Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) have come out with softwares that detect whether you are in a car accident. You will be able to put your phone into a new mode called either “attack detection mode (apparently it will also be able to detect if you are being attacked?) or accident mode.” Certain embodiments of the respective software enable your Phone to detect a probable automobile accident. It then locates you via the global positioning system (GPS) and/or an accelerometer contained within that device. (I am not sure how they got a patent for this? It sure sounds like General Motors “On star”.) I am providing the link to the press release at the bottom of the page.
From a consumers perspective anytime you have an app that can help you in an emergency situation you have to consider using it. The very fact your phone is so findable because of Global positioning is awesome. Unfortunately, if your are off roading or in areas where wifi, phone service etc., are suspect – “good luck”, or should I say “Tough luck”, – no phone service means no global tracking or a total inability to stay in touch. The famous advertiser Marshall McLuhan once said about television that it was a medium making the world smaller. I wonder what he would have said about cell and wifi service?
A new system that will help “connectivity” is a Elon Musk invention. It is based on low flying satellites for remote areas. The Elon system is brilliant. It is presently being tested in remote northern ontario areas. If there is one thing the covid pandemic has taught us, jobs are now very transportable. The Musk system could really hasten the migration of people from cities to rural communities. What are the chances those expensive downtown business towers could become signs of the past? Working remotely is fantastic but it proceeds on the premise you are digitally linked to the world.
Travelling is also going through a Renaissance. Covid is waning and Connectivity is the key. Think of how accessible our world is because of this ability to communicate. We can literally go anywhere in the world, (once the borders open) and reliably stay in touch with loved ones, find places of interest, restaurants etc., and as Apple and Google want to do – make us little safer while doing it.
