LifeLongLearningLab

Mobile Watchdog Technology? January 27, 2008

Last fall, Training magazine did a whole issue dedicated to m-Learning. There were some interesting applications. Imagine standing in a warehouse and needing some information on the availability of a product. You hold your mobile device up to the product and all the information you need about that product is sent to you. Some of my colleagues foresaw a kind of “Big Brother” application to it as well, where your employer would always know where you are.

Well, the USPS has already figured that one out. Today, after witnessing a malicious hit and run, my neighbors and I were standing around at the scene of the crime, when the postman came up. He jumped out of his truck and leaned down to open the mangled mailbox under the car that had been smashed into several times. We couldn’t imagine what he was doing. I thought perhaps he had to get a number to report a damaged mailbox or something. After a bit of fumbling, he found what he was looking for–a bar code taped to the door. He explained that he had to swipe that bar code every time he delivered mail to that house so his bosses would always know where he was. I’m still trying to figure out how that benefits the USPS or us. Do employees really need that level of scrutiny?