Tech Taken Too Far

As we all know technology is a great thing. When it comes to bikes, especially, one thing that keeps some people interested is the constant stream of new, fancy and clever things they can buy.

It seems to me that sometimes this can go just a little bit too far.

For example, everyone wants to be seen when riding at night (apart from stealth riders looking to slip beneath the car radar and possibly up to no good), but many people realise that the odd bit of reflective piping on a top and a couple of lights will be plenty. What would be taking it a bit too far would be to make your entire bike glow in the dark with a $130 set-up. I think I’d find this a bit distracting for riding at night, and anyone who’s accidentally looked into a bike light while adjusting it will know that it messes up your night vision. Lights pointing out are good, while it seems to me that creating a big pool of light around you might just make it harder to see what’s coming. You might be seen by the cars, but you’ll end up riding into a lamppost, dazzled by your own glow.

Also you are quickly entering the realm of the kind of people who put blue neon lights under their cheap cars, and that should be avoided.

Another story kicking around at the moment is about a woman in Connecticut who used Twitter to summon help when she had crashed while mountain biking. I am entirely confused by this. It turns out that she wasn’t that badly hurt, and was released from hospital after a quick check-up, and she certainly was ok to find her phone and log on to Twitter. Possibly then she could have made it back to somewhere without assistance. More to the point she could get a mobile signal to connect to the internet, but yet not to make a phonecall. Even if the signal had been patchy I still think my first thought would have been to get a text message through to someone, rather than taking my chances on Twitter. I’m sure there are reasons for all of her decisions, and as a communications consultant she clearly has no interest in getting a story about social media into the press. Perhaps there’s something I’m missing and if I’m doing her an injustice I can only apologise, I’m just fairly cynical at the moment.

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