Over the last few days, The Smart PDA has featured SMS spam, which is usually sent to a list of numbers from a single source.

But there are legitimate uses for broadcasting messages. Especially in times of emergency. While many criticisms of the university administration's response are based on the clarity of hindsight, the Virginia Tech Massacre highlighted the need to get announcements out in a hurry. Text messages are a great way to do this, because smartphones and PDA phones usually follow their owners everywhere.

Email is great, but not everyone has immediate access to their inboxes. And we also have to consider normal human behavior. People usually silence their mobiles or handhelds while in class, out of respect for the teacher in front. So it's possible that even if they were warned through SMS, they would remain unaware. Perhaps it's time to provide for critically urgent messages that override silent modes?

Ultimately, it all boils down to seeing technology as a tool that is neither essentially good nor bad. It always depends on its use. We can use guns to kill or protect the innocents. And we can use SMS broadcasting to harass people with unsolicited advertisements. Or publicize announcements that may save lives.



Out of respect for the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre, The Smart PDA will observe a one day blog silence on April 30.