One of my favorite – and also least favorite – items at the US Open this summer was the radio on a lanyard. American Express was giving them out to card holders, so I claimed mine. It was great to be walking around the grounds or watching a match on one of the courts, and instantly know that Venus Williams had just dropped out, or that the most exciting match was on Court 17.
Since other folk didn’t know, I could spread the word. Then 20 minutes or half an hour later, the speakers, scoreboards and message boards would pass the info, while I had it right in my ear the minute it happened.
At the same time – this little piece of technology, tuned to an on-grounds station, and good only for the length of the tournament. Cute, wonderful, great – and a totally wasteful use of non-reusable resources.
Sets up a great state of cognitive dissonance for me. That’s why it took a while to write about it.