I can’t lie, this is a little bit unrelated to normal stuff we cover but the news that Osama bin Laden was killed yesterday sent shockwaves throughout the Internet and I, for one, was using my smartphone the entire time to get more information.
It was just a normal lazy Sunday for me, as I watched some hoops, worked out and was all set for some Simpsons. As I was making dinner, I was doing a brief check on the Twitter Android app and expected the normal stuff: technology tweets, links to interesting stories and lots of would-be comedians. Then I saw the extreme chatter that Osama bin Laden had been killed and was taken aback.
I immediately went to CNN and slate on my mobile browser to confirm stuff but I wasn’t seeing anything official from a “reputable” source yet. In fact, I’m fairly certain the news broke on Twitter. There was even a man who was inadvertently live tweeting the raid.
For all my web enthusiasm, I immediately ran to my television to turn on the news to get more news on the Osama bin Laden death in a familiar form but I was constantly using my smartphone to check on social media networks. The Facebook app blew up with notifications and Twitter became a go-to source for news.
Then, something weird happened as the news of Osama bin Laden’s death became official – I didn’t want the constant connectivity, I wanted the moment to breath and to reflect on what it means. Perhaps I was just tired of Twitter on my phone quickly turning into a showcase for everyone’s bad one-liners but there was something to be said about just being lost in thought while watching people in front of the white house singing the national anthem.
We’ll stay clear of politics here but I do want to know how your smartphone helped inform you of this news. Let me have it in the comments.
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