> I view these as modern-day human "shock collars" where the shock collar beneficiary is actually not you ...
Heh. I grew up in the days before mobile phones. A friend observed, when I mentioned my shiny new pager indicating a certain level of Importance in the workforce, that these devices made both parties happy.
The carrier felt smug about being so important they were paid - whatever it was, some small number of $'s a day - to be on call.
The person on the other end of the equation had eager and proficient technical resources at their beck and call 24x7 ... for some small number of $'s a day.
And some people say that the tech industry keeps going in circles.
Heh. I grew up in the days before mobile phones. A friend observed, when I mentioned my shiny new pager indicating a certain level of Importance in the workforce, that these devices made both parties happy.
The carrier felt smug about being so important they were paid - whatever it was, some small number of $'s a day - to be on call.
The person on the other end of the equation had eager and proficient technical resources at their beck and call 24x7 ... for some small number of $'s a day.
And some people say that the tech industry keeps going in circles.