A Titanic Problem
On the Titanic’s maiden voyage in 1912 she had some of the latest and most powerful communication technology, the wireless telegraph. This new technology not only provided critical communication between the ships, but it also offered the passengers a new amenity.
Imagine being on a cruise today with only one cellphone for all the passengers to send or receive a text message. Not only would you have to wait your turn, but the message had to be typed out with only one key.
In the 4 ½ days until it struck the iceberg the Titanic’s radio operators had sent and received 250 passenger telegrams. On the night of the disaster, Jack Phillips, the senior officer, was feverishly trying to catch up on passenger communications when the message came in from the S.S. Mesaba warning of icebergs spotted at specific coordinates. The Mesaba waited for confirmation that the message made it to the bridge. They didn’t get a reply from Jack, instead he continued to send pas-senger messages.
Second Officer Charles Lightoller had been on duty that night and wrote the following in his autobiography…
“The one vital report that came through but which never reached the bridge, was …from the Mesaba …Phillips, the wireless operator on watch who received the mes-sage was not to know the extreme urgency of the warning or that we were at the time actually entering the area given by the Mesaba… He was very busy working wireless messages to and from Cape Race, …Later, when standing with others on the upturned boat, Phillips explained when I said that I did not recollect any Mesaba report: ‘I just put the message under a paper weight at my elbow, just un-til I squared up what I was doing before sending it to the Bridge.’ That delay proved fatal…”
The Titanic is a sober illustration of the potential distractions that come along with the benefits of technology. With more power comes greater responsibility.
Today’s devices are powerful tools for productivity and communication. But if not used wisely, they can become masters that control us like puppets. Are you in control of these technologies or are they controlling you?
