

The only thing I have to say about this, is thank God he did not take anyone
else with him.

~~~
hugh3
Well, I kinda feel bad for the dog. I hope somebody took care of the dog.

~~~
frossie
I feel really unclean for having googled this, but you will be delighted to
know that the dog will be fine.

[http://www.tmz.com/2010/08/17/dr-frank-ryan-dog-jill-
border-...](http://www.tmz.com/2010/08/17/dr-frank-ryan-dog-jill-border-
collie-vet-injuries-crash-jeep-death-dead/)

Re OP: my county has recently banned electronic devices while driving (only
hands-free calling allowed), and completely anecdotally it has seemed to make
a difference, although it's hard to say whether it is a temporary effect.

The geek in me is also thinking "how can it be proven that he drove off while
actually twittering" but I am trying not to go there - it's besides the point.

~~~
oiuytgfrgh
Presumably he had time to text "FLLNG OFF CLFF ARGH" before hitting the
ground?

Apologies - being over the age of 15 I am not familiar with the shorthand for
falling off a cliff in TxtSpk.

~~~
dkarl
!Γ

------
philh
>I’m usually at a stoplight or stuck in motionless traffic when I actually use
my phone’s virtual keyboard. That factor might make might my behavior slightly
less risky, but it doesn’t make it any less stupid.

Really? I would say it makes it a lot less risky, and a lot less stupid.

~~~
Devilboy
I often read HN on my iPhone while stuck in motionless traffic. Should I stop?

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lincolnq
1\. some bad thing recently happened due to the use of technology

2\. this is symptomatic of a more general trend; obviously the technology is
useful, but we're overusing it

3\. back in my day nobody had this technology, and we got along just fine

4\. call to action to occasionally disconnect from the technology

Can we stop rehashing the same formula?

~~~
josh33
We're chopping and the branches with these laws. The root problem is our
inability to recognize and respond to new risks associated with new
technology. Behavior can either be changed through force (law) or persuasion
(education). I'm glad this guy wrote this blog post and persuaded me to once
again be more careful with these tools.

~~~
russell
Sorry, the stupid outnumber the rational. I once was brought up short by a
woman on a cell phone driving 40 mph straddling the two left lanes of a
freeway where the normal speed is 70-75. Since CA passed the no-cellphone and
no texting laws, there seems to be less of this insanity. The fines are
modest, but with court costs it can be several hundred dollars a pop.

------
metamemetics
<http://twitter.com/drfrankryan>

<http://twitpic.com/2fflev>

------
nhebb
I'm a terrible person. After reading about the plastic surgeon, I couldn't
help thinking that we need more cliffs.

