As is the case with most American 20-somethings, my cell phone is just another appendage. I carry it with me everywhere- to class, to social events, even from one room to the next. However, I find that my cell phone is bothersome when I keep getting calls and text messages during class. I get text messages in almost every single one of my class periods. Some times they are short and to the point, and sometimes they are completely worthless. For example, my mom is very good about using text messages for relaying small bits of information that might not warrant a phone call. On the other hand, I have friends who are probably in class as well, so they send me messages such as, "Hey, what's up?"
My "smart phone" would allow users to put a class/work schedule into their in-phone calendars. For example, a user would be able to insert "Class- Tuesday and Thursday, 11:40-12:55." They can then set certain preferences for that time period. They can choose whether or not they want to be able to send and/or receive messages during this time period. If they can read them but not send them, then they can read their texts but simply make a note to respond later so that they are not rude to the professor. If they choose to not be able to send or receive, then all texts would be put on "hold" until 12:56. This feature would have a manual override in the event of an "emergency" such as a roommate needing to know if he or she can move your car so that they can get theirs out. The user would be able to respond with a simple "yes," "no," or "Sorry, I have my keys with me."
The most obvious social technical gap would be if the user simply used the manual override for every single text message. This action might end up seeming more rude than simply reading and responding to text messages during class because they would have to spend more time looking down at their phones pressing buttons. Another social technical gap would be being unable to see important text messages because you are unable to read text messages during class. The example of a roommate needing to move a car is a lot less severe than getting a text message from a friend saying "911, I'm really sick!" I would address the first by having a "keyword search" to determine which words constitute an emergency. The users themselves could put in the key words themselves since everyone defines emergency differently. I would address the second through another keyword search that would force the text message through to the user, despite the setting.
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I like your attempt at dealing with emergency overrides. I tried to think of a similar way to override emergency situations with my hypothetical smart phone, but I could only come up with some way of flagging your message an emergency. By defining keywords it puts the power more in the receiver's hands as opposed to leaving it up to the person who is going the contacting. I still suppose that your really good friends could probably figure out a way to hack the keywords and get you text messages even when you didn't want them though. The old, we're good enough friends that I know your away message doesn't really mean anything type situation.
ReplyDeleteI think your idea for the calendar is cool and would definitely help decrease ringing during classes. Your idea limits both when people are contacting you, but also how much you can say or respond back. This is an interesting concept and one that I addressed a bit in my blog as well. While this idea seems like it would be too rigid for our social needs, it actually seems to help deal with ambiguous cases, like a friend's emergency override.
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