Cruising On the Wi-fi Waves

Smartphones, smart watches, smart boards, now smart ships. Cruise ships, that is. For any of you who have previous traveled aboard a vessel of the sea, you know the struggles of on-board internet. Super slow speeds, practically dial-up, on the few computers in the "library" room keep ships stuck in the late 20th century. Well, not anymore. Royal Caribbean has announced their new SmartShips and Carnival has announced their new "Got Wifi?" campaign, with other cruise lines quickly following the fleets.
Fortune magazine does a good job of mentioning three key points to this new innovation incorporated into the ships - a step toward the future, new customer opportunities, and customer satisfaction. Faster wi-fi is the key to these upcoming successes in the cruising industry. "O3b Networks, a company that provides ship-to-shore communication systems, started working with Royal Caribbean back in 2011 to upgrade its internet connections. It developed a new type of high-throughput satellite which quadrupled connection speeds, according to Steve Collar, O3b’s CEO". These new speeds transport cruising from a pre-connected time into the current era. Because of the new internet availability found on board, businesses can now take their business conferences, training, and other trips via cruise ships without losing connection to the business world they need to stay connected with while on the trip. Whether this be via internet communications or simply business workers working on the vacation, it means many new customers for cruise lines. But business workers aren't the only new clients gained; millennials that can't seem to be separated from their connections can now stay connected while cruising, opening a whole new world to them.  With wi-fi so readily available now, people stay connected to social media, posting and sharing how much they're loving their cruise-cation, thereby promoting the cruising company and expanding their customers in that aspect as well. After a few trials of the new wi-fi systems were imposed, customer satisfaction jumped 50% because of the connections now available. Such improvement shows wi-fi is a strongly desired aspect of life nowadays, and now not only is it readily accessible from the seas, but the accessibility and connectivity are ever expanding and increasing to support the high demand of the quick-paced connected world we live in.
Unfortunately, the Fortune article fails to mention the losses this new implementation brings forth. It also focuses only on the wi-fi aspect although it is clear more advanced technologies are involved in the new smart ships emerging.
While it is true that this is a major step for cruise lines and cruise-goers, the importance of escaping the prison of a strong cellular or internet connection shouldn't be given up so easily. The world is full of natural beauty, and cruises are certainly a great way to get to experience a lot of that beauty, but if your nose is in your phone 24/7, why bother going on a cruise when you could do the same thing from home?

Fortune Article

Do we need to stop sharing and start living?

I would like to start off by saying thank you to Facebook for, “Giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,” twitter for, “Giving everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers,” and finally Instagram for being there with us, “To capture and share the world’s moments.” As one can tell from these three companies mission statements, it is their sole priority to make sure you can share everything. Unfortunately, our generation has taken to a bit of an obsession over sharing.

An example of this obsession was highlighted over the weekend at the premier of Black Mass in Boston. At the star studded event, large crowds where eager to capture videos and photos on their smart phones of the festivities. However, it was a photo of an elderly lady leaning up on barrier simply taking in the sights that has captivated everyone. For around her everyone else had their phones out eagerly trying to capture all the events. Which brings up the question of instead of living the events we are attending we are now living though our phones or devices. Is the obsession too great that we can no longer simply stand there and enjoy the experience? Some may say that it is simply part of a group mentality, the person to my left and right are taking photos; therefore, I am missing out and should as well be taking a photo. Or better yet, have these social media companies done such a good job programming us that if we attend an event we must take a photo or video. For if we don’t the next question that will likely come up is, did you even attend the event? What do you mean you didn’t take any photos? It’s as if the word of mouth mean nothing, storytelling now has to involve your phone showing photos and videos you took of the event. Now don’t get me wrong it does make a story that much creditable and interesting, i.e. I was front row at the concert last night and then you have a photo of the lead singer right in front of you. Or I went out fishing last weekend a caught a six foot wahoo, you better have photos or I would never believe you.

However, when you were taking that photo or video there was a phone or device in-between you and the concert. Where even if it was just for a second you were more concerned about making sure the photo was in perfect focused than the fact you favorite song, singer or actor is right in front of you. Lastly, an argument could be made that taking one photo to simply preserve a memory is justifiable. I would agree with this, however, there is a time and place for everything and of course with moderation. Nevertheless, next time you are out and have an urge to pull out our phone to capture and share the event, stop and just soak in the experience and then when you want to share it tell someone about it as if your eyes could speak.  

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"Instagram, Technology’s Window To The Soul." TechCrunch. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015

http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/20/to-thee-i-do-commend-my-watchful-soul-ere-i-let-fall-the-windows-of-mine-eyes/

Dailymail.com, Carly Stern For. "Still Living in the Moment: Elderly Woman Pictured at a Premiere Becomes an Online Hero - Because She Was the Only One NOT Taking a Picture of Johnny Depp." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 05 Oct. 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3260626/Elderly-woman-pictured-premiere-online-hero-one-NOT-capturing-scene-camera-phone.html