I recently replaced my beeper with a cell phone. It is the first time I have been without a beeper for over twenty years. In honor of this fact, I felt that I owed my long-time companion a farewell
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O BEEPER! my Beeper! our fearful trip is done;
Technology has passed you by, the cellular has won;
My call I fear, the bells I hear, the nurses all keep calling,
While follow ears the constant calls, the frequency appalling;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O my tired eyes of red,
Now in the drawer my Beeper lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O BEEPER! my Beeper! rise up and hear the tones;
Rise up—for you the phone has rung—for you the ring-tone drones;
For all the nights you\’ve wrecked my sleep—your piercing sound still burning;
For all-night call, the worried moms, their anxious voices yearning;
Here Beeper! Outmoded!
Now thrown beneath my bed;
It is some dream that finally,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.
My Beeper does not vibrate, his transistors are still;
My pager has no batteries, he has no pulse nor will;
The phone is clipped on safe and sound, text messages received;
With cool ring-tones, Verizon phones, will be all that I need;
Exult, I-Phone, and ring, Ma-bell!
With two-year contracts wed,
For in the trash my Beeper lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
My apologies to Walt Whitman.
Wow; this is a momentous occasion! Having carried (and still do) a beeper for the past 29 years, to turn this role over to the cell phone in entirety is BIG. I sure hope that the phone will allow you to triage calls (text messages perhaps?) so that you don’t have to answer low priority items in the midst of really big, important stuff. But, I guess we’re there with the technology; that shouldn’t be a big issue.
Nice poem. Poor little ole beeper.
Wow; this is a momentous occasion! Having carried (and still do) a beeper for the past 29 years, to turn this role over to the cell phone in entirety is BIG. I sure hope that the phone will allow you to triage calls (text messages perhaps?) so that you don’t have to answer low priority items in the midst of really big, important stuff. But, I guess we’re there with the technology; that shouldn’t be a big issue.
Nice poem. Poor little ole beeper.
A most eloquent post. A tip o’ the hat to you, sir.
A most eloquent post. A tip o’ the hat to you, sir.
Are you familiar with The Digital Cuttlefish? You two should buy one another a drink.
Are you familiar with The Digital Cuttlefish? You two should buy one another a drink.
What about the aledged problems with cellphones interfering with “critical medical equipment”? Personally, if they’re true, I think that this means that medical electronics are inadequately screened against Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), and probably means that hospitals shouldn’t use kit like automatic electrical BP testers, at least not without proper RFI checks. I guess that won’t happen though, because it would mean checking each make and model of electrical equipment used against each other for signs of RFI. This doesn’t just mean stuff like patient monitors and cells either; you’d need to do things like floor buffers and the radio in the staffroom too.
What about the aledged problems with cellphones interfering with “critical medical equipment”? Personally, if they’re true, I think that this means that medical electronics are inadequately screened against Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), and probably means that hospitals shouldn’t use kit like automatic electrical BP testers, at least not without proper RFI checks. I guess that won’t happen though, because it would mean checking each make and model of electrical equipment used against each other for signs of RFI. This doesn’t just mean stuff like patient monitors and cells either; you’d need to do things like floor buffers and the radio in the staffroom too.