Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Law & ICT... literally

8:30 AM, last Thursday...
I’m sleeping soundly.
My cell phone rings.
Still half-asleep, I groggily roll-over to see who’s calling.
The name of my OLA supervising lawyer is flashing on the screen.
Realization hits and I’m wide awake in a second.
I have an 8:30 hearing. It’s 8:30. I’m still in bed. Crap.

Fortunately for me, this story doesn’t end tragically. I make it to court with time to spare since the judge was even later than me. How different would this story be if cell phones were never invented? Would my supervising lawyer find his way to a payphone? Would he have change to make the call or would his phonecard (remember these?) have a sufficient balance to make a call? Would there even be a payphone around? Would he have my home number? Would I have had a phone in my room? And the questions can go on and on. Not exactly a legal or policy issue in ICT but a straight-out illustration of the interaction between the legal profession and the wonders of information and communications technology. Special thanks to Martin Cooper, the inventor of the cell phone.

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