Of messages sent

Another story attesting to the inefficiency of technology:

My friend had a business meeting in a mall and she was asking her boyfriend to give her a ride going home. It turns out that she needed to get home immediately that day because her house was getting renovated and she needed to talk to the carpenter.

But the boyfriend was not exactly ecstatic about giving my friend a ride. The trip is out of his way. It is further aggravated by the fact that he will be coming from a late business meeting and, as it was a Friday night, traffic would most likely be a headache. Nevertheless, after her insistent pleading, my friend got him to say yes.

Last Friday, my friend eagerly waited for her ride. Thirty minutes after the agreed upon time, her boyfriend was still not there. Thinking something was wrong she tried to call him up. Unfortunately, her boyfriend was out of coverage area. Not knowing what else to do and with the urgent need to get home, my friend decided to take a cab.

Barely five minutes after she rode the cab, my friend received a text message. It was from her boyfriend. The text message told her that he was already in the mall waiting for her at starbucks. As it turned out, it was not the boyfriend that was out of coverage area but it was her. She tried to call her boyfriend and while they were able to settle the matter (after a brief argument of course), the damage has been done. My friend already missed the carpenter and her boyfriend had already gone through the trouble of meeting up with her all for nothing.

When I heard about this story, I was reminded of a case I’ve read. I believe it was RCPI v Verchez. The case in summary discusses the liability of a company when it promised to deliver a message to its client but was not able to do so. In such an instance, the court upheld that the company is in breach of its obligation and that the client would then be entitled to damages.

The same should hold true for text messages. After all, the principle is the same. We are still relying on a company for the delivery of our messages, some of which can spell the difference between life or death. What is the promise in text messages anyway? What is the causa? Surely, at the very least, it is the real-time delivery of our messages. Does this mean that part of the causa is the understanding that there is a chance for delay or even inability to deliver the actual message? If so, what then does that make of text messages and cellular technology, a mere gamble?

What good is technology if we cannot rely on it?