Article September 8, 2003 Issue

How today's technology should serve us

By Bill Moody

Here's a true story about a canoe trip and technology. It follows a man who took a wilderness journey with his wife and two friends several years ago. They spent a week in a remote part of Canada—paddling, portaging from lake to lake, tent camping, and watching eagles and sunsets and night skies blanketed with stars from horizon to horizon.

Needless to say, they had no microwave ovens in their backpacks, no internet access, no remote control plasma screen television. They were perfectly happy and free. It was a beautiful place, and the man felt a quiet peace settle over him.

Yet when the group returned to the outfitter's lodge, they learned that their airline tickets to get home were essentially useless. A pilot's strike had temporarily shut the company down. Things suddenly got frantic, but with cell phones, contacts to rental car companies, and rerouting through another city and another airline, the four friends finally made it home.